I Kissed A Girl show groundbreaking - contestant

Georgia Robert, from North Yorkshire, describes the I Kissed a Girl environment as "so welcoming"

A professional footballer who appeared on dating show I Kissed a Girl has hailed it as a "gamechanger" for the representation of LGBTQ+ people on reality TV.

The BBC Three series saw a group of queer, bisexual and lesbian women live together in Italy and date each other in the hope of finding a romantic spark.

The programme follows the success of I Kissed a Boy in 2023, which was recently commissioned for a second series.

Georgia Robert, 28, from Hunmanby, near Scarborough, said she hoped the show would "not be the last" and would encourage similar formats.

The show saw 10 single women enter the Masseria villa, with participants matched up and meeting for the first time with a kiss.

Ms Robert told BBC Radio York: "As soon as it came out, it blew up on social media.

"It has been a long time coming. I think it has been needed for a while and the reaction that it had is absolutely incredible."

Ms Robert started playing football aged eight, with her clubs including Sheffield United Women FC, Durham Women FC and present side Rugby Borough Women’s Football Club.

Discussing the show, presented by Dannii Minogue, she said: "I think we realised how much women in the LGBTQ+ community needed this - because I think there's not many lesbians on TV at all, not in this capacity.

"I think it's groundbreaking to be honest. This is the first but hopefully should not be the last."

I Kissed a Girl is described as the UK’s first all female lesbian queer dating show

When describing her reasons for putting herself forward, she said: "It was a 'stuff it' moment in life as a whole.

"I was at a different football team to the one I'm with now and I wasn't really that happy there. I just thought something needed to change, I need to get out of this environment and live life."

Her current teammates knew she had been part of a reality show but were unaware which one until it aired, she said.

Discussing the camaraderie on the show, she said: "It was so welcoming and we all had each other's backs, it was a lovely environment."

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