{"id":15254,"date":"2025-08-18T08:50:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T12:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T09:29:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T13:29:19","slug":"karen-plumb-peter-geist-on-refreshing-the-dating-genre-with-are-you-my-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/karen-plumb-peter-geist-on-refreshing-the-dating-genre-with-are-you-my-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You My First? Looks to Refresh the Dating Genre"},"content":{"rendered":"

A brand-new show has hit the ever-popular dating genre, this time with a unique twist\u2014virginity as a central theme. Plimsoll Productions and ITV America teamed up for Are You My First?<\/em>, a format that gathers a group of virgins in a tropical paradise to give them the freedom to explore connections without judgment, which Hulu ordered to series early on for the U.S. and Disney+ internationally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen developing dating show concepts, you need an idea that\u2019s both distinctive and widely relatable\u2014one that guarantees drama, emotional stakes and real jeopardy,\u201d Karen Plumb, executive producer of the series and head of factual entertainment at Plimsoll, tells\u00a0TV Formats<\/em>. \u201cWith headlines noting that approximately one in four Gen Zers identifies as a virgin, it was clear this was a compelling, topical phenomenon. The concept also felt excitingly fresh\u2014not easy to pull off in unscripted TV.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVirginity is typically ignored or played for laughs in dating shows, and our aim was to change that with honesty, vulnerability and nuance,\u201d she continues. \u201cThe topic intersects with themes like self-discovery, societal pressure and personal choice, making it rich terrain for authentic storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdult virginity, for varied personal reasons\u2014religious beliefs, emotional readiness, health challenges\u2014is a globally resonant theme,\u201d Plumb adds. \u201cThe respectful, sex-positive framing allows viewers across cultures to empathize and relate. This is a format that definitely has global appeal, with most territories able to make their own versions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casting director Doron Ofir and his team helped narrow down the first batch of applicants for the first iteration of the show before ITV America stepped in to lend its expertise, having cast for\u00a0Love Island USA<\/em>\u00a0across seven seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the outset, we knew we were looking for sexy, engaging and courageous \u2018later-in-life\u2019 virgins who had chosen to remain virgins\u2014but who were open to a change in status,\u201d Plumb says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things I love about the series is that everyone\u2019s reason \u2018why\u2019 [they are a virgin] is unique,\u201d Peter Geist, showrunner and executive producer, says. \u201cWhether it was a religious reason, a cultural reason, an intimacy reason, whatever it was, it was respected by the cast and crew. There was never pressure on someone to give up their beliefs or values to participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCultivating a non-judgmental behind-the-scenes crew was imperative to make the series work, as was finding the right hosts,\u201d Geist says. \u201cI felt it was very important to have one male and one female as hosts, just in case our participants had any delicate questions to ask,\u201d he notes. \u201cThis ended up being a very important decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colton Underwood and Kaitlyn Bristowe, both previous contestants of\u00a0The Bachelor<\/em>\/The Bachelorette<\/em>\u00a0franchises, were chosen for the job. \u201cBoth have tried finding love on television themselves, and they understand how hard it is to be vulnerable in that kind of environment,\u201d Geist explains. \u201cBeyond that, Colton has specific personal experience, publicly revealing that he was a virgin when he first started on\u00a0The Bachelorette<\/em>. As hosts, they don\u2019t just talk the talk; they walk the walk. They\u2019ve been down this road before and can relate to each of our cast members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like many dating shows before it,\u00a0Are You My First?<\/em>\u00a0brings its participants to a tropical beach environment. \u201cWe had already disrupted genre expectations; we felt there was no need to reinvent the locale,\u201d Plumb says of the decision to film at a resort in Costa Rica. \u201cWe wanted our later-in-life virgins to experience a setting as sexy and appealing as their non-virgin dating counterparts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The initial U.S. edition is now available on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plimsoll Productions\u2019 Karen Plumb, executive producer of Are You My First?, and showrunner Peter Geist tell World Screen Newsflash about how the new dating format for Hulu refreshes the popular genre and has global appeal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,69],"tags":[4437,2571,3621,4436,1249],"class_list":["post-15254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","category-top-stories","tag-are-you-my-first","tag-hulu","tag-karen-plumb","tag-peter-geist","tag-plimsoll-productions","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nAre You My First? 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