'Too Hot to Handle' Season 4's Seb on Kayla romance and feeling "insecure" (2024)

Seb Melrose has told Newsweek about his experience on the fourth season of Too Hot to Handle.

The first half of the new season of the Netflix dating show was released on Wednesday, December 7, with the second half set to follow next Wednesday, December 14.

Melrose, who is from Glasgow, Scotland, is just one of 10 hot singletons in the new Too Hot to Handle cast, and fans who have already binged the first five episodes know that he has begun to form a romantic connection with co-star Kayla Richart.

At the beginning of the season, the contestants believed they were taking part in a dating show called Wild Love, for which Netflix even enlisted the help of Mario Lopez to make the fake series seem more legitimate.

It is only towards the end of the first episode that the contestants were told they were on Too Hot to Handle, the show where the cast has to abstain from sexual contact to form meaningful connections and keep any prize money.

Revealing the lengths that the show goes to to keep its real identity under wraps, Melrose, 24, told Newsweek: "Behind the scenes, the producers have all got Wild Love T-shirts on. They had [the name] on their lanyards. There were cars with Wild Love on them, so we were sold on Wild Love."

He added that learning what show he was actually taking part in was a "massive shock," saying: "A part of you is excited because, obviously, everybody knows Too Hot to Handle... but then a part of you is, like, 'but I signed up for Wild Love,' and I was expecting to be a busy boy!"

Melrose also spoke about forming a connection with Richart, though remained tight-lipped over their relationship status.

"Obviously, at the start, I was like a kid in a candy shop, but Kayla was definitely my No. 1," he said, adding that the pair bonded over the fact that they, and the other stars on the show, were "so bad at relationships."

Melrose also revealed how the setup of the show and the constant surveillance of the cameras and virtual assistant Lana, voiced by comic Desiree Burch, helped them to form a connection.

"You were able to open up to each other... obviously, Lana's constantly watching everything, and you're constantly being recorded, so you can't hide... it's like what you see is what you're getting," he said.

While Melrose and Richart seem to be going strong, fans will need to tune in to the next batch of episodes to see if their romance continues, and how much money the couple potentially cost their co-stars with their rule-breaking.

The winner (or winners) of the season will also be revealed during the final episode, with Lana choosing which person, or people, have made the most progress and growth in themselves.

Elsewhere, Melrose also admitted to feeling insecure when he first arrived to filming for Too Hot to Handle, saying it was hard not to feel intimidated around his co-stars.

"When I first walked on to the beach, the first guy I saw was James [Pendergrass], and I was like, 'Oh my God,' because I'm this wee Scottish kid that has never really thought... you might be shocked by this, but I never had any expectation of myself before I went on the show.

"I actually grew up a really ugly kid, so I've always had that little bit of insecurity of, like, 'OK, I'm not going to be the best-looking guy in the room, but I might have the best chat.' So, when I saw everyone and saw how good-looking everyone was... I was like, 'What chance have I got here?'"

Luckily, Melrose seemed to get over his initial insecurities and has since formed close friendships with his male co-stars.

Melrose even now lives in London with Creed McKinnon, another Too Hot to Handle cast member, and the pair are expecting a visit from their American co-star Nigel Jones in the near-future.

"We're all so close now," Melrose said, adding: "We all needed each other on that retreat. We were like a big, dysfunctional family!"

The first half of Too Hot to Handle season four is available to stream now on Netflix.