Pucker up, because there’s going to be more kissing going on! 😘
Last year, BBC Three found success with the U.K.’s first-ever exclusively-gay reality dating show, I Kissed A Boy, a series that asked: Is it possible to find love at first smooch?
Hosted by Aussie pop icon Dannii Minogue (sister to Kylie, naturally), the show paired off compatible matches among a group of handsome queer singles who meet each other, for the first time, with a kiss. From there on out, the guys are encouraged to test out their new relationships and see if they’re a good fit while living in a gorgeous Italian villa—something that’s not to easy when there are plenty of other eligible bachelors around the house!
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I Kissed A Boy was such a lip-smacking good time that, before the finale even aired last year, the BBC went ahead a green-lit a spin-off, I Kissed A Girl, which… we imagine is pretty self-explanatory, no?
Needless to say, I Kissed A Girl—which premiered earlier this month—also quickly became a hit, prompting the network to slather on the chapstick and announce a second season of I Kissed A Boy!
At this rate, BBC Three could keep alternating between the two and have a new long-running dating franchise on its hands, a la The Bachelor / The Bachelorette. What’s next, I Kissed A Senior Citizen? (We’re riffing The Golden Bachelor, if that wasn’t obvious…)
Bad Education‘s Layton Williams will return as Boy‘s narrator (TikToker Charley Marlowe narrates Girl), with Minogue back for hosting duties.
“I am so excited that I’ll be back in Italy to play cupid,” the singer shares in a press statement. “There are so many diverse and important stories yet to tell. And be sure that I’ll have the party started for a wonderful summer of love.”
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And if you’re in America, don’t worry: Soon these Kiss-es will blow across the pond, as Hulu announced it’ll be the official U.S. streaming home for both Boy and Girl.
I Kissed A Girl will hit the platform at a TBA announced date later this year (presumably after the season wraps up on BBC Three), while I Kissed A Boy will drop stateside on June 15 as part of the streamer’s “Hulu Has Pride” package next month, which will also include two other notable imports: Season two of the addicting, queer-inclusive slasher-comedy Wreck and the star-studded An Audience With Kylie concert special. (Move over Kardashians, the Minogues are Hulu’s new favorite celeb family!)
Looks like the I Kissed A… franchise is ready to leave some lipstick stains all over the world!
I Kissed A Boy contestant Dan Harry combats HIV stigma with new documentary
While we wait to see how American audiences will take to the charming lads of I Kissed A Boy, many of its contestants have parlayed the show’s success to pursue other projects in the U.K.
Chief among them is Dan Harry Glendinning, a journalist-turned-PR exec who [spoiler alert!] became part of a fan-favorite couple with Ollie King, pair who has a particularly raunchy shower hookup that sure steamed up our TV screens.
Notably, after his season aired, Dan used his platform to be a vocal LGBTQ+ advocate and a sexual health ambassador, even signing up to take part in a new HIV vaccine trial. Now, he continues that work as a presenter of the BBC iPlayer documentary HIV, PrEP & Me.
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At a time when HIV diagnoses are increasing for certain groups in England, the doc finds Dan traveling all over the country to meet different with people affected by HIV, experts in the field, and even his own parents, all to combat stigma around the virus and the educate the masses about PrEP.
“I’m someone who’s very open when it comes to sexual health and my own journey,” Dan recently shared with Attitude. “And I put myself out there in that way, you know. So, I was very honored to be asked [to present the documentary].”
And while HIV, PrEP & Me might not share information new to gay men who are already on PrEP, its message is meant to spread awareness to other communities, including ethnic minorities and even straight people. For example, one of the subjects Dan meets with is a 27-year-old heterosexual woman who was diagnosed with HIV at 21, but has since used her status to be a sexual health advocate for other women like her.
“There’s so much work to do in raising awareness of PrEP and making people realize that it might be something for them,” Dan shares.
There’s an assumption that most people go on reality shows just to chase their 15 seconds of fame, but Dan Harry Glendinning is proof that that spotlight can be used for good, too.
In fact, if this is the kind of upstanding LGBTQ+ heroes that I Kissed A Boy and I Kissed A Girl are introducing to the world, then we hope both shows run for many, many more seasons to come!
HIV, PrEP & Me is now streaming in the U.K. via the BBC iPlayer.
I Kissed A Girl Season 1 is airing now in the U.K. on BBC Three. I Kissed A Boy Season 1 begins streaming in the U.S. via Hulu on June 15.
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