‘Handcuffed’ is the most unhinged show on TV right now – but it’s more than just a guilty pleasure
There’s nothing like the chaos of a boundary-pushing Channel 4 reality series, and Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing, a show where people must remain attached to someone diametrically opposed to them in both beliefs and lifestyle, is total mayhem.
Whether it’s Four in a Bed, Supernanny, Wife Swap or Supersize vs Superskinny, the British broadcaster is synonymous with creating shows that served as the blueprint for modern-day reality TV, utilising ‘social experiments’ to show the ‘real’ side of humanity. And by ‘real,’ I mean the worst.
Channel 4 began using the term in its Big Brother era as a sort of excuse for putting people through high-stress, often ethically questionable situations. These were justified by claiming the purpose was to reveal the most honest side of these people’s characters or to make a larger sociological point about society. But this mad scientist approach to programming had definitely crumbled over the last few years. Some flopped due to ethical codes of modern society (The Tribe Next Door), but also, due to the standard of reality TV going through the roof with major streamers like Disney+, Peacock and Netflix owning the field with booming franchises, people just showed less interest. Not being able to compete with the high-budget, high-stakes storytelling of Love is Blind, Too Hot to Handle or Real Housewives, it seemed like Channel 4 was going to have to stick to the wholesomeness of the Great British Bake Off and the couch humour of Gogglebox. But then Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing came out.
Colin HUtton/Channel 4
Although I didn’t grow up in the UK, the chaos of Channel 4 reality shows has been following me for years now, thanks to social media. I still can’t escape old clips of racially charged controversies (Big Brother) and people serving overcooked steak on a plank (Come Dine with Me). What is this wacky, wonderful and wrong world all about? Watching recent seasons of Big Brother or new episodes of Dinner Date just doesn’t hit as hard as binging four episodes of Dumped, a Channel 4 show from 2007 that featured contestants living on a rubbish dump in Croydon for three weeks. Like old seasons of America’s Next Top Model, this ‘golden’ era of Channel 4 was problematic but entertaining – the most troublesome combination that makes the recipe for a perfect guilty pleasure and the ultimate water cooler convo moment, AKA viral TV.
At first glance, Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing is exactly that. Like all great stories, its premise is quite simple: two strangers of opposing views are handcuffed together until one of them decides to smash the emergency key box and free themselves from the situation. They are chained to each other 24/7 while living at their respective abodes – working, sleeping, showering and yes, defecating side by side during this period. In fact, the only time they can request to swap from regular handcuffs to ones with an extended chain is, as host Jonathan Ross keeps reminding us throughout the show, when they need to go for a number two. And as a reward for enduring each other and outlasting the other eight pairings, the final couple wins a prize of £100,000.
