Studio 10 executive Producer: Why i showed bare breast on Television

STUDIO 10 made the bold decision to feature a topless woman giving herself a breast examination on the program this morning in a move that has been applauded by viewers.

While overt nudity on television is often criticised by some

at home, the segment was universally praised by women on social media, with many describing the stunt as “the best TV segment” the show had ever aired.

The segment featured Dr Sam Hay talking a semi-naked woman through the examination of her breasts while hosts Ita Buttrose, Sarah Harris and Jessica Rowe followed along.

“Very informative segment and hats off to your wonderful model for having the courage and grace to demonstrate on TV, not many women could do that,” wrote Candice Henry on Facebook.

Anna Vozzo added: “Congratulations on a very informative segment. Great choice of model. I sure that many of us self checked during the segment too!”

Male viewers also congratulated the program on the move.

“You did this to be controversial and make headlines for ratings, and I say ‘awesome’ — this is worthy of the headlines. To the lady who did the modelling, well done sweetheart, you are beautiful and very brave. Great job,” Mark Ferris wrote.

Because of the early timeslot, Harris warned viewers of the nature of the segment.

“Due to the nature of this topic, we warn viewers there will be some nudity,” she said, “but we’re all adults, we think it’s really important to show exactly what is going on rather than just talking about it.”

Studio 10’s executive producer Rob McKnight told news.com.au it was not a difficult decision to show a pair of breasts on morning television.

“When you’re doing something as important as this, the nudity becomes secondary,” McKnight said. “Of course, you have to think twice about it because it’s unusual, but you can’t do a breast exam without breasts and we believed we needed a practical demonstration. I believe the people of Australia are mature enough to accept the fact that in order to do a breast exam, we need to show naked breasts.”

McKnight said he decided to air the segment because many of the young women who work on Studio 10 admitted during a production meeting that they were unsure how to do a self-breast exam.

“Everyone knows how important it is, but there’s a fear in people they’re not doing it right. It became obvious this was a segment we needed to do and we decided to go for it,” McKnight said.
“Yes, today we put a naked pair of breasts to air on live television, but the simple fact is we did much more than that … we might have just saved a life.”

Self-examination volunteer Mia, who was praised by viewers for her bravery, was a life drawing model and offered her services free of charge.

According to the McGrath Foundation, one in eight Australian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 85.