'You couldn't pitch that in the US!'
The Guardian Weekly|August 23, 2024
Are the UK'S dating shows the wildest in the world?
Daisy Jones
'You couldn't pitch that in the US!'

THE FIRST KISS in Netflix's same-sex Japanese dating show The Boyfriend arrives an entire eight episodes in. Two cast members, Shun, 23, and Dai, 22, who have spent weeks embroiled in a "will they, won't they" dance, finally go on a "sleepover date". Shun sidles into Dai's single bed. And then, in a scene that will have you holding your breath in anticipation, the two men gradually tip their faces towards one another and touch lips. Yeeessssss, I screamed at the TV, weirdly excited about the prospect of two people I've never met kissing. Finally.

Quite different, then, to the BBC's same-sex dating shows, I Kissed a Girl and I Kissed a Boy, in which cast members make out upon meeting. And that's not the most outthere UK format. Dating Naked UK - a Paramount+ series presented by Rylan Clark - sees people strip off before going on dates. And let us not forget Channel 4's Naked Attraction, in which singles decide who they're into based on a row of faceless naked bodies. The only place left for the UK to go would be watching contestants have sex immediately on air - oh wait, that's already been done on Sex Box, which ran on Channel 4 from 2013 to 2016 and saw couples have sex in a box before chatting about it to a live audience.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 23, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 23, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS THE GUARDIAN WEEKLYAlle anzeigen
No 298 Bean, cabbage and coconut-milk soup
The Guardian Weekly

No 298 Bean, cabbage and coconut-milk soup

Deep, sweet heat. A soup that soothes and invigorates simultaneously.

time-read
1 min  |
January 03, 2025
Cottage cheese goes viral: in reluctant praise of a food trend
The Guardian Weekly

Cottage cheese goes viral: in reluctant praise of a food trend

I was asked recently which food trends I think will take over in 2025.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
January 03, 2025
I'm worried that my teenage son is in a toxic relationship
The Guardian Weekly

I'm worried that my teenage son is in a toxic relationship

A year ago, our almost 18-year-old son began seeing a girl, who is a year older than him and is his first \"real\" girlfriend.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
January 03, 2025
BOOKS OF THE MONTH
The Guardian Weekly

BOOKS OF THE MONTH

A roundup of the best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror

time-read
2 Minuten  |
January 03, 2025
Dying words
The Guardian Weekly

Dying words

The Nobel prize winner explores the moment of death and beyond in a probing tale of a fisher living in near solitude

time-read
2 Minuten  |
January 03, 2025
Origin story
The Guardian Weekly

Origin story

We homo sapiens evolved and succeeded when other hominins didn't-but now our expansionist drive is threatening the planet

time-read
3 Minuten  |
January 03, 2025
Glad rags to riches
The Guardian Weekly

Glad rags to riches

Sarcastic, self-aware and surprisingly sad, the first volume of Cher's extraordinary memoir mixes hard times with the high life

time-read
3 Minuten  |
January 03, 2025
Sail of the century
The Guardian Weekly

Sail of the century

Anenigmatic nautical radio bulletin first broadcast 100 years ago, the Shipping Forecast has beguiled and inspired poets, pop stars and listeners worldwide

time-read
5 Minuten  |
January 03, 2025
How does it feel?
The Guardian Weekly

How does it feel?

A Complete Unknown retells Bob Dylan's explosive rise, but it als resonates with today's toxic fame and politics. The creative team expl their process-and wha the singer made of it all

time-read
7 Minuten  |
January 03, 2025
The Guardian Weekly

Jane Austen's enduring legacy lies in her relevance as a foil for modern mores

For some, it will be enough merely to re-read Persuasion, and thence to cry yet again at Captain Wentworth's declaration of utmost love for Anne Elliot.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
January 03, 2025