‘It’s no different to changing your own beds, is it?’ says housekeeper at swingers club Liberty Elite as she scoops a condom that was stuck between the sheets up, before shoving everything in a 40 wash.
Welcome to Swingers, Channel 4’s latest ob-doc to explore British sexuality – and become an instant classic on social media. If you’re a fan of A Very British Brothel or Dogging Tales, then this is for you.
Owned by John, the doc mostly focuses on Valentine’s Day at Liberty, one of 200 swinging clubs in the UK, and the people who come to the special theme night… complete with snacks.
The club has a series of ‘nights’ it hosts, including Mature Mischief on Wednesdays, they say. The business is benefitting from a boom in swinging, which the doc says more than 1.5million Brits ‘desperate to spice up’ their love lives, enjoy.
As you’d expect, the internet was obsessed with the show, particularly 67-year-old Siobhan who has her own playroom and ‘inspections’ to… PIC
Justin and Hannah prefer a ‘couples situation’ to the threesomes they’ve previously tried so, Justin says, ‘They both get something out of it’. They’re going to the club for the first time on Valentine’s Day for the first time after swinging at home for two years. Twitter was particularly shocked by the couple’s revelation involving a wine bottle… but we don’t want to spoiler the whole programme.
Malika is a single mum and lapdancer - who says she’s not met a decent man in 30 years and is now left with trust issues, so now prefers to get her needs met at swingers clubs instead.
Simon and Carolyn are a couple, who say that the scene helps them build a stronger connection, after swinging for four years. Simon is very keen that whoever joins them, messages them with proper grammar.
Martyn who stumbled on a swinging site while on dating apps while on holiday and was hooked when he managed to hook up with 15 women and says he’s ‘definitely done with love’ after a bad break-up.
Unlike other shows like Dogging Tales, there’s no blurring out and everyone involved seems to be happy to talk openly about their love of swinging.
In a similar way to shows like A Very British Brothel, the show focuses on the characters and details – for instance the buffet gets a lot of attention – to comic effect while still being warm and offering an insight into a world many people are curious about.
But it always seems to stop short of any kink-shaming and on the whole is sympathetic to the people involved and their feelings (especially in the latter third), key to making the documentary appealing and interesting without being uncomfortably judgemental.
And the good news is that it’s still available to view on All4 now, if your week needs a bit of a TV-based pick-me-up.
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