Nearly 1,000 complaints have been received by UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom over Channel 4’s Naked Education, which features adults stripping in front of teenagers in a bid to promote body positivity. The first episode of the series, presented by Anna Richardson, Dr. Alex George and Yinka Bokinni, was aired on 4 April and received 920 complaints. The series is aimed at 14 to 16-year-olds.
Critics took to social media to call for the programme to be cancelled. Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis said it was “not how responsible sex education should happen”. Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway also criticised the “physicality of a stranger being naked in front of a teenager”.
Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer Ian Katz rejected accusations that the show promoted paedophilia or exploited children. A Channel 4 spokesperson has said that all teenagers participating in the Naked Education item had “appropriate consent” and that both they and their guardians had been “fully aware and prepared to take part”.
All six episodes of the programme are available for streaming online. Naked Education was promoted as being “educational, emotional [and] joyous” and being aimed at “normalis[ing] all body types, champion[ing] our differences and break[ing] down stereotypes”.