Amanda Holden has said that it was “amazing” to learn about Queen Victoria’s sexual behaviours in TV show Sex: A Bonkers History, and said that “humanising royalty is a good thing”.
The new TV show follows Britain’s Got Talent judge Holden, 52, and author and historian Dan Jones as they explore the sexual behaviours of the Ancients, the Tudors, the Georgians, the Victorians and those who lived in the 20th century.
Jones, 42, said that there are misconceptions around sexual behaviours of the past, notably that the Victorians were always “buttoned up and prudish”.
“They were in many ways, well certainly in public discourse”, he said, “but then underneath it was this really… sexy side.”
Holden touted Queen Victoria as an example and said: “What a girl… Isn’t it brilliant that you can see this woman, she is so austere and fierce looking and… you know that she had a passionate love affair with her husband and she literally chased him round the palace. It’s just fun isn’t it.
“I think humanising royalty is a good thing. I think the royal family would agree to that now. But just learning retrospectively about her (Queen Victoria) makes you go, wow, how amazing.”
Jones and Holden explore Queen Victoria’s sexual secrets in episode four of the series, where Holden also finds out about the Victorian BDSM scene, before trying out some of the methods on Jones.
In other parts of the series, Holden dresses up as sex icon Marilyn Monroe and Jones travels to the Chelsea Physic Garden to make the ancient Egyptian equivalent of Viagra.
The historical series uses archive footage and drama reconstruction, and Jones says that its purpose is to offer a glimpse into different cultures.
He said: “That’s what the show is about, is getting an insight into other cultures through this lens of sex which joins them all together.”
Sex: A Bonkers History starts on September 18 at 9pm on Sky History and is also available to watch on Sky 123 and Virgin 131.