Channel 4’s newest reality show, Virgin Island, has gone through a hugely controversial release.
Many viewers were shocked by the show’s concept: 12 adult virgins being taken to an island to work through their issues surrounding intimacy with sexual specialists.
Whilst some of this is achieved through workshops and exercises, some of this is done via ‘sexologists’ and ‘sexual surrogates’.
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Many will be watching the TV show, in which the sexual surrogates engage in two-way physical intimacy with the contestants and will likely wonder how the experts working on the show got into that profession.
What are sexologists and sexual surrogates?
The team of experts are structured in what is called a ‘triad relationship’, where there is a clinical therapist, a client, and a surrogate.
This essentially means in the context of the show: the virgin, a therapist dictating proceedings, and someone who stands in as a sexual or physical surrogate.
The different types of sexologists fulfil different roles, with sexological bodyworkers initiating physical intimacy but not receiving it, and sex surrogates engaging in two-way physical intimacy.
Who does this on the show?
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The show is led by Dr Danielle Harel and Celeste Hirschman, the creators of the ‘Somatica Method’ of coaching focused on ‘transformation through pleasure’.
The pair co-founded the Somatica Institute in 2010, with Harel having a P.h.D. in human sexuality and Hirschman being a published author in the field of human sexuality studies and adolescence sexual development.
Speaking to LADbible exclusively about their field, Dr Danielle said that the retreat focused on the method known as ‘teaching while you are in a relationship with someone’.
How did they become sexologists and sexual surrogates?
“So that's a lot of what you see is the work that we developed, the Somatica method, and it is about seduction and connection, and how you get to do that?" she said.
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“You love sex and you feel like you want to inspire other people to be themselves and to feel comfortable around sexuality.
“We love sex, but we also have coaches who are really excited about the emotional process and really excited about the intimacy, really excited about repair.”
Harel and Hirschman both worked as Somatica practioners on the retreat, with Kat Slade and Andre Lazarus working as the surrogate partners, i.e. the sexual surrogates.
Kat Slade holds a Master of Arts Degree and a trained Somatica coach, whilst Lazarus is a ‘certified intimacy and sex coach’, and ‘sacred intimacy practioner’.
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The pair are shown being physically intimate on Virgin Island and, whilst the first episode does not go much further than stroking contestant’s arms in a sensual manner, the previews seem to imply the pair could end up going all the way with some of the adult virgins on the show.
Virgin Island airs on Channel 4 at 9pm on Monday and Tuesday each week.
Interview conducted by Jess Battison.
Topics: Channel 4, TV and Film, TV, Sex and Relationships
Michael Slavin