Sky's 'The Villa' a hit for FOX in US

Sky One's original dating show The Villa has emerged as the top-rated show on new US station FOX Reality.

"That series has done really well for us," channel manager David Lyle told Variety. "It's attracted a considerable amount of interest and is representative of the reason we're so keen on bringing in more international shows.

"Our audience craves reality, and in most cases, these are brand new series for them. In other cases, they've seen the show, but we're bringing them new casts and storylines."

Among the new foreign shows picked up by the network are the Aussie versions of The Block and Playing It Straight, Treasure Island from New Zealand and UK series The World of Stupid and Plastic Surgery Laid Bare.

Lyle is also in negotiations to pick up The Princes of Malibu, a male version of The Simple Life axed by the FOX broadcast network last week.