VIVA, the reality centred MTV channel new to freeview and freesat, will deliver a new chunk of addictive nonsense this February with the show ‘Bromance’.

Just like ‘Paris Hilton’s My New BFF’ the programme aims to put contestants through humiliating trials in order to win the role of ‘bro’ to a lame reality star, in this case Brody Jenner. The show’s name must be a clever mashing together of the name ‘Brody’ and the word ‘romance’, because a ‘bromance’ is supposed to be the close relationship between two men, not the lead-in to some all male orgy, which is what the promo promises.

The clip they have chosen to promote the show says it all – large, burly men bundle the contestants out of bed and put hoods on them. With cries of ‘Let’s go cupcake!’ the boys are delivered to the ‘bromansion’ still in a state of undress and made to hold hands, ostensibly because they are still hooded. They are then led, one naked and most in just their underwear, to an extravagantly decorated room lit by candles where they are forced to kneel and await Jenner. With a flourish Brody appears and announces ‘Take ‘em off guys!’, but they all misunderstand and take off the hoods. “When you’re hanging with me, “ he says “the first lesson is to expect the unexpected.’ Indeed…

Brody Jenner isn’t so well known in the UK, in fact I called him ‘Brody Jennings’ throughout the first draft of the article and had to go back and change it. Look at this slightly boss-eyed picture of him above and write down your very first impressions. They are correct. He’s a model and reality TV star who is in some way related to those Kardashian people, and used to be in a show called ‘The Princes of Malibu’ which sounds like a line of gay dolls marketed to effete young boys.

The show was screened in the US in 2009 so I have seen some clips which disappointingly include the contestants doing totally gay things like kissing girls, but I’m assured that the odd morsel of heteronormalcy is just that, and that those moments are vastly outweighed by a ton of thinly-veiled, and mostly not veiled, homoeroticism. I’ll be watching avidly.

Bromance starts on Tuesday February 23rd at 10pm on VIVA. Join us here for the first episode liveblog and give this promo a watch.

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