A new dating TV series has hit our screens, and it’s taking on a lot of representation problems that we’ve been seeing on dating shows for years.
I Kissed A Boy is going down a storm, shining its spotlight on the queer dating community, one that doesn’t get much of a look in on hetero-focused dating TV shows such as Love Island.
We’re a big fan of the show’s choice of presenter too – none other than Dannii Minogue has taken up the mantle of Cupid.
‘This is a dating show for the gay community,’ she said in an interview. ‘It’s got boys looking for love and it starts off with them kissing. Ten gay guys on a holiday of a lifetime, in their search for that perfect date. It is sexy and romantic and these connections could lead them to their perfect partner.”
We’ve also heard that the show’s soundtrack is to die for, packed to the brim with ‘gay anthems’. Dreamy.
Here’s everything you need to know about I Kissed A Boy.
How does the I Kissed A Boy dating series work?
10 single men travel to an Italian villa and are matched with the person ‘best suited’ to them, with their first interaction with their chosen partner being a kiss.
Yes, you heard. No date beforehand, no small talk. The couples will then get to know each other and find out why they’d been deemed a good match by the show’s matchmakers. They’ll decide if there is chemistry, and will contend with big decisions and wandering eyes, just as other reality TV series do. But the key difference is the series is giving a voice to a community that so rarely gets one on our screens.
The contestants will open up about their experiences before coming on the show, including body image pressures they’ve faced in the gay dating scene, sex, coming out to religious family members and what their first same-sex relationships were like – all super important stories that deserve to be told and shared.
What are viewers saying about I Kissed A Boy so far?
Fans have taken to Twitter and called the show ‘messy and marvellous’ with one posting: ‘Genuinely, it’s like all the best parts of Love Island, but without the bits that make me wanna throw the TV out the window.’
Another tweeted: ‘I kissed a boy is doing everything love island did at its height but better and gayer’.
One fan was absolutely hooked from the first few minutes: ‘I kissed a boy is my absolute favourite programme and we’re only 5 mins in!!! Let’s have a girls version too please’.
Where can I watch I Kissed A Boy?
On BBC3 every Sunday, or on BBC iPlayer – the series started on Sunday 13 May, so you’ll have a few episodes to catch up with if you start now.
There’s also a reunion show – I Kissed A Boy: The Reunion – airing on 11 June, showing a catch-up with all the guys from the show.