Is Too Hot To Handle staged? Everything we know about how much the producers set up

Too Hot To Handle, aka the horniest show on Netflix, is officially back and better than ever. Season three of the show has just dropped and it is so good. But if you’re watching Too Hot To Handle, you’re probably wondering: Just how much of it is staged? Is the show a liiiiittle bit set up, is it full-on scripted or do the Too Hot To Handle producers just fully let the contestants do their own thing?

Luckily for us, former contestants (and even some of the show’s producers!) have spoken out and told us everything we need to know about whether Too Hot To Handle is staged. Apparently producers are in the villa 24/7, watching the contestants’ every move and even monitoring their breathing – but just how much do they set the show up?

Here’s everything we know about whether Too Hot To Handle is staged:

Producers ‘nudge’ you to do things

In an interview, Too Hot To Handle series one contestant Harry Jowsey said producers could set up certain situations, but it wasn’t staged and contestants weren’t “forced” to do anything – just “nudged” in the right direction.

He said: “If they know that you’ve got a problem or you need to have a chat with someone, they’ll just point you in the right direction to get a result, or to get that conversation happening and get to the end goal.

“They’re not forcing you to say or do anything you don’t want to. They just kind of help nudge you in the correct direction.”

Everything’s ‘real’ – but edited

Fellow season one contestant Nicole says everything you see in the show is real, but you don’t see everything that happens – obviously, editing plays a big role.

She said: “It’s filmed over a whole month, and footage is slimmed down into eight episodes – of course you don’t see everything.”

But Nicole says there were some parts cut out she wishes had been included, saying “there were some parts of my personal growth that were missed.” For example, she went on a date that was never aired, and says certain friendships may not have been given airtime.

Producers are in the villa 24/7

Obviously, Too Hot To Handle is a reality game show, so parts of it have to be set up. A producer has said there are producers there “24/7”, to “keep an eye on them”. This apparently includes listening out and “deciphering what different levels of breathing” mean. It sounds like a really cool and good job.

Contestants are fined different amounts of money from the $100k prize fund for doing different things, ranging from touching to kissing to full-on sex, and these prices are set by producers.

Producers also set up the challenges and workshops contestants do, such as last week’s which saw cast members find each other’s erogenous zones. They also plan when to introduce the new bombshell contestants.

They also do things such as monitor the contestants’ alcohol, only giving it to them at parties, on dates and on certain evenings.

Apparently, contestants genuinely don’t know what show they’re going on

The first episodes of season two showed the contestants being told they were actually on Too Hot To Handle, after apparently thinking they were on an entirely different show which seemed to mainly involve partying and shagging all summer long. Some people on social media were sceptical if their reactions were real, but Too Hot To Handle series one contestant Francesca Fargo has said she genuinely didn’t know what show she was going to be on.

She said producers DMed her on Instagram and she then had a video call with them, where they didn’t give many details about the show. They only asked she was single, and said the show would be in a tropical location with other fit singles.

Francesca said: “I wasn’t sure if it was a dating show, or more like Survivor, or more like Love Island, but I was open to an experience. When we landed for filming we found out it was going to be more along the lines of a dating show, and I was super excited for that.

“But the first few days in the villa, we still had no idea really why we were there. And then when the bomb dropped that it was like a self-discovery growth experience, it was kind of a shock.”

All episodes of season two of Too Hot To Handle are available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.

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• They’re here! Meet the cast of Netflix’s Too Hot To Handle season two

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• This is where all of the season two cast of Too Hot To Handle went to university