I Kissed a Girl Review – This Fun Gay Dating Show Should Never Be Canceled | television

IIn March, it was announced that this second series of queer dating show I Kissed a Girl would be its last. Sibling show I Kissed a Boy will also be cancelled, with the BBC citing “difficult choices in light of the funding challenges we face”. Perhaps this would matter less if the two shows weren’t so groundbreaking – the first dating shows in the UK to feature an exclusively gay male and female cast.

As well as being unprecedented, these shows have been a container for vital conversations between queer people that don’t happen anywhere else on our screens, and certainly within the remit of the national broadcaster. Plus, it’s ridiculously fun. Watching the second series of I Kissed a Girl knowing that this is the last feels like a lot of fun, but also very bittersweet.

Dannii Minogue hosts in the style of Love Island’s Maya Jama, occasionally turning up to deliver dramatic takes, while TikToker Charley Marlowe does the bulk of the comping. Within seconds, Marlo had cruise queen Jane Macdonald and LGBTQ+ music festival Mighty Hoopla. The constant queer cultural references can seem a bit cynical and middle-of-the-road, but where else can you make these kinds of references if not in the UK’s first gay dating show? Sure, Lady Gaga’s instant needle drop won’t be for everyone, but then, I Kissed a Girl more broadly won’t be for everyone — and that’s its USP.

The female cast is fantastic – and I’m not saying that because I’ve been watching different shades of toxic masculinity play out on ITV2 this summer. Faye – who describes herself as a “messy” and “wild” woman – is a very nice woman who wants “someone to be obsessed with me”. Rene is bold and loud, but there’s a gooey center there too. And who couldn’t fail to be charmed by Ebony, the burgundy-colored delivery driver with a perpetual twinkle in her eye who could toss your Vinted package into your trash and still smile?

That’s not to say we’re in some weird utopia here – there are plenty of red flags, and one contestant in particular whose immature behavior seems more in line with the lads from the Love Island villa. One challenge distorts the idea that lesbian women are more likely to move in together at a knot rate. But overall, things seem more beneficial here than on other dating shows. I appreciated the separate beds too – not that anyone was left alone for long.

As noted above, it’s the perfect space for some important conversations for the ten contestants in the Italian Masseria where they reside (contractual obligation seems to prevent anyone from uttering the word “villa”) and for the audience at home. Elisha, a gay woman, talks about how exhausting it was to prove that she is gay, while women often wonder if their relationships are just platonic – dictated by their public politeness – or if they can be romantic too. Elsewhere, Renee talks about how being a masculine lesbian means she sometimes feels like she’s not treated like the emotional woman she is. Spoiler warnings prevent me from going into detail, but one participant is very candid about her current period of singleness and is keen to find a partner with a similar outlook when it comes to intimacy. Overall, this leads to important conversations for these women, plus it’s certainly a very important resource for queer women — especially, but not exclusively, younger ones — watching at home.

I kissed a girl who is also really fun. The three episodes released for review ooze excitement of young love and lust (the women range in age from 21 to 25 this time) and a soundtrack of sapphic pop stars, including Japanese House and Sarah Nimmo, who don’t feel as constrained as Gaga. It’s a four-star series, but – and I’m breaking the fourth wall here – it seems important enough to get a five-star rating, and more valuable to the country’s young viewers than the BBC might be aware of. The Apprentice had 20 series, while Dragons’ Den had 23 – and the first gay dating franchise in the UK to manage four.