In Netflix's newest, bawdy dating series Too Hot to Handle, there is no shortage of deviance, sexual energy, and general bingeable animosity, but among the cast of hard-bodied characters is the pure soul of Chloe Veitch, a 21-year-old woman from Essex, England. The series, which follows an initial group of ten strangers, introduces them to a month-long stay on an idyllic villa with crashing waves and a stream of alcohol. All of them are impossibly attractive, but the series offers a twist at the end of the first episode—physical interaction is not allowed. If they can hold out, there's a cool $100,000 waiting on them at the end.
Unfortunately, chastity is not a frequently used word in this group's dictionary. As contestants continue to break rules (a kiss costs $3,000), the infractions threaten to tear the crew apart. Veitch, however, manages to not only break rules but remain a favorite on the cast. Quickly falling into the narrator role, Veitch is reality television gold. Her thick Essex accent, paired with her shock and awe at knowing the word "animosity," makes her a treasure in a line up of sexually charged absurdism. How does she do it? According to Veitch, it all comes back to the reality show mantra—be yourself.
How are you faring with everything going on in the world right now?
Just trying to keep sane! I’ve even tried meditating! [laughs]
How’s that been going for you?
I’m like a little kid when it comes to my attention span, so not very well. Or I just want to go to sleep.
Have you had a chance to see the series?
No, none of us have! We’ve actually had to wait a year to even see the trailer. I think I’ve seen the trailer a thousand times, I think? So I’m ready.
There’s always a structure to these reality shows where certain characters serve specific purposes, and there’s always a narrator who offers great commentary. That’s what you ended up being, in a way.
To be honest, in my nature, I’ve always been someone who understands everyone’s emotions. Obviously, I went through my own emotional roller coaster on the show. I think it’s a good quality to have, to be able to address a situation in a peaceful way. That makes me happy because I was just myself on the show, and I think that helped other people because everyone was so tense about being filmed 24-7.
That has to be unnerving.
You just have to be yourself. Literally, if there’s any advice for anyone who goes on reality TV, it’s that you have to be yourself. If you do that, you can’t say that you’ve ever been edited in a bad light. They can only edit what you say, so if you go in being yourself, people can only see you for who you are.
Clearly the show is about very attractive people, partially coming on this show for physical attraction. Then that component is taken away. You interact physically, you lose money. Other people admitted to moments of weakness, but you never really apologized for just going in for a kiss. Can you walk me through that?
On the outside world, I think I could have restrained a little bit more when dating a guy. It’s all about sexual attraction to me. If I fancy them, why not? On the show, I knew that I had to invest in the process: check myself with the emotional side. Sometimes, sexual attraction and physical attraction are so important to me… on the show, I had to test that in certain situations with certain people.
I could see the emotional connection was kind of there, but I just want to finalize it with a kiss and hopefully everyone will understand if we lose a little bit of money. I hoped people would know it was for a good cause because I didn’t want to lead anyone on.
Do you feel like you’ll take the lesson of connection over physical attraction into the outside world, or do you feel like physical attraction is something that needs to come early and often?
I think for me as a person, I’m always going to be flirtatious. However, since we have left the villa, I have definitely changed as a person in terms of dating, respecting myself. The challenges we were put through were so thought through, and I loved every minute of it. And now, if I get to know someone and I think we’re a match, I don’t see the harm in moving on with the physical side of things, as long as the emotional grounds and foundation is there.
The moment Chloe realizes she knows the word "animosity."
This comes only out of a place of love, but there is a moment in the show when you describe the cast and vibe in general, and you say the word “animosity,” and it hits you that you know the word animosity. It was the purest moment. You added it to the “Chloe Dictionary.” How strong has your arsenal gotten?
Definitely! I mean, Chloe is definitely worth a change. I actually spoke to someone who is on the show, David. He has been giving me pieces of advice about adding knowledge to power. But, to be honest, I don’t want to change too much. There’s only so much you can be. Adding different words to my dictionary just isn’t a priority right now. When it happens, it’s great. Like, “oh my God, I just added a word to my dictionary.” I’m actually really connected to myself on an emotional level. I’m emotionally intelligent. Just because I don’t know what some of these words mean… I don’t know what else to say, to be honest.
I’m just going to embrace it. That’s a message to all the guys and girls out there: own your sh*t. Never change who you are. If you are or aren’t in a relationship, you don’t need to be in a relationship to value yourself. You need to fall in love with yourself. When you find someone who appreciates you for who you are, then you’ve hit the jackpot.
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