Whether it be Virgin Island, Temptation Island, or the litany of Netflix dating shows that seem to exist, there has never been more dating reality shows than there are now, and they’ve never been racier.
With Virgin Island featuring ‘sex surrogates’ and many still not over ‘Montoya, por favor’, it may shock people to find out there’s another show that is even wilder.
Sharing Channel 4 with Virgin Island, the series sees couples decide to try and open up their relationship to see whether it could enhance it.
It leads to a lot of experimenting by the couples, childhood sweethearts having a threesome and, in one case a woman’s boyfriend having a six-woman orgy on the first night.
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Called Open House: The Great Sex Experiment, this TV show sounds a nightmare for many.
Tanith and Mark, 30 and 40 respectively, go on the show as Tanith is eyeing marriage and Mark is more suffering from a ‘wandering eye’.
Tanith suggests that the pair open their relationship up and go on the show, travelling to separate parties on the first night as suggested by the show’s therapist.
Whilst she goes round her party on night one telling potential suitors she’s not interested and he’s her soulmate, Mark gets straight to business and is intimate with six women all at once in a yurt.
Though Tanith says in the show she was ‘so humiliated’ despite him not crossing any boundaries she had set, she has since come out and said the show saved their relationship.
Speaking to The Sun, Tanith and Mark revealed that following the show they had thrown themselves into the lifestyle of swinging.
Mark said: “Tan was really upset because she felt left out. We’d never done anything separately.”
Tanith said: “You never know how you’ll feel in those kinds of situations. My insecurities flared up, which I didn’t expect. I just couldn’t control my emotions.
"When Mark came back and broke the news, It was a lot of feelings at once.”
Tanith added, stating she didn’t want to quit the show: “I knew we could make non-monogamy work for us. I didn’t want to give up on the experiment.
“For us, going off and doing things separately doesn’t really fit with how we are. We’re a very close couple. We’ve come out stronger than ever because of what we went through.
“Our communication and trust is better than any relationship I've ever been in.”
Tanith spoke about how the therapy on the show had helped her make realisations about herself, eventually leading her to choose to have a threesome with another member of the house and Mark on the final day of the show.
The pair are now regular swingers, stating they attend parties but don’t always engage sexually with other couples.
Things have moved forward for them in other areas too, with them expecting a child later this year in August.
Speaking about one rule that has kept them happy the pair were clear – they simply don’t ‘play’ separately anymore, even when playing with others.
Topics: Channel 4, TV and Film, TV, Sex and Relationships
Michael Slavin