The frightening reason you should never have sex in front of the TV

After reading this you might think twice before embarking on a 'sofa session'

friends with benefits sex in front of the TV
Justin Timberlake explains why sex in front of the tv is not a good idea

After reading this you might think twice before embarking on a 'sofa session'

Having sex in front of the TV on the living room sofa is a great British pastime, and for good reason - it’s comfy, time efficient and not to mention close to the kitchen for post-sex snacks. It means we can both fool around with our partner and catch up on the new Game of Thrones while we're at it.

But with the curtains drawn would you ever think twice about who might be watching? Of course you wouldn’t – for the obvious reason that you’re in the privacy of your own home and the curtains are shut.

Well, in extremely creepy news, it turns out that a TV-adjacent fondle could actually be a lot more public than you realise.

It has recently emerged that hackers have been filming people having sex from their own sofas without their knowledge, using the webcam built into their TV. The footage is then being uploaded onto porn sites.

Yes, we’re serious. This is actually a thing.

To those of you preparing to throw your TV out of the window – don’t panic, the allegations so far only apply to ‘Smart TVs’ so if you’ve got a bog-standard set up you’re fine for now.

If on the other hand you do have a Smart TV - take note. People genuinely could have access to your webcam, so either deactivate it, cover it up... or just stop having sex on your sofa.

Justin Timberlake explains why sex in front of the tv is not a good idea

How is this actually possible? Well apparently smart TVs have very low security so hackers are able to break into some of its features – one of which being the webcam (which is installed for using Skype).

It sounds more like a chapter from 1984 than real life, but couples have been filmed having sex via their Smart TV webcams and the footage of them doing the deed really has been streamed online for the public to see.

One poor couple were recognized by friends on the site Revenge Porn. They were not involved in the filming and were completely unaware that their TV webcam was recording them. They were simply victims of a random TV hack attack.

We would usually never think twice about fooling around on the sofa but now, we think we’ll pass. Call us paranoid but we’re going home to check if our TVs have webcams installed.

Jenny Proudfoot
Features Editor

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.