Yewande Biala is set to add 'presenter' to her CV, as the trained scientist and former reality television star presents a new documentary about the female orgasm.
Biala, who worked as a biotechnologist and specialised in oncology vaccines before her reality TV debut on Love Island, is turning her attention from organisms to orgasms, with the Channel 4 documentary Secrets of the Female Orgasm - which airs August 31 - set to push for better sex education in schools.
The project came about when Irish star opened up about the fact that she has never experienced and orgasm herself.
Speaking to The Guardian about the project, Biala said: "I hope other women who have never experienced orgasm will understand that there is no shame in it. I hope if anyone [in education] watches, they will understand that maybe we need to improve the curriculum about sex."
Born in Nigeria and raised in Dublin, Biala was brought up in a strict Catholic household and struggled with anxiety and shame about sex.
She said that she remembered being told that premarital sex would send you "literally" to hell, as well as an instance in bible study classes where students were asked to close their eyes and put up their hand if they'd ever had sex. They were then told that while God would forgive them, they shouldn't do it again.
She has said that she did not find out that women could have orgasms until she was 19. Speaking to The Guardian, she said that while she didn't have orgasms she still enjoyed a pleasurable sex life. "I just believed I couldn't have an orgasm, so I didn’t make a big deal out of it", she said.
In the documentary, Biala meets other women, scientists and therapists to hear their stories, research and advice. She also attends a masturbation class and a class where women look at their vulvas with mirrors to better understand their bodies.
Anorgasmia (the inability to, or difficulty reaching orgasm) is still prevalent despite conversations about sex and sexuality becoming more mainstream and comparatively less taboo.
In a 2017 study by the International Academy of Sex Research, researchers found that 95% of heterosexual men said they usually or always orgasmed when sexually intimate, followed by 89% of gay men, 88% of bisexual men, 86% of lesbian women, 66% of bisexual women and 65% of straight women.
An estimated one in eight women have never climaxed at all, which Biala noted carries its own form of stigma.
Female orgasms - or lack thereof - still make headlines: when The OC's Rachel Bilson recently revealed that she didn't have an orgasm through penetrative sex until the age of 38 it reignited the conversation around 'the orgasm gap' once again.
