'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.

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MÁS HISTORIAS DE THE GUARDIAN WEEKLYVer todo
If kids get protected from online harm, how about the rest of us?
The Guardian Weekly

If kids get protected from online harm, how about the rest of us?

The Australian government has proposed a ban on social media for all citizens under 16.

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3 minutos  |
November 29, 2024
'It's not drought - it's looting'
The Guardian Weekly

'It's not drought - it's looting'

Spain is increasingly either parched or flooded - and one group is profiting from these extremes: the thirsty multinational companies forcing angry citizens to pay for water in bottles.

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10+ minutos  |
November 29, 2024
Life in the grey Zone
The Guardian Weekly

Life in the grey Zone

Neonatal care has advanced so far that babies born as early as 21 weeks have survived. But is this type of care always the right thing to do?

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10+ minutos  |
November 29, 2024
Out of tune? Band Aid under fire for Africa tropes as it turns 40
The Guardian Weekly

Out of tune? Band Aid under fire for Africa tropes as it turns 40

Forty years ago this month, a group of pop stars gathered at a west London studio to record a single that would raise millions, inspire further starry projects, and ultimately change charity fundraising in the UK.

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3 minutos  |
November 29, 2024
Deaths shine spotlight on risks of drinking on party trail
The Guardian Weekly

Deaths shine spotlight on risks of drinking on party trail

Vang Vieng is an unlikely party hub. Surrounded by striking limestone mountains and caves in central Laos, it morphed from a small farming town to a hedonistic tourist destination in the early 2000s.

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3 minutos  |
November 29, 2024
Different strokes My strange and emotional week with an AI pet
The Guardian Weekly

Different strokes My strange and emotional week with an AI pet

Moflin can develop a personality and build a rapport with its owner - and doesn't need food or exercise. But is it comforting or alienating?

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5 minutos  |
November 29, 2024
Strike zone Waking up to the rising threat of lightning
The Guardian Weekly

Strike zone Waking up to the rising threat of lightning

When the Barbados National Archives, home to one of the world's most significant collections of documents from the transatlantic slave trade, reported in June that it had been struck by lightning, it received sympathy and offers of support locally and internationally.

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3 minutos  |
November 29, 2024
Cheap pints and sticky carpets: the old-school pub is back
The Guardian Weekly

Cheap pints and sticky carpets: the old-school pub is back

In the Palm Tree pub, east London, barman Alf is taking only cash at the rattling 1960s till.

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3 minutos  |
November 29, 2024
Brain gain Can a radical tax scheme convince the country's brightest to stay?
The Guardian Weekly

Brain gain Can a radical tax scheme convince the country's brightest to stay?

In the autumn of 2018, I moved to Lisbon for a month-long course at the Universidade .de Lisboa.

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2 minutos  |
November 29, 2024
Fear and sympathy in small town divided over asylum camp
The Guardian Weekly

Fear and sympathy in small town divided over asylum camp

A year after anti-immigration riots, a site for asylum seekers faces hostility while some locals try to help new arrivals

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3 minutos  |
November 29, 2024