Virgin Island Wins 2026 Grierson UK Documentary Award
At a Glance
- The win: Channel 4’s Virgin Island won Best Constructed and Formatted Documentary Series at the 2026 Grierson Awards.
- Our part: Somatica co-founders Celeste Hirschman and Dr. Danielle Harel served as the series’ lead sexologists and co-executive producers.
- The jury’s take: they were “surprised and moved by this series’ intimacy and depth.”
Channel 4’s Virgin Island has won the 2026 Grierson Award, one of the UK’s leading honours in documentary television. For us, the win affirms something we’ve championed for years: honest conversations about intimacy, shame, and feeling “behind” belong on screen.
Why This Win Matters to Us
The award jury praised Virgin Island for tackling taboos head-on. They were also surprised and moved by the series’ intimacy and depth. Beneath its provocative subject matter they saw a deeply compassionate collection of stories about overcoming shame, isolation, and low self-esteem with the potential for real world positive impact.
We’re honored and are celebrating with the team at Double Act Productions and Channel 4.
And to the cast: thank you for letting us into conversations that are hard to have even in private. You gave viewers a chance to recognize themselves in a conversation about intimacy. That’s worth celebrating.
About the Grierson Trust and the Grierson Awards
The Grierson Awards have honoured documentary filmmaking for the last 54 years. They’re among the most respected prizes in British factual television.
The Grierson Trust is a UK charity founded in 1972, shortly after the death of John Grierson, the Scottish filmmaker credited with coining the word “documentary.” The Trust celebrates the best factual filmmaking from Britain and around the world. It also trains and mentors emerging documentary talent through programmes like DocLab.
This year carried extra weight. The 2026 ceremony was the 54th edition, and it marked 100 years since Grierson first used “documentary” to describe a form of filmmaking. Comedian Nish Kumar hosted the evening at the Roundhouse in Camden. Each winner takes home a trophy shaped as a bust of Grierson himself.
Virgin Island won Best Constructed and Formatted Documentary Series, a category the Trust brought back for 2026. It was shortlisted alongside three other Channel 4 series: Blue Therapy, Sort Your Life Out, and The Jury: Murder Trial.
About Virgin Island
Virgin Island follows 12 adults in their 20s and early 30s who have never had sex. Over a stay at an island retreat filmed in Croatia, they take their first steps toward intimacy, one at a time and at their own pace.
Double Act Productions made the series for Channel 4. It premiered on 12 May 2025, and Channel 4 ordered a second series a month later.
The Grierson caps a strong award run. Virgin Island also won Best Factual Entertainment Programme at the 2026 Broadcast Awards, a Best Social Experiment Show at the 2025 National Reality Awards, and earned a nomination at the 2026 BAFTA TV Awards for Best Reality Show.
–> Read our articles about shaping and filming Virgin Island
Celeste & Danielle’s Role on Virgin Island
Celeste Hirschman, MA, and Dr. Danielle Harel, PhD, led the series’ team of coaches, surrogate partners, and sexological bodyworkers.
Every session drew on the Somatica Method, the experiential approach to intimacy coaching they developed together. Instead of talking about change in the abstract, show participants practised it in real time: breathing, touch, communication, and noticing desire as it showed up.
Off camera, Celeste and Danielle served as co-executive producers. Somatica also helped with casting and filming so each participant arrived ready for the emotional depth of the work.
Watch and Learn With Us
If Virgin Island struck a chord with you, you’re not the only one. Feeling “behind” is far more common than anyone admits, and it’s never too late to start.
→ Learn the method behind the award with Somatica’s sex coach certification
→ Stream Virgin Island on Channel 4 (UK) or on YouTube (US).
