A reality show sent 12 virgins to an island to learn how to have sex. The result was weirdly coy | Jennifer Jasmine White

Sexologists? Tick. ‘Up against the wall’ practice sessions? Tick. But Virgin Island obscured the real truth about intimacyChannel 4’s latest attempt to straddle the line between televised humiliation and light titillation came to an end this week. Virgin Island documented a two-week bootcamp for 12 “courageous virgins”, whisked off to Mamma Mia!-style surrounds and delivered into the hands of self-proclaimed experts with job titles such as “emotional intimacy coach”, “surrogate partner therapist” and “sexological bodyworker”. These professionals were meant to help them overcome physical and emotional hang-ups around sex, and offered a kind of hands-on, public therapy that for most of us previously existed only in nightmares.Having watched the entire series across an especially sedentary weekend, I’m in no position to doubt that this sometimes made for maddeningly good TV. From tutorials in oral sex to animal role-play, the whole affair resembled a sun-kissed gameshow with a few premature ejaculations scattered in for good measure. At the end of the series, only one contestant had lost their virginal status, and it briefly seemed possible that the grinning individual in question might be presented with a Bullseye-style prize for doing so – a Nissan Micra for your victory in the boudoir, perhaps?Jennifer Jasmine White is a writer and academicDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

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