It’s like being on Tinder, but much worse.
One of Britain’s most infamous dating shows was quietly added to the Max streaming service last week.
The streamer has imported six seasons Naked attraction, a game show that promises to “start where a good date often ends: naked.” In each episode, a single ‘selector’ criticizes and eliminates six potential dates standing on a stage by scrutinizing their completely naked bodies, which are gradually revealed part by part (the faces are revealed last). When there are only two potential dates left, the voter also takes off his own clothes, giving the remaining two contestants the opportunity to criticize them. The final couple then goes out on a date, with their clothes on.
The episodes on Max are uncensored, but have a warning added at the beginning of each episode: “The following series is intended for adult audiences only.
It features full frontal nudity, course language, and graphic discussions of the human body. Viewer discretion is advised.”
Naked attraction can seem quite overwhelmingly brutal in its graphic analysis of the participants and the dismissal of people based on their most personal traits, with participants being sent away for every superficial reason you can think of (“I don’t like her feet”… “His member is too small”, etc.). At the same time, each episode features interstitials with informative sex education, and the show is clearly trying to promote self-confidence and body positivity amid all the “hot or not” judgment. The show also features participants of different sexual orientations.
Here’s a censored version of the trailer from when the show was brought to HBO Asia earlier this year:
American viewers are just beginning to encounter the series, which was released without a trailer or media buzz (Max mentioned it as one of dozens of titles coming to the streamer in September). “My fkn sister just sent me to this ‘naked attraction’ show and this is the craziest shit I’ve EVER seen on TV,” wrote An viewer. Wrote another: “Naked Attraction is an interesting show because you see all types of bodies, male and female, and every part of their body is shown and discussed. It’s fun to see because the media and xxx have conditioned us to see bodies in a certain, unrecognizable way, usually too perfect/airbrushed.”
British critics condemned the show with The Telegraph to write: “How low can this dating show go?” Buzzfeed UK declared it “the most utterly stupid dating show on TV.”
British broadcasting regulator Ofcom received more than a thousand complaints about the show’s nudity, but ultimately ruled that the images were “warranted in the context of the programme.”
Hosted by Anna Richardson, the show first debuted in 2016 and has aired for six seasons, with a seventh currently airing on Channel 4.
