Scarlett Moffatt’s new show The British Tribe Next Door has divided viewers upon its first episode aired on Tuesday night, with some labelling it “poverty porn”.
The Channel 4 series sees the former Gogglebox star and her family living alongside the Himba tribe in Namibia for four weeks, in an attempt to learn about each other’s cultures.
In a bizarre twist, a replica of the Moffatts’ family home was built for them to live in, so the tribe could judge first-hand the consumerist western lifestyle they had heard about but not seen in the real world.
During the opening episode, viewers saw the Moffatt family learn that their physical possessions did not necessarily make them happy, while Scarlett also had some realisations about body confidence after spending time with the people of the Himba.
Many praised the show for educating about the excess of western lifestyle, calling for critics to look beyond their snap judgements about the show’s premise.
However, for others, The British Tribe Next Door played into stereotypes the western world holds about Africa, with some accusing programme-makers of producing “poverty porn”.
Scarlett tweeted after the show: “Thank you so so so much for your positive comments for my family and for my himba friends.”
Responding to some of the concerns about it, she added: “Just to clarify we left a water borehole for our friends when we left Namibia which someone maintains.”
Channel 4 previously stressed that the Himba tribe had agreed to host the Moffatts so they could learn about their way of living.
The average Himba family has about a dozen possessions, compared to the nearly 22,000 items in the Moffatts’ home.
The British Tribe Next Door continues next Tuesday at 9.15pm on Channel 4.
