Meet the Leeds lad set to appear on raunchy new Channel 4 experiment Open House

Open House: The Great Sex Experiment premiered last week, following committed couples as they visit a luxury retreat and take part in bold challenges - testing whether having sex with other people will strengthen their relationship.

Leeds lad Jack Stocks is set to appear on the show, entering the retreat as one of the group of singles.

The 25-year-old kept his time on the show PG - much to the relief of his family - but said he came away with lifelong friends and important lessons learnt about relationships.

“I was approached to go on the show in August last year," Jack told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

"I’d been single for a while and I'd just finished uni, I was living in Leeds and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for a job.

"It wasn’t that I wanted to experience the open side of relationships, although I wasn’t against that.

"I thought, ‘I’m young, I’ve just got my degree and I’ve got no immediate plans’. So I thought it would be a good idea to do something out of my comfort zone.

"I knew I wasn’t going to be one of the main people, but I thought it would be a good experience - a chance to see how a show like that works behind-the-scenes."

Jack grew up in Pudsey and had dreams of becoming an actor while he was in college, starting off with extra work and scooping parts in short films for the Northern Film School.

But by the time he was approached to appear on the show, he was pursuing an entirely different path, having just completed a degree in Games Design at the University of Bournemouth.

“It’s crazy because I used to want to be an actor a lot more than I do now," Jack added.

“It’s not something I’m involved in as much now. I’ve been working on making my own video game.

"It’s going to be a thriller game to sell for a couple of quid, but hopefully to hundreds of people. It’s got a really good story.”

Jack, a keen footballer and Leeds United fan and who now lives in Bournemouth, said that although he played a minor role in the series, he thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

“It was really fun, but not in the way you might think," he laughed.

"For me, the experience was more about making really good friends with the other singles and some of the couples.

"They have become some of my best friends, there were some really good characters on there. Some of them have careers in TV, I have no doubt.

"We became like a family, so tight-knit. The crew told us they’d never worked on a show where the cast and crew got on so well."

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The first episode followed married couple Jon and Danielle, who were interested in having group sex, while Mady and Nathan wanted to bring another woman into their relationship.

Jack said the cast shared the ups and downs of the experiment and it taught him some important lessons about relationships.

"It made me learn to be more trusting," he said. "And it showed how important communication is with your partner.

"Some of the couples were talking about how they hadn’t had communication and the relationship had fallen apart, or others had really good communication and that’s why the show was fine for them.

"It was good to see both sides of the coin."

While Jack isn't expecting a large following from the show, he's open to any opportunities that might come his way.

He hopes that in 10 years time he'll be "spinning a few plates", working in games design while organising fundraising events to give back to people in need - and even founding his own charity one day.

Jack added: “I think the show has humbled me, more than anything. By the time I’d come off the show, it had helped me mature - rather than feeling giddy like I thought I might.

"If I get any sort of following, which I’m not particularly expecting, then I want to use that platform to help people."

While Jack raised a few eyebrows when he told his family and friends he was appearing on the show, he said they were supportive of the venture - and encouraged him to grab any opportunities that might come his way.

“They thought it was really random," he said.

"I explained the premise to them but I said I wasn’t doing anything massively inappropriate on TV.

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"It’s not that I don’t agree with it, it’s just not me. I was more interested in seeing what goes on behind the scenes.

"But my family were fine with it, they told me to go and see what it brings. I have no idea if they'll watch it."

Jack plays football for Dorset side Woodville Wanderers FC, as well as Supporting Charities FC - a team that travels across the country raising money for a variety of causes.

He is organising a charity event in Penryn, Cornwall, on July 30, raising cash for mental health charities Georgia's Voice and Man Down.

“I suffered with my mental health over a few years," Jack said.

"It’s really sad to admit, but I think through school you don’t realise how big mental health is until it affects you.

"There will have been times in school when I wasn’t the nicest person and there are people out there who I have said sorry to years later.

"When you’re a teenager you don’t realise how much of an impact you can have on someone until it takes a toll on you.

"I only realised how bad the situation was when I suffered with it myself. People have been going through that for years, so I wanted to help in any way I can.”

Jack hopes his time on the show will give him a larger platform for his fundraising efforts and would love to set up a charity to support children with disabilities.

He added: “I don’t really care about the following, I just want the platform to help others.

"It took me a few years to get to that point of maturity where I wanted to help other people, rather than just caring about myself.”

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