VH1’s Dating Naked has been a romantic success, as well as a ratings success for the cable network. With happy couples and happy executives in mind, it’s no surprise that the network has signed on to produce a second season of the hit reality series. Additionally, since the dating experiment has led to long-term romance for one of the couples on the show, Dating Naked has a special in the works called Dating Naked: The Wedding and this morning VH1 announced it will be bringing us the special in all its naked glory, soon.
The show has done well in live viewership, pulling in over a million viewers each week and finding a secondary audience via online streaming. While one million viewers wouldn’t be a lot to talk about for some of the other cable networks, VH1 hasn’t exactly built the solid programming lineup that networks like AMC and FX have.
So, the ratings are pretty good on Dating Naked, thanks to the show’s unconventional dating premise. Yet, the network’s big press release this morning also made it clear that Dating Naked is more than a gimmicky premise for the network. Executive Vice President of Original Programming & Production Susan Levison spoke out to note that six love matches have already been made on the series. This means that a whopping twelve people who met on Dating Naked are still in a relationship post the show. Couple Ashley and Alika are even getting married in a ceremony during which they and, creepily enough, all of their guests will be naked. Long story short, Dating Naked apparently works.
Still, the one-hour series has not been without controversy. Last month, Dating Naked contestant Jessie Nizewitz sued VH1’s owner, Viacom, for $10 million dollars after the network failed to censor her lower half several times during a bout of naked mud wrestling on the show. As a result, audiences were treated to views of her crotch, which she claims went against the contract she signed stating that her body parts would be censored. Clearly, VH1 doesn’t seem worried about the lawsuit in regards to a second season of the TV series, but I’m guessing the show will be a whole lot more anal about censoring this time around.
Season 2 of Dating Naked will be similar to Season 1, with 10 one-hour episodes produced by VH1. A fully clothed Amy Paffrath will continue to host the series. While VH1 hasn’t totally gotten Dating Naked Season 2 off the ground yet, the network has already begun the casting process for the second season. So, if you are interested in shedding your clothes and searching for a soulmate, you can check out the application, here.
It obviously could be some time before Dating Naked returns to the schedule, but fans of the series can catch more naked TV sooner rather than later. Dating Naked: The Wedding will air on Thursday, September 18 at 9 p.m. ET.
