T he most entertaining thing about Dating Naked UK is the little note that comes with it when it arrives in my inbox, solemnly declaring that, of course, the participants of this nude reality show received psychological support during and after production. Great, good, it’s the least you can do. The bare minimum, you might say.
But it does not stop there. “Strict hygiene and dignity protocols were in place during filming.” What’s not to love? Strict hygiene? Dignity protocols ? I cannot press the play button quickly enough.
After watching the first episode, I wonder if I am the one whose dignity protocols have been breached. The setup is familiar to anyone who has so much as walked past a laptop, phone or television screen over the last decade or so. A group of single people, mostly in their 20s, are struggling to find love through the apps.
So they’ve all signed up to what looks like a very nice holiday in a villa in the sun, where they can ditch the shallow world of swiping and find a relationship with more depth. There is of course a twist, because there always has to be a twist, and this twist is that they don’t wear any clothes . That’s it.
For years, Naked Attraction made solid entertainment out of people pretending they were definitely keeping their eyes right up there, and were just judging people on their hairstyle, honest. But once the couples had been nakedly matched, they were sent out into the real world for their first dates, fully, dully clothed. .