Virgin Island cast member says the show left him so crushed he can ‘barely remember’ it

Channel 4 has aired one of its most controversial (but let’s face it, quintessentially Channel 4) shows ever this year with Virgin Island. The show takes its cast to a retreat, who all describe themselves as virgins in an attempt to help them lose their virginity and / or get them more comfortable with intimacy. Whilst the show is certainly somewhat well intentioned, one of the cast of Virgin Island has now explained how the experience left him so crushed he says he can barely even remember it. Yikes.

In a lengthy post on his Substack, Virgin Island cast member Ben explained how the show crushed him and shared the moments where he was at his lowest that never even made it to air.

The rejection was harsh

Ben, who is a civil servant from Kent, got put through the wringer on the show when he was on the receiving end of some awkward rejection. The Virgin Island cast had to pair up to demonstrate flirting and touching each other. When one of the experts asked who wanted to pair up with Ben, it was just all brutally awkward faces as no one came forward and one of the experts on the show had to fill in instead.

Ben wrote on his Substack “by this point I was so crushed by what I felt was another in a long line of rejections that I barely even remember anything of our ‘date'”. He also said he felt so rejected that he struggled to keep any focus or interest in the remainder of the activity because it affected him that much.

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Ben continued: “Once I sat back down, I felt so dejected that I couldn’t even pay attention to the rest of the session, and eventually had to step out for a bit.” Ben did acknowledge of course that on reflection he didn’t think the group were being personal towards him, but just that it touched so much of a nerve due to his past getting bullied and prior dating experiences.

Ben then said that following that rejection “I undoubtedly reached my lowest point in the aftermath of that workshop” – but managed to get a breakthrough when talking through stuff with Virgin Island’s clinic therapist Abby Sheneman. It didn’t make it to air.

Ben has also revealed that he is still a virgin. When explaining why he’s never managed to have sex, he explained how he turned down sex with his most recent girlfriend in 2023 because the pressure and fear was too much after so many years of build up. “My many years of inexperience had built up to such a level that I flat-out turned down the opportunity to have sex with her on multiple occasions out of fear.”

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