Naked Beach: is Channel 4’s body-positive nude reality show the antidote to Love Island? Is this a new form of ethical reality TV or just the emperor’s new clothes?

Eight people in nothing but body paint are posing for cameras by the swimming pool in the searing heat of the Greek sun. So far, so Love Island.

But while Love Island and other reality TV shows have recently come under fire for damaging the mental health of both contestants and viewers at home, a new Channel 4 show is asking participants asked to strip off in the Med in the hope of “promoting body positivity.”

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Naked Beach – which airs on Thursday 11 April – might sound like the emperor’s new clothes of what could be dubbed “ethical reality”, but its makers claim that rather than being a lurid, sensationalist show designed to make the participants hit the headlines, it’s a radical social experiment that could allow people who suffer from low-esteem to completely change the way they look at their bodies.

The idea – and corresponding TV show – draws from the statistic that in the UK, more than a third of us are unhappy with the way the way we look. Social psychologist Dr Keon West and body image expert Natasha Devon MBE then devised an immersive project on the back of these studies.

A third of the UK is unhappy with the way they look

Devon said: “Britain has some of the lowest body image scores in the world. Studies show that 75 per cent of women are unhappy with the way they look and 45 per cent of men hate what they see in the mirror.”

They then worked on a theory that spending time with a range of naked bodies of all shapes and sizes, rather than just Instagram-filtered ones, can improve body image, self-esteem and ultimately life happiness.

Dr West wanted to see if the same principles could be used to help transform the way body-conscious Brits feel about themselves. So they set the challenge: four days of being pushed out of people’s comfort zones and their clothes, and then the guests (not ‘contestants’ – even the language on these shows is changing) are then asked if they are willing to strip off and join the body-happy gang on the beach.

A theory put to the test on TV

To put it to the test, Dr West and Devon first had to recruit a broad range of people with varying body shapes, but, crucially, who all had the same positive outlook on body confidence. Oh, and they had to be willing to strip off on a national TV show to demonstrate that they practise what they preach.

They found eight willing ‘hosts’ who would welcome take the lesser-brave ‘guests’ under their wings, living with them, naked, in a bid to normalise individuality. The hosts include Molly, a blogger and mum-of-two from Devon, Dan, an ex-Army man who lost his right arm and shoulder in an accident, and Felicity, a plus-size model with campaigns for MAC, L’Oreal and Ann Summers under her belt – the perfect cheerleaders and antidote to the plastic surgery-enhanced, fake-tanned and size-obsessed bodies that are normally shot to fame on these shows.

It’s definitely refreshing to see all types of body parading proudly around the programme. They’re covered in just the smallest amount of body paint to protect what’s left of their modesty – presumably to allow it to air before 9pm, catching a bigger audience to send this body positivity message to.

But what it doesn’t address is how both the ‘guests’ and ‘hosts’ navigate the murky waters of instant fame on social media. While the chosen few are being loved-bombed with the message that every body is beautiful in person, once the cameras stop rolling on this show, will the people on the show have invited wider criticism? And will the show’s producers have adequately prepared them for life back home in the UK?

It’s a novel way to approach an issue that without doubt needs to be addressed. But with the bright clown-type body paint over their bodies, the volunteers need to make sure they’re not just the newest recruits in the circus of reality TV.

Naked Beach starts on Channel 4 on Thursday 11 April at 8pm.