Secrets of the Sauna: Channel 4 documentary takes viewers inside a gay sauna to reveal what really goes on

From private bedrooms complete with lube and condoms to sex swings and 'glory holes'

Joe and John take viewers inside their Nottingham gay sauna C2 (Channel 4)

Never one to shy away from controversial or taboo subject matters, Channel 4 is airing its one-off documentary about life inside a gay sauna on Wednesday.

Secrets of the Sauna will offer viewers an exclusive look behind the doors of Nottingham sauna C2, with everybody from the clientele to the staff sharing their experiences and insisting that the goings-on are not as seedy as many might assume.

Owners Joe Corr and John Gains are refreshingly open about their livelihood and 30-year relationship, opening up about the activities, rules and traditions of their hidden sauna.

They founded the sauna in a bid to “get away from the behind-closed-doors, sleazy backstreet location” and now, C2 has been open for four years. The downstairs area is similar to a standard health spa, with showers, a hot tub and a sauna while upstairs is treated as a “private part of the club”.

There, viewers can expect to glimpse secretive private bedrooms equipped with baskets of lube and condoms to encourage safe sex. There is a sex swing in the S&M room, as well as ‘glory hole’ cubicles where men can enjoy sexual encounters anonymously.

“It’s a bit like a dungeon,” Joe says of the bondage room. “The appeal is cruise-y, generally it’s in darkness of very low light.”

Secrets of the Sauna was filmed during the summer months, when business was suffering because of the rise in apps such as Grindr and, surprisingly, school holidays.

“Most of our clients are married men so when it’s the school holidays, daddy can’t come out to play, basically,” explains Joe. “That really is true.”

Joe and John married during filming as a public statement that they are “happy, gay and proud”.

Catch Secrets of the Sauna on Wednesday 2 March at 10.35pm on Channel 4