Dating Naked UK host Rylan hits back at critics calling his show ‘tedious’ (original) (raw)
What did you miss?
Rylan has defended his new show Dating Naked UK after critics slammed it as “joyless” and suggested he has made the wrong call in signing up as host.
The Paramount+ series follows singles who are trying to find love in a tropical paradise, while they are completely naked. Early reactions have been disappointing, with critics dishing out one star reviews and calling it “tedious” and “attention-seeking”.
While most reviewers seem to be fans of Rylan, the general consensus is that Dating Naked UK may have been a bad move for him, with the Daily Mail saying he now “risks sliding straight back to the bottom of the TV snakes and ladders board” and Yahoo's Ian Hyland writing: "You have to wonder how many more stinkers he’ll be allowed to collect before his agent has a word. Or he gets a new agent."
What, how and why?
However, Rylan doesn’t seem to be too ruffled by the criticism and defended the show during an appearance on ITV’s This Morning, saying the experiment “has worked” as there are people from the series who are still together.
He told presenters Rochelle Humes and Joel Dommett: “There are going to be a lot of people out there, I’ve had it already, ‘Oh why are you lowering yourself to this, you’ve got a good career?’ I think one of the reviews today said I need a new agent… but honestly, I am so proud of it.
Rylan said he's 'proud' of the show. (ITV screengrab)
“And after that initial 10 minutes of going, ‘Oh my goodness’, you are going to be hooked.”
Rylan went on: “It was February we filmed this. There are people still together from the show.”
He said that while some people come out of shows like Love Island and are very visible, seeking brand deals and the like, “these guys haven’t been known for the past six, seven months”. “But they have been together so I know it has worked,” he said.
“What happens throughout the show, 90% of it wouldn’t have happened if they weren’t naked so that experiment side of it all, really worked out.”
Rylan promised 'twists and turns'
The TV star also promised that there were plenty of twists and surprises in store for viewers. “Lucky I’m wearing sleeves because I’ve got a lot up them,” he quipped. “There is a lot of twists and turns along the way.
Rylan said there were lots of 'twists and turns' in the series. (Paramount+)
“What’s great about it is you have no idea and they have no idea what the end goal is. No-one knows, how does someone win? How does the format play out? We do, you don’t.”
He went on: “When it comes down to the end, I’m trying to be so careful not to give anything away, something happens where they then go, ‘Oh I wasn’t expecting that!’”
Rylan, who said the duty of care on the programme was second to none, also told how he coped when he was with all the naked daters for the first time.
“I’m quite an honest person, I’m gonna look,” he said. “You are going to look watching it, everyone is going to look because that’s human nature. We’ve all got it, all underneath our clothes, we’ve all got bodies.”
Rylan defended the show on This Morning. (ITV screengrab)
He explained: “The first thing I did when I walked in… I walk in and I’m like, ‘Welcome daters’, and then there is a challenge straight away… at that point one of the camera guys got me to stop for second, they we’re getting too much sun flare. For 30 seconds everyone is silent… they are all in front of me naked.
"I just went, ‘I need to get this out of the way now’ and I looked them in the eye and I just went (staring) and I scoured! And they did exactly what everyone in this room just did, they laughed, and from that moment on it was fine.”
Dating Naked UK starts on Friday 23 August on Paramount+.