ROME — “It’s Up to Rocco” sounds like it could be porn icon Rocco Siffredi’s latest hardcore debut, but it’s not. The title uses tongue-in-cheek to tease his primetime reality TV show premiering later this month, that — gasp — isn’t all about sex.
“Sex is not the main subject,” Siffredi explained. But it is one of the main subjects. Using his professional/personal experience and wry humor, Siffredi will coach middle-aged couples on how to spice up their sex lives.
Variety gave nod to the show today in a piece that, in addition to explaining the show’s premise, explored the events leading up to Siffredi’s latest crossover act, as well as the Italian consumer atmosphere that made such a TV show possible.
Touted as a family program, “It’s Up to Rocco” will air later this month on Rupert Murdoch’s Italian Cielo channel. According to Lorenzo Torraca of Verve Media Co, which is producing the series, they had to “weed out” the swingers to find “ordinary” couples, mostly with kids, who were sometimes flighty at the mention of Siffredi’s name.
The Variety piece explains that Italian TV has been rife with raunchy programming since the 1980s. In an ironic Twist,“It’s Up to Rocco” might be an antidote of sorts to the type of vapid shows promoted by the country’s leading networks. And, Torraca said, it’s what the female demographic wants.
Siffredi’s journey to the mainstream hasn’t been a straight shot. In 2006, his commercial for Amica Chips was banned shortly after it was released. The lesson: don’t pun on the Italian word for potato chips (hint: it also means vagina.)
Despite his excitement to rebreach the mainstream, Siffredi says he isn’t planning on leaving porn anytime soon.
“My main job is still making porn movies,” he said. “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.”
To read the full article on Variety, click here.
