Hot Picks: Virgin Island

You may think you know what you’re getting into with a show that takes a group of young people to a luxury resort where they mingle and get to know each other, but Virgin Island turns that conceit firmly on its head.

Billed as a ‘tonic to Love Island’, the series examines the impact of our increasingly sexualised society on a group of young people who experience ‘intimacy anxiety’, taking them to a paradise resort to undergo group and individual therapy, and take part in exercises designed to help them overcome their insecurities. The extent of their anxiety runs the gamut, from discomfort about baring skin to not wanting to be touched on the shoulder.

Channel 4 specialist factual commissioning editor Jonah Weston says the rationale for greenlighting the show was how “counter-intuitive” it is that so many young people are struggling with intimacy and sex in the “Love Island age”.

He adds: “Getting to the bottom of that and working out whether those young people could be helped just felt like a must-do. I hope viewers will be charmed and heartened by the incredible cast, who were brave enough to step forward and explore an issue that is affecting thousands of young people across the UK.”

The title continues C4’s long history of programmes that are “provocative with purpose”, Weston adds.

“Virgin Island isn’t filling a gap per se, but intelligent and warm shows in that vein will always be welcome on Channel 4,” he explains.

The series will be launched at Mipcom but distributor Passion has already received a “huge amount” of unsolicited interest in the title, according to director of sales and co-productions Nick Tanner.

Building on Weston’s comments, Tanner points out the global appeal of the programme, considering young people around the world are feeling the pressures of ‘perfect bodies’ and being bombarded by sexual content online.

He describes Virgin Island as an issue-based programme that takes an “unflinching” approach to a taboo subject but in a way that is “warm and inclusive” and doesn’t shy away from the awkwardness of the topic.

“This isn’t a ‘dating in paradise’ reality show that is cast from Instagram and TikTok. These are real, authentic people who are there because they want to address something that is going on in their lives,” he says. “This show exists to help people move through their problems with intimacy and take them on that journey of discovery.”

Passion boarded the project early last year, partly because of its relationship with producer Double Act, and partly because the title would sit well in the distributor’s catalogue, according to Tanner.

“Given Passion’s long history with formats, particularly social experiments and identity- and sex-based storytelling, it was a natural fit for us to work on this show,” he elaborates, pointing to library siblings such as the Drag Race franchise, Mums Make Porn and Open House: The Great Sex Experiment.

“While virginity is a very different subject from the ones I’ve mentioned, dealing head-on with tough subject matter in a fun, vibrant way is what Passion is all about.”