On telly, ‘good looking’ still often means ‘slim and ripped’

On Sunday, Survival of the Fittest started on ITV2.

The reality show has been dubbed the 'winter Love Island' and even though it hasn't exactly been getting the greatest reviews, reality TV fans are still going to watch it, people are still going to complain about it, and we're still going to write about it. The concept of the show itself is simple enough: A group of six guys and six girls fight it out through a series of challenges to discover who is, indeed, the fittest person there. Think Survivor but UK-based and set in South Africa, and maybe slightly less exciting. Survival of the Fittest wants to discover who will triumph in the so-called battle of the sexes by making contestants lift crocodiles  out of pools, run obstacle courses and hang out in a really warm building called 'The Lodge.' Here though, 'fittest' has a double meaning because everybody on this TV show is, of course, stunningly beautiful. And why shouldn't they be? Audiences want to watch good looking people do good looking things - the only difference here is that 'good looking' means slim and incredibly ripped. When health-focused reality shows push images of jacked lads and ladies with intensely impressive six packs, it makes sense. Those people are there to prove that they're strong, fit, and can bench more than you'd ever be able to. ITV's latest reality show, however, isn't just about fitness. In fact, it might not be about fitness at all considering the focus all week has seemed to be on who fancies who and what lad is going to try ride what girl first before they all start fighting and hating each other. Love Island was a massive success last summer and we could see why - beautiful people hanging out, doing some challenges, and probably being a bit annoying. What's not to love? The show though, despite its incredible popularity, had the same issue - everybody was incredibly good looking while also being coincidentally very slim and toned. ... Which is of course a totally great and enviable way to be, but definitely not entirely representative of the general public of stunning people that are roaming around the world. In the early 2000s, shows like these were the norm. You'd have to look far and wide before you found a depiction of someone who didn't have more two percent body fat or, god forbid, the hint of a back roll. Now though, body positivity is all the rage. Try scroll through the Instagram explore page and not see the odd post or 16 about how another blogger is tired of editing her photos, or how another woman wants to present a more realistic version of the female body. You probably won't be able to because presenting your flaws in an honest and open manner is on trend now - at least on social media. Having a normal body is becoming an increasingly normal thing online, and thank god because there'd be no hope for so many of us if it wasn't. TV, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be catching up as quickly. Survival of the Fittest is a show about surviving because you're fit (and, let's be honest, about people mauling each other in the African desert). Being fit though - in every sense of the word - doesn't necessarily mean that you can't carry a bit of weight on you. On one hand, it might be unfair to take Survival of the Fittest as the prime example of uninclusive TV that only serves to boost the egos of the rare few people who actually look like the contestants on the screen. It's not the first show to do this and it definitely won't be last. And then, on the other hand, there are only so many slim, ripped, and therefore beautiful people left to look at before we all get incredibly bored.