You might think this British series is a spoof on other titles with similar names, but you would be wrong. “Naked Attraction” is actually as literal as literal gets.
Here’s the premise: a person looking for love (dressed – at least at first) gives the once-over to six fully nude people, each of whom stands in their own individual shadow boxes. Initially, the boxes’ “lids” are lifted to reveal only the bottom third of their bodies, from genitals to feet. There is lively banter we’ve all come to expect on UK reality shows between the guest and host, Anna Richardson (doing her best Iain Sterling, beloved by you Love Islanders out there) about penis size, nipple shades, vulva shape, pubic hair, etc.). Over the course of each episode, more and more of the candidates’ bodies are exposed, and the guest ultimately has to choose 1 finalist with whom to go out on a date (this time with clothing, because you know, laws). At the end, we see a highly edited version of the date and then a 32-second interview with the couple that occurs a month later.
The show desperately seems to want to ask this question: if two people meet for the first time while they’re naked – stripping (sorry) away from a person literally any other identifying quality, does it make dating any easier?
While that inquiry is well and good, here’s my inherent problem: there are TONS of identifying qualities informing the candidate! Tattoos, hair choices, moles, freckles, shape, skin color, facial expressions, voices, accents, stances – even smiles reveal so so much. This is all for better and possibly worse since we all come with our own implicit biases and world views. And we can’t fake chemistry or attraction, which is unique to each and every person.
Some reactions were compelling, but honestly, the objectification of everyone made me wince a little. That said, the vast majority of the participants shared that they gained confidence as a result of being on the show, and that’s not a bad thing. Mind you, all the interviewees (at least in the first ep) had been rejected, so were they fibbing to save face? I truly hope they weren’t and that they did feel empowered by the experience.
I honestly can’t decide if I recommend this show or not because it does raise some interesting points. Have you watched “Naked Attraction”? Would you want to appear on the show? Tell us what YOU thought!!
