September 25, 2013 | Arts / Entertainment

Gay couple to have sex in front of live TV audience ... but not really

We were super excited when we heard that a TV show in Britain, Sex Box, was going to include a segment where an actual gay couple has actual gay sex in front of an actual live television audience.

But then we read the fine print. The couple, in their 30s, will be shielded from view in an opaque, sound-proof room attached to the studio. Hell, they might as well be in another country!

Then, after they do the deed - though how we are supposed to know it actually happened is anyone's guess - they will come out of the room and discuss what just happened.

US sex columnist Dan Savage, psychotherapist Phillip Hodson, sexpert Tracey Cox and agony aunt Mariella Frostrup will talk to the couple about what took place in the ‘sex box.'

"Sex Box absolutely intends to be an open and adult conversation about sex, something we feel is currently being overlooked by mainstream programming," explained Ralph Lee, Channel 4's head of factual programming. 

"It is a rather mischievous, fun idea that actually allows sex to be completely private but the conversation to be truthful and immediate," added David Glover, senior factual commissioning editor.

Two straight couples will also get to have sex in the box where nobody will see them. Yawn.

Sex Box: the TV show that hopes to 'reclaim sex from pornography' [The Guardian]