Yewande Biala is television gold: funny, frank and freaked out by her ladyparts – which makes this journey of sexual discovery really hit the spot
About 10 minutes into the new Channel 4 documentary Secrets of the Female Orgasm, the presenter, Yewande Biala, settles down to watch a video on a sex education website about how to masturbate. “Oh my God,” she gasps as the demonstrator appears. “Why is she naked?” If I hadn’t already pledged my undying devotion to Biala, this would have been the deciding moment.
Somebody somewhere must have been seized with joy when they realised what televisual gold they had in Biala. She is a 26-year-old biochemist, brought up in Ireland since the age of three by her Nigerian parents, both practising Catholics, a former Love Island contestant and – crucially, here – has never had an orgasm. Not during sex (she has had a couple of boyfriends) and she has never taken matters into her own hands either. In fact, until about five years ago she wasn’t aware that women could come. Absolute commissioning catnip, even before you add in the fact that she is funny, articulate, frank and a gift to the camera. If you do not instantly love a woman who, when forced to take up a handmirror and reluctantly regard her ladyparts for the first time, summarises the situation as, “It looks like a squashed lettuce”, the fault very much lies with you.
