‘Variety’ Looks at Rocco Siffredi’s New Reality Series

LOS ANGELES—Variety's piece today on Rocco Siffredi’s new reality show acknowledges up front the porn legend’s latest impressive achievement. “With 1,500 hardcore films to his name, including titles like The Ass Collector, global porn icon Rocco Siffredi is perhaps uniquely positioned to dole out advice to middle-aged couples on how to rekindle their sex lives,” writes Nick Vivarelli for the trade. “The unusual part is that his primetime reality program, It’s Up to Rocco, premiering later this month on Rupert Murdoch’s free-to-air terrestrial Italo channel Cielo, is being touted as a family show.” That’s right, as the man himself says of the show, “Sex is not the main subject.” A dozen 50-minute episodes have been ordered by Sky Italia, which operates Cielo, following two years during which they “fine-tuned” the concept for the series, which, according to the show’s producer, Verve Media Co., will reveal “a Rocco you really don’t expect, and that’s the whole idea. It’s primetime family fare with a social element of sorts.” We, however, are still of a mind that sex will be a subtext of the show, something we think is borne out by the demographic showing the most interest in It’s Up to Rocco. According to Verve's Lorenzo Torraca, “Our impression is that there is great interest from a female demographic in this show. Seeing Rocco make the switch from being a porn star to becoming a primetime TV personality is very intriguing for them.” For his part, Siffredi seems ready to cut loose as host and show sides of his personality that, as he put it to Variety, “can’t really blossom” when he’s shooting porn. “I feel kind of like a priest,” he deadpanned to the mag. “Couples confide in me; they open up. They trust me.” They also trust that he is not leaving his day job, and about that he was crystal clear, “My main job is still making porn movies. I’m not trying to reinvent myself yet. First, I’m simply not interested (in doing that), and also I have contracts all over the world that I need to honor.” And yet, he adds, making something for family viewing has its own decided perks. “Finally, I can watch one of my shows with my family,” he said.