(PNJ.com) Imagine your pastor just a few feet away from you and your significant other while the two of you do the deed. (You know the deed we're talking about: S E X.)
Now, imagine you two just finished coitusing each other — we know that's not a word, but it sounds better than the alternative — throwing on a robe, then sitting down next to your pastor to talk about the sweaty mess you've made. Now, add a TV camera and a national audience to the not-for prime time party.
Welcome to "Sex Box," a nationally-broadcast reality series that debuts Friday on WEtv, featuring Pensacola minister and author Yvonne Capehart, pastor at Believer's Life Center on Pace Boulevard.
So what's a Pensacola pastor doing on a show where participants have sex in a secluded box that's right on stage? She's dispensing relationship advice that she hopes will spice up their adventures.
"There was a lot of hesitation on my part because of the subject matter," said Capehart, a married mother of two adult sons. "When I first heard the premise, I thought 'Oh boy, this is just way out there.' Me being a pastor, I was very skeptical at first."
Here's the premise of "Sex Box": Couples come on stage to discuss their relationship issues with a panel of three "sexperts", one of whom is Capehart. After receiving very intimate advice from the sexperts, the couples decide whether they want to step into the "Sex Box" to, um, "resolve" those issues. The room is soundproof and no, you can't see into the box either. After the couple has sex — just a few feet away from Capehart — they exit the box in robes, hair a mess, to sit down and discuss how things went.
WATCH:Trailer for "Sex Box"
In other words, what happens in the Sex Box doesn't stay in the Sex Box. The 11-episode series was shot in Los Angeles beginning in November.
"These people have real issues," Capehart said. "People are saying they aren't satisfied, or they want to try something new but might be embarrassed about it. Some people have physical issues they're dealing with. Some want to try to explore fantasies. There's a lot of variety and diversity."
Capehart, who pastors Believer's Life Center along with her husband of 30 years, Lee Capehart, knows what many people are thinking.
What's a pastor doing handing out sex advice on a show that features live sex?
"I know there will be people talking about me behind my back," she said. "But this isn't my first time doing something unorthodox."
Capehart is the founder of Sister Keeper International Ministries Crusade, a network for women in ministry. She has written six books, many dealing with relationship issues. She initially balked at participating in "Sex Box" after being contacted by a talent scout. It was her husband who talked her into it, she said.
She also talked to her church congregation and received their blessing for the show.
"I know some people won't like it, but I hope they watch the show before they make a decision," Capehart said. "Hear the advice I give and judge me on that."
Still, she knows that many people will tune in because of the nature of the show — people having sex, albeit inside a closed, sound-proof room — and she hopes then they'll discover some important tips and advice. She said the box isn't just meant to be titillating. She said there is "science involved," as well.
According to the show's press release, "Post coitus, a scientifically proven time when people are more trusting and open due to the body's natural release of oxytocin." Meaning, after sex, they're very talkative.
And about the "Sex Box"? Capehart is the only one of the three "sexperts" not to take a peek inside.
"I feel that's their private space," she said of the couples who "use" the box. "And I don't want to intrude on that."
She said there is a bed in the box, soft lighting, music and various do-dads and what-nots to assist in the, um, deed.
Some couples have spent a lot of time in the box mending their relationships. (Some are married couples, but not all.)
"One couple was in there for an hour and a half," Capehart said. "We had to edit that time down."
She's sitting right next to the "Sex Box" on the set. Doesn't she wonder what those couples are doing in there?
"Of course," she said. "I'm nosy like everyone else."
"Sex Box" airs at 9 p.m. Fridays on the WE TV network.
