I Kissed a Girl Season 2: More Drama, Less Cliché

I Kissed a Girl is back for a second season. The BBC Three dating show streams now on BBC iPlayer in the UK. It arrived at exactly the right moment: Pride month, and a week when queer reality TV is being reassessed. Season one divided critics. Season two tries to answer that criticism directly.

What Is This Show?

I Kissed a Girl is a lesbian dating show. The format is simple. A group of women meet in a villa. They go on dates. They couple up. Someone goes home. It sounds familiar — and it is. But the show has one clear difference from other dating formats. Every contestant identifies as a woman who dates women. The show launched in 2023 on BBC Three. Season two dropped in late June 2026. Hosted again by Dannii Minogue, it runs for six episodes. Executive producers include Nicola Harvey and the team at Fremantle UK.

Autostraddle covered the new season this week. Their verdict was cautiously positive. The piece noted that season two tones down the U-Haul jokes. It takes the women more seriously as people, not just as punchlines or tropes.

What Works

The casting is stronger this time. The women feel more varied. They come from different backgrounds. They have different ideas about relationships. That variety creates genuine friction. Not drama for drama's sake — actual tension between people with different values.

The editing is also sharper. Season one sometimes lingered too long on manufactured conflict. Season two moves faster. The dates feel more natural. There are real conversations happening. Women talk about past relationships, about identity, about what they actually want. That is rare in this genre.

Dannii Minogue is a steady presence. She does not overplay the host role. She listens. She asks follow-up questions. That matters in a format where the host can easily become the loudest voice in the room.

The production design is warm without being garish. The villa location is appealing. The show looks good. It does not try to compete with the budget of Love Island. It does not need to.

What Does Not Fully Work

The format still creaks in places. Elimination episodes feel rushed. You invest in someone, and then they are gone in under five minutes. That pacing problem is not new — it affects almost every show in this genre. But it still stings here.

Some storylines feel underdeveloped. Two contestants get substantial screen time. Others barely register before their exit. A tighter edit would help. Six episodes may simply not be enough to do justice to a full cast.

The show also struggles with depth at key moments. When women are asked hard questions about identity or past relationships, the edit sometimes cuts away too fast. Those are the moments that could set this show apart. Leaning into them would strengthen it.

Compared to the emotional complexity of a show like Tip Toe: The British Queer Drama That Refuses to Look Away, I Kissed a Girl is lighter fare. That is not a fatal flaw. But it is worth naming. This is entertainment, not drama. There is nothing wrong with that. Just know what you are getting.

Who Is This For?

If you enjoy dating shows, this is one of the better ones right now. It treats its participants with respect. It does not rely on cruelty for entertainment. Lesbian and bisexual women will likely find it more recognisable than most mainstream dating formats. Queer viewers tired of being the subplot will appreciate being the whole story.

It is not required viewing. It is not groundbreaking television. But it is enjoyable. And it has improved. For fans of Heartstopper Season 4: Growing Up Has Never Looked This Good, the emotional register here is lighter — but the queer warmth is similar.

I Kissed a Girl season two is not a revelation. But it is proof that a format can learn from its mistakes. That alone makes it worth watching.