What kind of person goes on Naked Attraction? That is what Steven Barrett thought the first time he watched the dating show, in which contestants gradually reveal their naked bodies to potential suitors. Barrett, 50, from Essex, has since appeared on the show twice.
When Naked Attraction premiered in 2016, with an episode that featured 378 shots of genitalia in just 48 minutes, almost 100 people complained to the UK regulator Ofcom. In September, the show became available in the US for the first time, prompting outrage. “The show fully exploits its own participants, somehow convincing them that their exploitation for the purpose of dating is right and good,” said Melissa Henson, the vice-president of the US advocacy group the Parents Television and Media Council.
So, again: why would anyone go on Naked Attraction? There have been fewer than 60 episodes, but with 14 guests an episode (minus a few repeat guests), that means more than 700 people have bared all on national TV. Participants don’t get paid, so what is the incentive? What do they get out of it – and what do they lose? More importantly, what do they tell their parents?
“My mum’s 83; she knew I went on, but she didn’t watch it,” says Barrett. He applied for the show shortly after the end of a “tough relationship”. “I was having a bit of a midlife crisis. I was in my 40s then, so I was like: do you know what? I want to do something way out there,” he says.
Lest you think Naked Attraction seeks out people in a crisis, its producer Darrell Olsen stresses that the welfare checks are “robust”. “Everyone talks to a psychologist and there are background checks on everyone,” he says. Olsen has worked on the show since its third season. “There is a big dropout rate, but we’re OK with that. What we’re very mindful of is people not feeling cajoled into it – or having people who are going to regret it afterwards.”
During the recruitment process, contestants are encouraged to tell their family, friends and employers that they will be appearing on the show. The producers emphasise that episodes will have a long life online. Applicants first get naked in their audition, which Barrett says was more “awkward and surreal” than being on the show itself. “I had to strip in front of these two complete strangers and talk about dating,” he says. “It was just this little office room with the blinds down.” Sometimes, naked auditionees are asked to dance, pose or wink. After all this prep, Olsen says, contestants “are going into it with open eyes and with no clothes on”.
Olsen admits the show can be difficult to cast. While there are plenty of applications, straight men are over-represented. Because the producers want to feature a wide variety of people, they often scout on social media.
“I got a message from the casters,” says Hayley Cosgrove, 29, a Plymouth-based product specialist at Ann Summers. Cosgrove has more than 1,000 followers on Instagram, where she posts about lingerie, sex confidence and cerebral palsy awareness. She was keen to appear on the show; she had considered applying.
“With what I do and who I am, it fit really well into my world,” she says, adding that she found appearing on the show “empowering” and not remotely nerve-racking. “I feel like I did a really good thing for some people – because I’m disabled and I’m a bigger girl, I tick a lot of boxes for people that think they’re not conventionally beautiful.”
As well as directly approaching people, Naked Attraction producers post callouts online, sometimes employing strategic reticence by initially withholding the name of the show. “I was on Tinder and this woman popped up. It said on her profile that she worked in TV and was looking for someone to enter a dating show,” says Lindsay (not her real name), a twentysomething who has now appeared on Naked Attraction three times. When Lindsay matched with the producer and heard the show was Naked Attraction, she was happy to proceed, because she assumed she wouldn’t ultimately be cast. “I thought: you know what, sod it. I’m that type of person. I thought: yeah, I’ll just go for it.”
While you might think it would be soul-destroying to have your body scrutinised by a stranger, the production team helps guide feedback so that no one’s feelings are too hurt. “We’ve always said that it can never be belittling,” says the host, Anna Richardson, explaining that if a “picker” says they think a naked person is too fat or too thin, “we will stop and reframe it and ask them to couch it in a more supportive, positive way.”
Several contestants say they are happy with the comments they received on the show. “Say that you hook up with a guy; they’re not going to sit there for 10 to 15 minutes complimenting your body,” Lindsay says. “So for someone to actually take time to compliment you is a nice feeling.” Barrett was voted off after revealing his face, but was encouraged after the episode aired by strangers saying they would have picked him.
Like many Naked Attraction contestants, Lindsay was put up in a hotel the night before filming in Manchester. There, she met fellow participants and stayed up drinking with them until 5am. “It was a crazy night,” she says – she only managed an hour of sleep before producers knocked on her door, waking her for filming.
When 31-year-old Conor applied for the show, he had no idea it was Naked Attraction. The Californian, who lives in Scotland, saw a post on a Facebook group asking for contestants for a “brave new dating show”. He “charmed” producers in a phone interview; when they dropped the name of the show at the end of the call, he figured that, as he had made it that far, he might as well see where it took him.
Conor says he was “shaking like a leaf” in his robe backstage before filming. Ultimately, though, Naked Attraction wasn’t entirely new for him. For a number of years, Conor has sold nude photos of himself on the website OnlyFans (he uses the money to fund his animal sanctuary).
Other Naked Attraction contestants also have OnlyFans accounts. Barrett started one after appearing on the show and today earns his living from the site. Hezron Stephenson, 28, created an OnlyFans in lockdown because he was “broke with a nice bum”. The Birmingham-based bar manager says appearing on the show in 2022 gave his profile a boost: “It made me about 15 grand.”
Olsen says the show doesn’t seek out influencers or people who talk about sex online: “It’s much more about stories that are interesting and haven’t been told.”
Still, appearing on Naked Attraction is likely to help, not hinder, an OnlyFans creator’s career. But what about other contestants?
Lindsay was working in a bar when she filmed the show, but shortly afterwards started a new career. She warned her new boss, “because obviously it still goes on TV and I don’t want her to be sat up one night watching it”. Lindsay’s boss didn’t mind and she suffered no negative repercussions.
Craig, who is in his 20s and identified here by a pseudonym, says: “I feel there are some professions it has blocked me out of. If I wanted to get into teaching, that would be a hurdle.” Craig also got a new job after appearing on the show and decided not to mention it. But then a colleague saw a repeat of his show one night and “told everyone”. “I wish she hadn’t,” Craig says, but also that “no one really cared”. He applied “for a laugh”, but was “a bit gutted” to be the first contestant rejected on his episode.
Appearing on the show can also affect contestants’ romantic lives. Lindsay now has a partner who hates her Naked Attraction history. “He’s never seen it. One of his mates said: ‘I’ve seen your missus on TV,’ and he said: ‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ so we haven’t spoken about it.”
Jamie Leishman, 34, applied in 2020 because he thought it would be “really funny”; although he enjoyed his experience, it did strain his dating life. “If you’re not honest about it, you’re lying, but if you are, some people don’t like it,” says Leishman, a fire suppression engineer from Accrington. His girlfriend doesn’t like it when people bring up the show: “It’s not really fair on her. I get it – millions of people have seen me naked.”
Friends and family can be more supportive (although some might feel a tad too much). “Me and my family, we all went to my cousin’s, got a takeaway, had a few bottles of wine and sat down to watch it. It was a good laugh,” Lindsay says.
Cosgrove, who is one of seven, says her siblings “weren’t shocked” she went on the show: “They think I was put in this world to make people start talking about nudity and being comfortable in your body.” Cosgrove’s parents were a bit more “old-fashioned” and her dad “got a bit of flak” at work. “But, generally, they took it really well. When it aired, I had a big showing party and they all came along.”
Of course, the people most willing to talk about their time on Naked Attraction are those with positive experiences – some may be silently stewing after suffering more serious repercussions. Still, Richardson says: “When they come backstage, every single person has always said to me: ‘Thank you, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this and it’s been a really positive experience for me.’ There is something very special about Naked Attraction.”
The show is positive for her, too. “I’m really grateful, because I’ve seen absolutely everything and nothing shocks me,” she says. “And it makes you feel better about yourself, ultimately, especially as a 53-year-old woman. I can look at some of those people and go: ‘Oh, do you know what, actually, my bum is quite good!’”
Barrett has no regrets after appearing on a show that once baffled him. “It was liberating,” he says. “If you can do that, you can do anything.”
