Photo: Glamour Magazine UK
Wow. Just... wow.
By Alex Alexander — Written on Aug 04, 2016
People love their reality TV; it’s where they get to watch non-actors trying to act in scripted dramas for their amusement. You can peer into people’s lives on everything from ice truck driving to crab fishing, or even pawn shop workers, cops, and sexy people hitting it off and smooching in a hot tub while a gaggle of other people vie for that special someone’s attention.
Perhaps you’re there for the staged sabotage, the cheesy romance, or just to escape into the world of someone else’s real life adventure or fairy tale. Maybe you really want to see the Bachelorette find her Mr. Right and ride off into the sunset along the west coast beaches, or see two women began a cat fight as a hot dude looks on in not-so-well concealed approval.
Whatever you’re watching for, the pull of dating reality shows has proven itself over time, becoming a very popular genre. Given the wide-range of these shows and their storied concepts, it’s not surprising that their increased popularity might have been forcing producers and writers to continue ratcheting the proverbial bar up to new heights and staggering surprises.
Enter shows that push the envelope well past its intended destination and send it rocketing through the roof of “Can they really do that on TV?”
The answer comes in the form of a new UK television dating show called Naked Attraction, a show that cuts out the middle man and lets people choose their partners based solely off of a physical attraction to their naked body parts and genitalia. And no, that isn’t a joke.
Photo: mirrorUK
The contestants in this particular game show have to judge and eliminate potential dates by looking at their naked genitals and telling them one at a time why they wouldn’t be a good “fit” for them. Yeah, totally not awkward.
Naked Attraction held little back, and viewers were shocked by the full frontal and stunningly up-close nudity. Even more intense for the participants in this game show was the fact that once they had gotten their group down to their final selection, they, too, were forced to show their naked bodies to the potential mates, allowing the women or men they’d been judging for the last half an hour to, in turn, judge them.
Photo: mirrorUK
What’s even worse is that the people who got eliminated had to unveil themselves the rest of the way, and then approach and hug their rejecter before they could slink off stage, which apparently also allowed for interesting comments from the host, Anna Richardson, like how she absolutely loved a contestant’s “bouncy balls.”
Being forced to accept someone solely on their physicality seems like a recipe designed for failure. After all, (solid) relationships are certainly comprised of more than just sex or thinking that your mate is attractive.
Naked Attraction has met mostly negative reviews from people on social media and news sites alike, judging them both for their nudity factor and the overly-simplified way they try to get people together as a couple.
While on the one hand we can applaud Naked Attraction’s attempt at upping body confidence, it’s safe to say that inviting people onto a show, undressing them, and then rejecting them based on perceived flaws is a little bit... misguided in the body positivity department.
After letting it all hang out, the contestants are sent off on their first (clothed) date together, where they talk, get to know each other, and probably discuss how weird it was that they saw each other naked at the same time that everyone else in the UK (and now the world) got to as well.
Now there’s a story for the grandkids!
