The TellyCast Digital Video Awards 2026 has named Don’t Get Catfished as the winner of the Digital Original Format – Comedy & Entertainment category.
Produced by After Party Studios and Bakers Dozen Studios, the series was recognised during a ceremony at The Londoner, hosted by Specs Gonzalez.
The category recognises formats demonstrating audience engagement, storytelling and innovation across comedy & entertainment. Judges assessed entries on creativity, production quality, audience growth and the ability to build repeat viewing.
Built for YouTube and digital-first audiences, Don’t Get Catfished has delivered strong audience performance across platforms, with episodes including ‘Deji Gets CATFISHED By Harry & Darkest?!’ approaching one million YouTube views. Across TikTok, clips from the format have generated close to 50 million views.
Judges described the format as “a highly entertaining original format that deserves recognition for its creativity and strong performance to date,” adding that “while it leverages creators to drive viewership, the originality and format structure makes it a potentially highly scalable IP.”
They also praised the show’s pacing and edit style, calling it a “nice, fast-paced format” and highlighting specific episodes as “very entertaining”.
The production partners also highlighted the format’s focus on representation and inclusion. One episode featuring creators including Nella Rose, Zeze Mills and Chloe Burrows marked the first queer dating show commissioned for Channel 4.0.
The series was recommissioned for a second run before the first season launched, reflecting early confidence in the format’s audience appeal and growth potential.
