A MAN from Rhyl is taking part in a new dating show on BBC Three, and had his first kiss in its launch episode.
Josh Cem, 24, is a contestant on “I Kissed a Boy”, hosted by Dannii Minogue and, the BBC says, “the UK’s first gay male dating show”.
An optical consultant at Rhyl’s Specsavers store, Josh travelled to a farmhouse in Puglia, southern Italy last September for the show’s filming.
The first of eight episodes aired on BBC Three last night (May 14), and involved all 10 starting contestants being paired up into five couples.
It also saw Josh publicly come out as gay for the first time.
READ MORE:
Rhyl man one of 10 contestants on new BBC gay dating programme
Introducing himself, Josh said: “I’m very fresh out of the closet. I grew up in a Mormon household; all of my family are Mormons, so it took me a very long time to be accepting of my sexuality.
“I’ve never been in a relationship, I’ve never had sex, and I’ve never even kissed a boy.
“I think I’m going to be the s****est kisser in the world, to be honest.”
NEWSLETTER: Get the latest stories from the Rhyl, Prestatyn and Abergele area sent straight to your inbox by signing up here.
Josh’s first kiss was with Bobski, a former tennis player from Harlow, Essex, who he was paired up with at the start of the show.
The episode later sees the contestants enjoy an opening night “Pride Party”, during which an 11th contestant - Mikey, from Liverpool – enters the villa.
After meeting each other, Josh then leads Mikey on a tour of the villa, after earlier admitting that Bobski is “not my usual type”.
He says he is more attracted to Mikey, who tells Josh that he smells “unreal”.
“It’s only £12 aftershave!”, Josh replies.
Earlier this month, Josh told the Journal that he was scouted on social media by the show’s producers, before making his way through an extensive casting process.
The next episode, which airs at 9pm tonight, sees the show’s first "kiss-off", where anyone left “un-kissed” will leave the competition.
You can watch “I Kissed a Boy” on BBC Three every Sunday and Monday night at 9pm, or on demand BBC iPlayer.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here