With a title like Dating Naked, Paramount+’s newest TV show was never destined for great things, but even so, it’s a shock to have all one’s fears confirmed at once. This is exactly what happens when you let reality shows fester for twenty-odd years: they culminate in a joyless flesh-fest that seems to drag on for eternity, despite only being 10 episodes long. To start with, the premise is the same as more or less every other dating show: 10 singletons who profess to be looking for love (but are actually looking for some Instagram followers and sponsorship deals) rock up at a villa in an undisclosed tropical location.
But then, as the title implies, there’s a twist. It has to be balmy, because they’ll be spending their entire time in the villa naked, and you wouldn’t want them to get cold, now, would you? Yes, that’s right: they’ll be dating, but entirely in the nude, living their very best full-frontal life, 24/7. These contestants are quite literally baring everything in the hopes it’ll let them ‘connect’ on a deeper level.
Or at least, that’s what the show tells us. The reality is, maybe the lure of watching naked people cavort around a villa will draw in some precious eyeballs for an episode or two. The contestants are standard reality fare.
There’s posh boy Dan, who talks like he’s rolling a marble around the inside of his mouth. There’s the requisite blonde, Lauren, whom all the boys fawn over. There’s Mike, who says things like “if Ada.