Amanda Holden claims legendary monarch was 'a nymphomaniac'

Amanda Holden's new show Sex: A Bonkers History is unlike anything she's done before, and through presenting it with historian Dan Jones she tells Yahoo UK how she has learned a number of interesting facts about the taboo topic, including how one member of the Royal family was "a nymphomaniac".

The Sky History programme aims to not only educate but also make people more open about talking about sex, which is something Holden says "connects us all" and so shouldn't be seen as shameful or a matter that needs to be kept a secret.

"It was brilliant — an enjoyable few weeks of filming a topic that's super funny and connects us all, and seeing characters in history, especially lots of women that I covered, in a different way, makes them human," Holden tells Yahoo UK about the show.

Read more: Johnny Flynn reflects on The Lovers' depiction of infidelity

Of the most interesting real life people the show covers, Holden has no doubt which one was her favourite: "It's Queen Victoria for me, who was this very passionate, sexy woman who no one looks at in that way at all.

"So I feel like it humanises her, and it makes me look at her in a completely different way and hopefully makes other people see that about her as well."

As well as learning about Queen Victoria, Holden cites how she was able to try fan dancing while examining sex in the Georgian era, and learned that in Ancient Greece the women of Sparta were equally as strong as their male counterparts and the men would often crossdress.

"I know that over dinner parties I'll have those facts in my little arsenal because I like learning little facts, things like that," she adds. "Did you know Queen Victoria was a nymphomaniac?"

Queen Victoria was married to Prince Albert from 1840 until his death in 1861, during their marriage they had eight children together. When her husband died, the Royal was devastated and went into a state of mourning for the rest of her life and it is this period which has largely defined how people view her, like how Holden describes.

Holden describes the show as being "Horrible Histories for Adults", a show that is as funny as it is informative: "I thought if I was going to be involved in something like this I didn't want it to be salacious and smutty and just for sex's sake.

"And the through line here is that it's a good natured, funny, light-hearted way at looking at a subject that connects us all. It's a different thing for me to do."

"This subject has always been a subject that's caused controversy and it's ridiculous because it's the one thing that connects us all.

Read more: Domina star Kasia Smutniak praises Sky show's feminist take on history

"That's been the entire point of the show, to show just how far we've come and then just how far we've gone back, and to learn that the Romans and the Spartans were probably living freer lives than we are now and it's just this constant wheel, where history literally just repeats itself."

Jones adds, "I think we imagine that we're living in a unique moment in history with regards to thinking about sex. On the one hand, it's everywhere and on the other hand it's sort of a taboo subject.

"Gosh aren't we weird about our attitudes towards sex, but actually look through almost any of the ages that we've studied in the program and a version of that has always been present, just as Amanda says.

"You've got on the one hand people at it like there's no tomorrow and on the other hand somewhere within society is a voice of morality, or censorship, or prudishness, or whatever it might be, and that's why sex is a really good way of looking at a long span of human history.

"It's because this is the one thing people have definitely been doing in every generation, otherwise this would be an empty room in a forest."

While the show speaks openly about sex it also examines some of the darker sides to it like when a woman who is sexually liberal is slut-shamed as a means to reduce her of her power, like in the case of Roman empress Messalina.

Of the historical figure, Jones says: "This is the thing about history, societies and generations find the stories from history that reflects questions they're asking about themselves, and that's why the Messalina story, in my opinion, is an interesting one to talk about today.

Watch the trailer for Sex: A Bonkers History

"Because this is an example of a woman who's got wrapped up in political conspiracy, and how did they attack her? Not in the same way you would attack a man who was wrapped up in political conspiracy, by calling her a slut, by saying she'd had you know shagging competitions with the most notorious sex worker in Rome.

"You look at that story from the perspective of the early 2020s and it's sad really, because it says 'wow, for all the ways we may think we're a progressive society, some things haven't changed since the Roman era.'"

Sex: A Bonkers History is available on Sky HISTORY from Monday, 18 September.

This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/amanda-holden-legendary-monarch-nymphomaniac-151023707.html