Ever since we laid our eyes on the contestants of discovery+’s Beauty and The Geek UK, we have been gripped by the couples, and totally invested in their journeys (we know, we know, we hate that expression too, but it’s the only way to describe what they’re going through).
The feel-good social experiment sees eight nerdy guys paired with eight smart, pretty girls to see if opposites attract, and over the course of six weeks, it’s already had an incredible effect on them. Collectively they’ve been pushed out of their comfort zones (Dancing! Doing stand-up! Presenting on live radio!), grown in confidence (they’ve formed sweet friendships and gone on dates) and, in the case of the geeks, had the most incredible makeovers.
With two weeks left to go until the finale, it’s still all to play for – finding romantic connections and getting their mitts on the whopping £50K prize – but for now let’s celebrate some of the Beauty and The Geek UK gang’s best bits so far….
LOL squared
Cosplay afficionado James and florist Charlotte are hands down the funniest couple. From James’ dry sense of humour, showcased in his hilarious stand-up routine (flagging Charlotte’s weird habit of comparing him to her dad was genius) to Charlotte’s tour bus patter – insisting it’s ‘West-mini-ster Abbey’ and asking passengers if they fancied Boris Johnson – they make us laugh a lot.
Marvellous Martin
Watching Martin and Aishah’s relationship develop has been a total joy to see. We’ve watched them sweetly writing each other letters to express their feelings for one another, Aishah giving Martin a hug tutorial, and them going on an adorable date where Martin helped her fly a model airplane – and unwittingly recreated that scene from Ghost in the process.
The Eden project
We have to say we were delighted when Eden and Seb were brought back in a shock return in episode 6, because their time on the show was cut short too soon and Eden is TV gold. Not only has she brought Seb out of his shell – and was completely lovely and understanding when he opened up about his autism – but she’s also really, really funny. A big highlight was her woeful attempts at being a London tour guide, claiming Nelson’s Column was famous for its “statueness” and saying people should “just Google the facts like everyone else.” LOL.
Gobsmacking glow ups
We do love a good transformation and some of the geeks’ glow ups were insanely good. Our jaws scraped the floor when we saw beardy Martin clean shaven and looking like a total babe, instantly becoming our new favourite ginger prince – sorry Jake Wood! And Mart wasn’t the only one to scrub up well, because Nitish ditched the sunglasses, got rid of the polo shirt, and had a snazzy haircut resulting in a shocked Manon saying he looked “dishy” and a “bad boy”. Down girl!
The cringe factor
From his questionable rapping and singing to impress now girlfriend Julie, to giving her a ring on their first date (what was he thinking?!) and their first kiss – cue Julie laughing in his face – Star Wars fan Henry has been hugely entertaining, and the main reason we have RSI in our toes.
Tune into Beauty and the Geek UK, with new episodes every Sunday on discovery+.