Massages, masturbation and bananas: what to know about Channel 4’s eye-popping new sex-positive show

Channel 4’s latest raunchy TV show kicked off last week, acquainting viewers with a new, experimental concept: what will happen when you put 12 people on an island who haven’t yet had sex?

Over the course of two weeks, 12 virgins will take part in a boot camp that aims to address the various issues they have around intimacy, love and whatever might be standing in the way of them getting it on. By the end of that fortnight, it’s hoped, they might finally be ready to take the plunge (no pun intended).

The show’s methods are varied, but includes, apparently, sex coaches stripping off and encouraging the show’s participants to pleasure them, sharing their ‘hottest’ sexual fantasies with each other, and feeding each other bananas whilst blindfolded.

If this sounds extreme, consider this: the contestants aren’t alone. According to a study from University College London, which surveyed more than 16,000 people across the UK, one in eight 26 year olds still hadn’t had sex.

That’s something that sexologists Danielle Harel and Celeste Hirschman and a team of experts are attempting to address during the show. With how much success? Who knows, but it’s certainly been an interesting watch: here’s what to know.

As with most reality TV shows, they’re taken to a Mediterranean island ‘retreat’ that’s kitted out with tents, therapy rooms and bedrooms. They’ll also be taking part in a series of workshops with Harel and Hirschman, as well as the other therapists.

One of these workshops involves Harel and a therapist getting it on in front of the group; another involves detailed discussion of masturbation techniques, and another one is around letting go of their inhibitions – which involves exploring their ‘inner animal’. Apparently, this means getting on all fours and rubbing up against other people, or perhaps even mounting them. Lovely.

The participants are also encouraged to work together by themselves – which is where the banana-feeding comes in, as well as massaging each other.

Ben is a 33-year-old civil servant. He told the Guardian that he had been on 50 dates over the last 10 years, but hadn’t managed to get to a more intimate stage with any partner.

“I just didn’t have the confidence, because I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said, adding that being a male virgin came with its own specific set of challenges – namely, if you hadn’t yet had sex, “you must be a weirdo”.

He signed up to the programme because he felt like “I got to the stage where I thought I probably do need some sort of professional help.”

Charlotte is a 29-year-old care worker. She said that she decided to go on the show because “I wanted to rid myself of my shame that I had surrounding my body, and my desire, and my ability to give myself pleasure, I wanted to be honest with myself so that I would not be hindered when having relationships in the future.”

Dave is a 24-year-old accountant, who said that applying for the show was “an initial joke” but became the “opportunity of a lifetime.”

“I have always struggled to open up to people in any manner as I'm naturally very cautious. This led me to feel invisible. A feeling I couldn't take anymore,” he explained.

Emma is a 23-year-old food worker who felt “outnumbered” being “the only virgin amongst my friendship group.”

“I believed I was the only human experiencing adult life without intimacy."

She added: "I admired the fact Channel 4 was bringing something to TV which shines light on a topic some people may typically tiptoe around or find controversial.

"The fact that this concept was being brought to TV made me realise being over 21 and never having sex was not as rare as I thought it was. I think important attention is being brought to the fact that statistics show a significant decline in sexual activity since the 2000s."

Holly is a 23-year-old dog groomer. “I felt like I was at a point in my life where I was ready to experience being with someone, but I had a lot of anxiety and questions about myself that I felt I had to work through before taking that step," she explained.

Jason is a 25-year-old admin worker. "My intimacy life was non-existent,” he said, “I decided to do something about it.”

“Virgin Island was something out of my comfort zone but a necessity - it has made me a million times better!"

Louise is a 22-year-old care advisor. "My friend actually sent me the application as a joke,” she admitted. However, she soon warmed to the idea.

“I thought, ‘Why not?’ I was at the point where I was willing to try anything and had just accepted that there must’ve just been something wrong with me - I think the fact that my friends would see the word ‘virgin’ and think of me says enough to be honest."

Pia is a 23-year-old digital marketing assistant. “I applied for Virgin Island because of my struggles with vaginismus. I wanted to overcome the pain and anxiety I felt when exploring penetrative sex," Pia said.

She added that she “found intimacy incredibly overwhelming.”

Tom is a 23-year-old drama student. “I always found myself to be a freak because I struggled to lose it whilst others around me continued to pop their cherries," he confessed.

“It severely affected my mental health, filling me with self-loathing which in turn made me a worse person."

After spending a New Year’s eve alone, he decided to apply to the show.

Taylor is a 29-year-old receptionist. “I guess you could say Virgin Island came at the right time for me,” she said.

“I spent my whole (adult) life wondering why I found sexual things so difficult when others didn't.”

She told the Guardian that she had had intimate experiences, but they had all been negative – something exacerbated by a lack of sex education at her religious school, and her realising she was bisexual.

“It felt like a little community, like we all had something in common, even though we all had different things to work on,” she added.

She also cited her experience on Virgin Island as a positive one. “It has changed life for me. I feel like I know myself a lot better. And I’m not willing to make myself uncomfortable for the sake of doing something I ‘should’ be doing.”

Viraj is a 25-year-old personal trainer who applied to the show because he “had a massive struggle to express myself in front of women.”

"For me it wasn’t about the intimacy stage but more with the confidence side of talking to women and making small talk. This whole idea was encouraged by my friends for me to get out of my comfort zone and go through with this."

Zac is a 28-year-old delivery driver. He said that when he first heard about the show, he was sceptical. “I was like - no way, I’m not gonna do that, but I started to think about it more and more, and I realised that I wasn’t getting anywhere by myself, time was just passing me by with no real positive change."

The idyllic setting of the Channel 4 show is the Obonjan island in Croatia.

The 136 acre island is surrounded by the glittering turqoise Adriatic Sea.