Garfinkle believes that people shouldn't be focusing on the nudity anyway.

"We are a society that is completely hung up on nudity," Garfinkle said. "If you go to Europe, it's not that way. I think we have gotten better as a society, but everyone still jumps on stories like these when in fact maybe we should be worrying more about people killing each other in wars. People showing their behinds on TV isn't that big of a deal compared to that. You can see more nudity on HBO or Showtime than you certainly do on my show."

While nudity might be a hook to attract viewers, it also presents an important part of why the shows are successful creatively. For Dating Naked, having the contestants date while nude forces them to be honest with each other in ways you wouldn't normally see on first dates.

"We are peeling back layers and showing real honesty and allowing people to really be who they are at their core," Paffrath said. "It's raw and real. They don't have anything to hide behind. It's giving people a different approach to dating when nothing else has worked. These people are at their wits' end and willing to try anything at this point. We've found that it actually helps people connect on a deeper level. Their conversations are more meaningful and personal."

And that's exactly where the concept for Dating Naked came from: discovering that honesty and putting it on display.



"When it comes to dating, people's number one complaint seems to be that there is too much deception," Dating Naked executive producer Rob LaPlante said. "If everyone is feeling this way, we said to ourselves, ‘Let's create a world where deception is eradicated.' And the way to make the most honest and vulnerable dating situation possible is to have everyone naked. When you're naked, you have nowhere to hide and therefore you're left with nothing but what God gave you. It's an extreme answer to a simple question and that's what makes it fun to watch."