Latest news with #PeepShow
The Guardian
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
There is one universal sex tip. It is simple, teachable and obvious
In the fifth season of the British cringe comedy series Peep Show about two dysfunctional flatmates, Mark tells Jeremy that, for the first time in his life, he thinks he's getting sex right. This is thanks to a new partner's very explicit instructions. 'That's cheating,' Jeremy complains. 'Anyone can please a woman if she tells you what to do. You're not allowed to ask. That's the whole point.' I've spent a year trying to figure out why straight women are statistically last on the list when it comes to having pleasurable sex, but that one minute of television pretty much sums it up. I've asked 55 women about the hottest moments of their lives and have never heard the same answer twice. When it comes to sex, the things that light us up are so specific and individual, I suspect that if I asked 1,000 women, I would get 1,000 different answers. When I asked women what they think their partner did to enable that one overwhelming moment, however, there was far less variety. Instead, I heard three answers over and over. The first two – great circumstances and great chemistry – happen by chance. But the third answer is astonishingly simple – and obvious. It takes no luck, no money and can be learned. It is: 'He just asked.' Everyone responds to physical touch in different ways. Every woman's fantasy life is different. Given the infinite diversity of taste, the best way to understand the person you are with is by asking them what they want. 'Ask your lover' is the only universal sex tip. Yet few men are taught it. Instead, through Hollywood films, pornography and locker-room talk, they learn that they should already know the answer (impossible). As Jeremy says to Mark, they are taught success is about the right guess. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Maya*, who is in her mid-50s, once assumed her sex life was over. With her husband of 30 years, it certainly had been. But when she started dating post-divorce, she met a man who changed her mind. With him she went from 'a fairly vanilla experience of sex' to a 'whole multitude of experiences'. This partner was adventurous and knowledgable, and together they went on a 'deeply physical' journey. Through this relationship she learned what she really likes and what her body is capable of. In the early stages of this discovery period, she felt self-conscious about her inexperience and her appearance. She 'hadn't really ever experienced really great sex', she says. 'You don't know what you don't know.' But her partner kept asking about her fantasies, her desires and what felt good for her. He would bring her toys to try, to see what she might like. Slowly, she opened up. She learned that with the right setting and partner, she is multi-orgasmic and can experience orgasms from varied stimulation. Although that partner is out of the picture now, Maya still hums with sexual energy. It's an energy she has brought into new relationships. Now she knows what she wants and is confident asking her partners what they want too. Like Maya, some women I've spoken with did not know how to answer the first time someone asked them what they wanted. Others felt liberated, or relieved. And some women, upon realising that asking is the only trick, grew incandescent with rage. Not at the man who asked, but at all the men who did not. Talking may be the only key to a fulfilling sex life – especially in long-term relationships – but for many people, sex is easier done than said. So how does one get good at discussing sex when our genitals are synonymous with the word 'unmentionables'? Betty Martin, the founder of the School of Consent, suggests starting with a game. Given the paucity of good sex education, and the awkwardness and vulnerability that sex talk can entail, Martin says without deliberate practise, 'it's amazing that anybody has a good time at all'. For Martin, learning to ask and answer lies in action, not description. Which is why the Three-Minute Game is her cure-all. The game is played in pairs and consists of two questions. In Martin's version, these are: 'How would you like me to touch you?' and 'How would you like to touch me?' Each player takes turns asking and answering, giving feedback along the way, for three minutes at a time. The goal is to make the implicit explicit, teach turn taking and bring clarity to the sometimes murky waters of who does what and for whom. Playing in this way expands your repertoire as you learn to ask for new things, Martin says: 'So many women have never had an experience of being touched exactly the way they want. They just don't know it's possible.' But in the game, 'nothing happens except what you asked for'. At first, the game will feel awkward, she cautions, but, like most good things in life, it gets easier with practice. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion I also sought out men whom women had nominated as excellent lovers, which is how I came to talk to Paul. Paul also asks questions and takes a creative approach to discovering his partners' desires. He asks them to write a list. He says the act of writing something down makes you really, rationally consider what you do and do not want. If you write that you want to be tied up, for instance, you 'already have the picture in your mind'. So you have to ask yourself twice before you say, 'I'm really writing that'. Writing lists is also a game with a name: Yes/No/Maybe. Playing involves writing down every sex act and scenario you can imagine (or taking one of the several hundred prefab lists you can easily find online), and sorting them into three columns: Yes for 'I think I'd like this and want to try it'; Maybe for 'I'd be prepared to try this if the circumstances were right'; and No for 'I never want to do this and I don't want you to do it to me'. While you're working on your list, your partner gets busy doing the same. Then the two of you get together, compare lists and discover all the ways in which you are compatible. For Paul, a Yes/No/Maybe list is 'like a perimeter' around where to explore. A sex psychology researcher, Dr Justin Lehmiller, has found that people who share their fantasies with partners tend to have more fulfilling sex lives – but also that not many people are willing to do so. When he surveyed more than 4,000 Americans on their fantasy lives, he learned that supposedly taboo sexual desires like BDSM and group sex are actually incredibly common. More than half his research participants report having these kinds of fantasies sometimes, which means many couples may have a lot of unexplored common ground. Paul says that during sex, there is pressure from a young age to know everything about yourself, what you like and how to get it. This feels like a form of insanity to him. 'We don't say that for food, we don't say that for travelling, we don't say that for friends,' he says. Sexual exploration, just like travelling or trying a new hobby, can yield many self-discoveries. This is why he has learned to ask his partners many questions, 'and I love to pay attention to their answers'. There's a reason the Three-Minute Game and Yes/No/Maybe, both of which are sometimes used by sex therapists, require mutual disclosure. Great partnered sex is an act of co-creation, in which all parties can take turns to ask, listen and learn. Before Maya re-entered the dating pool, she always thought of sex as 'something that's quite organic … just this sort of fluid thing' that did not need much discussion. But the partner who changed her approach to sex planned in advance and asked her for feedback. She says he was curious about her body: 'He was like, 'Oh, I wonder what she'll think of this. How will this feel for her?'' That attention made her feel 'completely sexy and desired'. She learned to trust him, to relax into the situation and be 'excited for … what's next on the menu'. * Name has been changed Alyx Gorman is Guardian Australia's lifestyle editor and the author of All Women Want, published by HarperCollins, out now
Daily Record
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
David Mitchell's emotional confession about relationship with wife Victoria Coren
Comedian David Mitchell has been happily married to Victoria Coren for over a decade. Comedian David Mitchell has lifted the lid on his relationship with now-wife Victoria Coren, which he discusses in his memoir 'Back Story'. The Peep Show actor confessed to being "hopelessly in love" with Victoria, who he says initially rejected his romantic advances. "I was hopelessly in love. I told no one about it," he reveals in his book. "I didn't tell my closest friends or my parents of the enormous sadness that overshadowed my life." The adoration he felt for Victoria lingered in silence until she finally consented to a date with him years later. "I waited three years. Isn't that weird? Aren't I odd? I can't explain it other than to say I couldn't do anything else," he reflects in his writing. "If only I'd known I just had to wait three years... I would gladly have suffered ten times as much." Although he was suffering, the star kept his anguish well-concealed behind his humour. "The problem is, I hate the sort of dating thing," he admits, reports the Express. "I just find it incredibly awkward... I don't dislike being single enough to put myself through the pain." David and Victoria, now host of BBC's Only Connect, instantly hit it off at their fatefully timed meeting during a Halloween party in 2007, having been introduced by fellow comedian David Baddiel. Victoria confessed: "He specifically said to me, 'There's David Mitchell over there, I think you should probably marry him, I'll get the ball rolling by introducing you. I thought that was ridiculous but, a couple of hours later, I thought I would probably marry him," as reported by MSN. Initially, Victoria brushed off the suggestion, but by the end of the night, she was sold on the idea. Despite their instant connection, it took several years before they embarked on their first official date, as the timing wasn't right. Victoria was still grieving the loss of her father, Alan Coren, who died from cancer in 2007. David patiently bided his time, never pressuring his now-beloved wife but always nurturing the hope of a shared future. Their first official date eventually happened in 2010, and they tied the knot in 2012. David has never shied away from expressing his deep love for Victoria. "I am just incredibly proud that someone like Victoria wants to be with me," he declares. "She has these amazing qualities, but fundamentally, we clicked. I fell in love with her." In his memoir, he portrays her as "too wonderful" and "too right for me." The couple celebrated the birth of their two daughters - Barbara Elizabeth in 2015 and June Violet in 2023. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Daily Mirror
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Victoria Coren issues career news after husband David Mitchell's confession
Victoria Coren delighted fans with a major announcement about her BBC2 show - following her husband David Mitchell's emotional confession about their relationship Victoria Coren excited quiz enthusiasts everywhere with an urgent update on social media this Saturday. The 52-year-old presenter, who has been hosting the mind-boggling programme Only Connect since 2008, shared details about the release of new episodes with her fans. Victoria informed her 665,000 followers on X: "We are past the mid-point of July, the air is warm, the dahlias are flowering. Is it time to start relaxing for the summer, winding down and having some fun? NO IT ISN'T. She then added: "Only Connect returns on Monday night, 8pm @BBCTwo." Her announcement was met with a flurry of messages from fans thrilled by the news that the quiz show would be back on screen in just a few days. One enthusiastic fan tweeted: "Thank heavens, you've answered my wife's question of last Monday, or quiz night on BBC2 as we know it, 'when is Only Connect back?' Well now we know - thank you." Victoria then responded: "Did they not mention it last week? Understandably embarrassed, perhaps, as another fan noted: "This feels early, reports the Express. Fans were overjoyed with the announcement, as another penned: "Whoop whoop , Monday night's bbc 2 back to normal, I'll sleep well tonight. While another chimed in: "Always chuffed when I get a connection or a sequence right." Victoria's announcement follows a heart-wrenching revelation made by her husband David Mitchell. In his autobiography Back Story, the Peep Show actor revealed that he harboured deep feelings for his now-wife, Victoria, for years before they got together, but concealed his emotions from those closest to him. In a heartfelt and honest confession, the 50 year old comic disclosed that his one-sided love for Victoria left a profound impact on his life following her initial rejection. "I was hopelessly in love. I told no one about it," he reveals in his memoir. "I didn't tell my closest friends or my parents of the enormous sadness that overshadowed my life." Recently, Victoria shared a rare glimpse into her home life. The Only Connect host has two daughters - Barbara, 10, and June, two - with David, 51, and they have always shielded them from the public spotlight. She told the new issue of Radio Times magazine: "My 10 year old loves The Masked Singer and old episodes of Poirot, just like her mother. The baby doesn't have any screen time; she's only 18 months old. "She loves Bluey - an excellent TV show - but she doesn't know it's a TV show. She just thinks it's a source of really great plastic dog Weebles."
The Guardian
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
There is one universal sex tip. It is simple, teachable and obvious
In the fifth season of the British cringe comedy series Peep Show about two dysfunctional flatmates, Mark tells Jeremy that, for the first time in his life, he thinks he's getting sex right. This is thanks to new partner's very explicit instructions. 'That's cheating,' Jeremy complains. 'Anyone can please a woman if she tells you what to do. You're not allowed to ask. That's the whole point.' I've spent a year trying to figure out why straight women are statistically last on the list when it comes to having pleasurable sex, but that one minute of television pretty much sums it up. I've asked 55 women about the hottest moments of their lives and have never heard the same answer twice. When it comes to sex, the things that light us up are so specific and individual, I suspect that if I asked 1,000 women I would get 1,000 different answers. When I asked women what they think their partner did to enable that one overwhelming moment, however, there was far less variety. Instead, I heard three answers over and over. The first two – great circumstances and great chemistry – happen by chance. But the third answer is astonishingly simple – and obvious. It takes no luck, no money and can be learned. It is: 'He just asked.' Everyone responds to physical touch in different ways. Every woman's fantasy life is different. Given the infinite diversity of taste, the best way to understand the person you are with is by asking them what they want. 'Ask your lover' is the only universal sex tip. Yet few men are taught it. Instead, through Hollywood films, pornography and locker-room talk, they learn that they should already know the answer (impossible). As Jeremy says to Mark, they are taught success is about the right guess. Maya*, who is in her mid-50s, once assumed her sex life was over. With her husband of 30 years, it certainly had been. But when she started dating post-divorce, she met a man who changed her mind. With him she went from 'a fairly vanilla experience of sex' to a 'whole multitude of experiences'. This partner was adventurous and knowledgable, and together they went on a 'deeply physical' journey. Through this relationship she learned what she really likes and what her body is capable of. In the early stages of this discovery period, she felt self-conscious about her inexperience and her appearance. She 'hadn't really ever experienced really great sex', she says. 'You don't know what you don't know.' But her partner kept asking about her fantasies, her desires and what felt good for her. He would bring her toys to try, to see what she might like. Slowly she opened up. She learned that with the right setting and partner, she is multi-orgasmic and can experience orgasms from varied stimulation. Although that partner is out of the picture now, Maya still hums with sexual energy. It's an energy she has brought into new relationships. Now she knows what she wants and is confident asking her partners what they want too. Like Maya, some women I've spoken with did not know how to answer the first time someone asked them what they wanted. Others felt liberated, or relieved. And some women, upon realising that asking is the only trick, grew incandescent with rage. Not at the man who asked but at all the men who did not. Talking may be the only key to a fulfilling sex life – especially in long-term relationships – but for many people, sex is easier done than said. So how does one get good at discussing sex when our genitals are synonymous with the word 'unmentionables'? Betty Martin, the founder of the School of Consent, suggests starting with a game. Given the paucity of good sex education, and the awkwardness and vulnerability that sex talk can entail, Martin says without deliberate practise 'it's amazing that anybody has a good time at all'. For Martin, learning to ask and answer lies in action, not description. Which is why the Three-Minute Game is her cure-all. The game is played in pairs and consists of two questions. In Martin's version, these are: 'How would you like me to touch you?' and 'How would you like to touch me?' Each player takes turns asking and answering, giving feedback along the way, for three minutes at a time. The goal is to make the implicit explicit, teach turn taking and bring clarity to the sometimes murky waters of who does what and for whom. Playing in this way expands your repertoire as you learn to ask for new things, Martin says: 'So many women have never had an experience of being touched exactly the way they want. They just don't know it's possible.' But in the game, 'nothing happens except what you asked for'. At first, the game will feel awkward, she cautions, but, like most good things in life, it gets easier with practice. I also sought out men who women had nominated as excellent lovers, which is how I came to talk to Paul. Paul also asks questions and takes a creative approach to discovering his partners' desires. He asks them to write a list. He says the act of writing something down makes you really, rationally consider what you do and do not want. If you write that you want to be tied up, for instance, you 'already have the picture in your mind'. So you have to ask yourself twice before you say, 'I'm really writing that'. Writing lists is also a game with a name: Yes/No/Maybe. Playing involves writing down every sex act and scenario you can imagine (or taking one of the several hundred prefab lists you can easily find online), and sorting them into three columns: Yes for 'I think I'd like this and want to try it'; Maybe for 'I'd be prepared to try this if the circumstances were right'; and No for 'I never want to do this and I don't want you to do it to me'. While you're working on your list, your partner gets busy doing the same. Then the two of you get together, compare lists and discover all the ways in which you are compatible. For Paul, a Yes/No/Maybe list is 'like a perimeter' around where to explore. A sex psychology researcher, Dr Justin Lehmiller, has found that people who share their fantasies with partners tend to have more fulfilling sex lives – but also that not many people are willing to do so. When he surveyed more than 4,000 Americans on their fantasy lives, he learned that supposedly taboo sexual desires like BDSM and group sex are actually incredibly common. More than half his research participants report having these kinds of fantasies sometimes, which means many couples may have a lot of unexplored common ground. Paul says that during sex there is pressure from a young age to know everything about yourself, what you like and how to get it. This feels like a form of insanity to him. 'We don't say that for food, we don't say that for travelling, we don't say that for friends,' he says. Sexual exploration, just like travelling or trying a new hobby, can yield many self-discoveries. This is why he has learned to ask his partners many questions, 'and I love to pay attention to their answers'. There's a reason the Three-Minute Game and Yes/No/Maybe, both of which are sometimes used by sex therapists, require mutual disclosure. Great partnered sex is an act of co-creation, in which all parties can take turns to ask, listen and learn. Before Maya re-entered the dating pool, she always thought of sex as 'something that's quite organic … just this sort of fluid thing' that did not need much discussion. But the partner who changed her approach to sex planned in advance and asked her for feedback. She says he was curious about her body: 'He was like, 'Oh, I wonder what she'll think of this. How will this feel for her?'' That attention made her feel, 'completely sexy and desired'. She learned to trust him, to relax into the situation and be 'excited for … what's next on the menu'. * Name has been changed Alyx Gorman is Guardian Australia's lifestyle editor and the author of All Women Want, published by HarperCollins, out now
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I can't stop rewatching this dark comedy show from the 2000s on Prime Video – here's why it's still worth streaming
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Some TV shows are like comfort food, and for me, there's no show more comforting than Peep Show. The British sitcom from the early 2000s has been my go-to whenever I don't know what to watch for quite some time now, and for good reasons. For the uninitiated, Peep Show follows the miseries of self-doubting, uptight loan manager called Mark Corrigan (David Mitchell), who rents a room in his South London flat to Jeremy Usbourne (Robert Webb), aka Jez, an overconfident and impulsive musician. Together, they stumble, blindly through day-to-day life, usually ending up in a desperate situation of their own making. There's something weirdly cozy about watching two awkward flatmates spiral through life's small humiliations, especially when their internal monologues are so brutally honest – and endlessly quotable. I'm not ashamed to admit that I often find myself referencing memorable lines from the series. Don't believe me? Given that I'm writing about a TV show, I can't help but think about a fitting scene from one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, 'Seasonal Beatings' (episode 5 of season 7), where Mark is discussing what to watch next: "We watched all the Losts and they were… somewhat okay, and Heroes had some interesting themes, but also quite a lot of… not so interesting themes. And Prison Break, by the end I very much wanted to break out of the prison that Prison Break had become for us." Unlike many other shows, Peep Show isn't just "somewhat okay". It does have interesting themes and I never want to break out of my habit of streaming it on repeat. Whether you're discovering it for the first time on one of the best streaming services or rewatching it for the umpteenth time like me, Peep Show remains one of the most unique and rewarding comedies out there. Why you should (still) watch Peep Show The series features some of the best side characters you'll ever meet. From Jez's 'moreish' bandmate Super Hans (Matt King) and Mark's ruthless boss Alan Johnson (Paterson Joseph) to Mark's love interests Sophie (Olivia Coleman) and Dobby (Isy Suttie), the supporting cast are every bit as quirky and engaging as the two leads. Peep Show's cringe humor often sees the show get compared to another well-loved sitcom you might have heard of: The Office. But while both shows are filled with awkward silences and cringe-inducing lead characters, Peep Show is in a class of its own. Its humor is more polished (yes, there are moments of chaos but it doesn't turn slapstick), its underlining themes are much darker (in one episode it goes to the 'heart of darkness') and its characters are far more deluded (the show really doesn't hold back on just how much so at times). But at the same time, it's not doing any of this in a pretentious way. Indeed, there's no gloss here. The flats are grim, the jobs are soul-crushing (although one character does get close to the 'big three': 'museum, lunch and a snooze'), and the dreams are small. But that's what makes the show so easy to watch, because it doesn't pretend to be anything grand. The secondhand embarrassment you feel from the comedy is all amplified by the shaky point-of-view (POV) filming that the show is known for. There's nowhere for the viewer to hide. You see everything up close, making you feel like you're inside the lead characters' heads. While the filming style is unique, it can also take some getting used to. The first season was very much still finding its (rainbow) rhythm with the POV camerawork, and mounted head cameras to the actors to produce the effect – the quality of the footage these cameras produced was quite low, which is why they're used less later in the series. Basically, don't skip the first season because you're put off by the video quality; stick with it, because you'll be rewarded with some of the best gags in the series, including one that makes a reappearance in season 5, which you wouldn't otherwise get if you skipped it. What also makes it such a comforting TV show to stream is that the episodes are short, usually just under 30 minutes, but a lot still happens throughout. Peep Show is the perfect series for short sittings when you need something light to watch because you can easily tune in and out of it. So what are you waiting for? Pour yourself a massive drink. Turn on the TV and crack open this exceptionally funny show that deserves your attention immediately. Merry Peep Show watching everyone! Peep Show is available to watch on Prime Video, Hulu and BritBox in the US, as well as some of the best free streaming services, including Pluto TV, Plex and The Roku Channel. Meanwhile, those in the UK can find it on Netflix, while Australians can stream it on Prime Video, BritBox and Stan. You might also like Prime Video's new #1 show is a perfect summer binge watch Doctor Who is my #1 Disney+ recommendation 7 of the best #1 Netflix TV shows actually worth streaming Solve the daily Crossword
