Virgin Island producer was 'terrified' cast would quit Channel 4 show that gives cast chance to have sex

Channel 4’s latest documentary series could be its most ground-breaking and controversial yet - with its sexually inexperienced cast being given the chance to lose their virginity to a trained professional. sees 12 adults, who are lacking in sexual experience and fear physical touch in some cases, head to a luxury retreat for a unique intimacy course in the hopes of overcoming their worries and phobias around sex.

Commissioning editor Jonah Weston greenlit the series after reading statistics by University College London that one in eight 26-year-olds were still virgins today. “Many people applied for the show - literally hundreds - which backed up our hunch that we were onto something,” he says.

“Obviously, duty of care is important to us at so it was a question of the brilliant casting team and psychologists getting the right mix of people who felt representative of what is going on in Britain, but also people that the team felt were able to go through this process.

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“You can see how courageous those people were to go on that course, let alone do it on TV. It was really important for us that they were fully briefed for exactly what was going to happen and prepared for those emotions that might come up.”

The cast are guided by professional sexologists Celeste Hirschman and Dr. Danielle Harel, who have been teaching their certified Somatica Method of experiential sex therapy for 20 years.

While all of the cast take on exercises that aim to raise their self-esteem and overcome their intimacy fears, some are given the option to work with a surrogate partner therapist - a practitioner who can become physically intimate with their client.

Celeste explains, “A surrogate partner therapist works in conjunction with a traditional licensed therapist and then a client. The therapist is there so if anything emotional comes up for the client that they have someone to process it with, and the surrogate partner can go step-by-step through erotic experiences.

“Everything from basic touching to getting comfortable with nudity and then all the way through to manual sex, oral sex and even intercourse, depending on what’s needed for the particular client.”

Danielle adds that some of the cast arrived on the island wanting to lose their virginity. “They came in very excited and I think they were looking forward to the experience so they were scared but wanted to get there. It was very much working with each individual’s process and checking in on who’s ready for what.

“Surrogates were one thing on the island but there are other options as well so it’s not like everyone has to go through that.”

Virgin Island producer Robert Davis admits that they took a gamble with the show and its controversial methods. “I was obviously terrified that they were going to leave the island straight away. It’s a TV first and nobody really knows what’s going to go on,” he says.

“Our biggest worry was how are they going to take to the therapy. What we actually got was a little bit of scepticism at first but gradually as the process went on, they fell more in love with the therapy and it ended up being transformational.”

He adds, “The other thing is that consent was key - they were also in control and they could take it as far as they wanted to or not. That was paramount.”

Jonah reveals that some of the final scenes of the series show how much the cast has changed. “After working in TV for 30 years, that was about the most heartening experience I’ve ever had. There was not a dry eye on set. These guys designed a brilliant course where these 12 people clearly felt challenged but ultimately safe and looked after.”

For Danielle and Celeste, they hope viewers learn a thing or two from the comfort of their sofas. “I really hope that once they see the vulnerability and bravery and openness that each of these young folks went through on their journeys, they’ll be inspired to take their own journey too,” Celeste says.

Danielle adds, “People feel so much shame around sexuality, feeling inadequate, not knowing how to do things, how to seduce and there’s no one to ask. You can read lots of books but it’s not going to help you because there’s something about really having an experience and feeling it in your nervous system.

“In some ways, the audience is going through it with the cast, which I love so much.”

Virgin Island airs Monday at 9pm on Channel 4.

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