The Sex Appeal Of Glass

WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT that a new niche reality contest centred on glassblowing would be such a compelling watch? On Blown Away, you don't get enticing images of delicious food, as you do on The Great British Bake-Off or MasterChef. Its contestants aren't exceptionally attractive, as they are on The Bachelor or Love Island. And there aren't the usual sharp-tongued celebrity judges a la Gordon Ramsay, Simon Cowell or RuPaul.

What you get instead is, well, glass - glass cups, glass vases, glass sculptures, glass tableware, glass everything - made by, well, eccentric artists. And yet the process of producing these wares turns out to be so complex, so fragile, so prone to failure that you find yourself inexplicably drawn to watching the 10 contestants compete for the…