The series follows ten single gay men who are matched up and meet for the first time "...with a kiss. No small talk. No messages. Just one kiss to test out their chemistry". The show is set in an Italian country house called the "Masseria". Prior to the show the contestants are matched, based on what they're looking for in a partner. After meeting their match for the first time with a kiss, the men are encouraged to get to know their new partners and try out their relationship.[6][7]
Contestants
The original contestants on I Kissed a Boy were announced on 26 April 2023.[8][9][10][11]
The series was available to be streamed in New Zealand on TVNZ+, from 1 July 2023, and in Australia on 10 Play, from 13 September 2023. One year later, it was also made avaiable in the Netherlands on VIDEOLAND starting 1 June 2024 and in Brazil, on Globoplay, from 12 November 2024.[14][15][16]
Reception
Benjamin Lee in The Guardian said, "It's in the show's easy balance of the basic and the specific that it most succeeds, conversations over who is top or bottom casually mixed with inane flirting over cheap wine. At a cautious eight episodes, it's unlikely to infect the nation in quite the same way as the woozy, all-consuming Love Island but it's a fun and grounding reminder that we all deserve a chance to graft around the pool while a Dua Lipa song plays in the background. Luv is luv."[17]
Writing for The Tab, Harrison Brocklehurst said, "True equality is us having the space to get bluntly pied on the telly, like Ben did to Ross. True equality is letting Bobski and Mikey have secret terrace snogs where they both end up with raging semis and Josh eye rolls his way into oblivion about it all. I want the messy gay drama that isn't RuPaul's Drag Race – and I Kissed A Boy is the carnage we deserve. I am salivating for more mess, more men and more Minogue."[18]
Spin-off
Prior to the final episode of series 1 airing on 5 June 2023, the BBC announced that a spin-off of I Kissed a Boy for lesbian women titled I Kissed a Girl, would be commissioned.[19] Dannii Minogue returned as host, with the programme commencing filming in September 2023.[20] The programme debuted on 5 May 2024.
