'Sick' children's TV show Ultra Strips Down has naked adults pose in front of kids to 'teach body positivity'

'Sick' children's TV show Ultra Strips Down has naked adults pose in front of kids to 'teach body positivity'
Photo credit: Warner Bros International Television Production

A controversial Danish television show has caused outrage by having adults strip naked in front of a room of school-aged children. 

Ultra Strips Down aims to promote body positivity and debunk the myth of the 'perfect' body by allowing kids to see a range of shapes and sizes, and encouraging them to ask questions of the nude adults. 

According to The Independent, the children appearing in the show's studio audience are aged 11 - 13 years old. A recent episode saw them watch five adults walk into the auditorium wearing only bathrobes, which they then took off as they stood in a line with their hands behind their backs. 

The New York Times reports the children asked questions like "At what age did you grow hair on the lower part of your body?" and "Are you pleased with your private parts?" 

Jannik Schow, who hosts and co-developed the series, told the Times the show has "nothing to do with sex". 

"Perhaps some people are like, 'Oh, my God, they are combining nakedness and kids'. But this has nothing to do with sex, it's about seeing the body as natural, the way kids do," he said in an interview. 

Ultra Strips Down has proven very popular with Danish audiences and in 2019 won an award for Best Children's Programme of the year at the Danish TV festival. 

'Sick' children's TV show Ultra Strips Down has naked adults pose in front of kids to 'teach body positivity'
Photo credit: Warner Bros International Television Production

Still, the series is far from beloved by everyone. Danish politician Peter Skaarup claimed the show was "depraving" the children of Denmark, adding that it was a "vulgar" way to try and teach children about genitalia. 

Many people from around the world shared Skaarup's sentiments, as evidenced by the wave of outraged social media comments after a clip of the show did the rounds online. 

"Disgusting. Creeps! Stop destroying our children!" one Tweet read. 

"This is so heartbreaking. What happened to the innocence of childhood?" asked another. 

"That is disgusting," said a third. "[Normally] people would be arrested for exposing themselves to minors." 

The show's producers and host insist that the children's safety is the highest priority during filming, stating they never show the children and the naked adults in a single shot, and the kids are frequently asked if they feel comfortable. The children's parents must consent to them participating in the show. 

A father of one of the children taking part told the time he had "no reservations". 

"The notion that people are different and have different bodies is something we'd like children to experience," he said.