Spoiler Alert: Check out VH1's 'Dating Naked' First Episode Review [VIDEO] [EXCLUSIVE]
"When you're looking for true love: Follow Your Heart, Open Your Mind, and Drop Your Pants"- Huh?
VH1 stripped the conventions of the dating game and revealed a new series for this summer, which is like a dating social experiment. Two contestants go on three dates, including the first one with each other. There's no time wasted on picking out the perfect date-outfit since they are required to wear--nothing.
Not only do the contestants bare everything on the outside, they "bare their souls" throughout the dates, sharing typically first date no-no's, like what they really want in a future relationship.
The first contestant, Joe, describes himself as a romantic who wants the "whole picket fence" life. Then there's WeWe, who's "tried everything" when it comes to dating and moved to Nashville after her boyfriend of ten years didn't want to get married.
After Joe and WeWe meet, the host Amy Paffrath (you may recognize her from Jersey Shore After Hours) prompts them to go get undressed for the first date.
"Hopefully the guards will come down once the clothes come off," says WeWe during an interview. Joe shares the embarrassment and tries to calm their nerves with a charmingly goofy joke: "I didn't even get to buy you a drink yet."
Throughout the date, their body language remains slightly uncomfortable but they immediately bond over being New Yorkers, when Joe notices the Brooklyn tattoo on WeWe's hip. Underneath their nervousness, there is chemistry and they both describe feeling like they've known each other for years.
When it's time for the second and third dates, similar nervous-naked reactions happen but since Joe and WeWe have embraced being naked already, they are quick to relax and make the other daters feel at ease with the clothes-free rule. The go-to for easing nerves with everyone becomes occasional naked jokes, but that adds some comedy to the mix.
The biggest drama takes off when all six daters hang at the Jungle Villa by the pool. Naked dating seems to speed up the dating process as far as exposing connections and true colors, especially when all the daters meet poolside. SPOILER ALERT: Joe kisses a total of two girls...
At the end of the episode, the two contestants have to pick the one they want to continue dating in front of everyone; at this point even the viewers forget that all those daters are naked. Don't worry, VH1 blurs everything out except for butts--it's no big deal.
Viewers feel comfortable and invested when it's time for the conclusion, because the pacing of the show is laid-back even though there is a lack of wardrobe. The daters seem to have gained a new liberating perspective on dating and viewers have watched a new and unconventional way of finding connections --without that latest app or website.
But of course, the best part of a dating show is the text that accompanies the beautiful closing landscape shot, which describes what happened after the show.
What happens? Check it out this Thursday at 9PM ET/PT and watch the sneak peak below.