What it’s really like to be a contestant on nude dating show Naked Attraction

Standing in your birthday suit, your genitals judged as the world watches. One contestant lifts the lid on TV’s weirdest show. WARNING: Nudity

Naked Attraction is TV’s most shocking show — but the bizarre British dating hit is enjoying a cult following here in Australia, with new episodes dropping weekly for streaming on 9Now.

But how on earth do you end up standing starkers in a pod being ogled for a potential date by someone you can’t see?

The Sun asked former contestant Emmy Lou Hill to give the naked facts about how the show works.

The 29-year-old said that it took only a few short weeks from clicking the application to standing in the pink pod facing a bisexual “picker” called Leah — and her dog Kush.

Emmy Lou explained: “A friend of mine applied, so I thought I’d fill out the form too and see where it went. I didn’t think I’d be picked.

“You don’t get paid. It’s something that if you want to do, you can do. It’s very liberating — and a great experience.”

Emmy Lou said it was “very liberating”. Picture: Channel 4

“I didn’t think I’d be picked!” Picture: Channel 4

Once you’ve filled in a form, it’s off to the naked audition. Yes, you have to take your clothes off before you even get on the show.

“You do an audition — mine was over Skype,” says Emmy Lou. “You’d think that would be nerve-racking but it wasn’t. You have a conversation with them before and when you audition it’s a case of taking your clothes off.”

Four days later, she’d travelled up from her hometown in Brighton to the studio in Manchester, northern England, which is kept toasty-warm so none of the six naked contestants catch a chill.

From there, the screen slowly rise, from the feet up, with your body being judged at each point.

Emmy Lou didn’t get her girl, who chose Greg instead. Picture: Channel 4

Leah looked at Emmy Lou’s pink-lit pod and told host Anna Richardson: “I love pink, I love her ink. I can cope with bigger boobs. They’re just heavier, but there’s more to play with — why not?”

She giggled affectionately: “Pink looks like a freak.”

Emmy Lou explained: “I was a bit nervous at first. You’re in the pods with people you don’t know, who you’ve only got to meet very briefly.”

But isn’t it quite harsh to eliminate people just on the basis of their feet or genitals?

She appeared clothed … Picture: Channel 4

. But only briefly. Picture: Channel 4

“It’s the point of the show,” says Emmy Lou. “It’s about what we’re nakedly attracted to. People may say that they’ve had bad experiences with sexual partners who have really bad foot hygiene.

“It may seem harsh but that’s how you play the game.”

Emmy Lou got down to the final two, but it wasn’t to be, as she was left “gutted” that Leah went for Greg. “I might have fallen in love a bit,” she admitted. “But oh well.”

She tells us: “We’re all friends now. I actually met up with everyone I was on the show with to watch it live.

Once paired up, couples go off for a (clothed) date together. Picture: Channel 4

“The picker Leah, Greg and Jay, we all watched it live on Leah’s TV in London and we made a weekend of it.”

But what about the friends and family watching at home?

They even filmed her backstage preparing to get her kit off. Picture: Channel 4

“My friends thought it was great,” Emmy Lou explains. “They absolutely loved it. My family was aware, though they haven’t said much about it.

“I’m lucky — both my mother and father live abroad, so my direct family haven’t had a chance to see it and I don’t think they’ll go looking for it! More distant family … it was a bit of surprise, but they were very proud of me.”

Naked Attraction is available to stream via 9Now.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission.