A UK Pleasure Boys show at Banbury United’s clubhouse has prompted a backlash after footage appeared to show performers engaging in intimate acts with members of the audience.
The over-18 event, promoted as the ‘Wet ’n’ Wild’ show, took place at The Spencer Clubhouse on Saturday night. One attendee described it as “the closest thing to an orgy I will ever see”.
Banbury United said the performance had gone beyond what it considered acceptable at its venue and apologised to anyone who was offended. The club said the clubhouse had been hired by an external promoter as part of the group’s UK tour.
Banbury United reviews clubhouse hire terms
The club said it was reviewing what happened and would revise its hire and conduct terms for future performance events.
The Spencer Clubhouse is a 250-capacity venue within Banbury United’s ground, with a bar, dance floor and audiovisual equipment. It is used for events including birthday parties, wedding receptions and business conferences.
The Pleasure Boys’ show was advertised with promises of “slick moves, ripped bodies, cheeky charm and a stage show that’ll leave you gasping for more”. Tickets started at £15, and the performance began at 8.30pm.
Footage from the event appeared to show male performers leaving the stage and becoming involved in highly physical interactions with women in the audience. The crowd could be heard cheering and shouting as the show continued.
Emma Cleall, who said she attended, wrote on Facebook that she had expected “a good body, good dancing and a great laugh with friends” and perhaps “a flash of some goods at the end – but not a porn show”.
She added: “It was a great laugh until it wasn’t… If the ticket said expect full [sex acts] in your face, then no I wouldn’t have gone.” In a separate post, she said: “Honestly, I left traumatised and my eyeballs are still bleeding from what I was witnessing.”
Two local taxi drivers said they had taken several attendees home after the event ended at about midnight. One described it as “a full-on fest”, while the other said passengers had told them things had become “a bit ‘friendly friendly’”.
The reaction in Banbury has been mixed. Some residents treated the incident as an unusual spectacle for the Oxfordshire town, while others said the performance had damaged its reputation.
Jean Wallis, 67, said: “Nobody is perfect but this is disgusting. This is a peaceful and very pleasant area. I am appalled.”
A local beautician, who did not wish to be named, claimed at least one relationship had ended after footage from the night was seen by a partner. The beautician said the clips appeared to have been shared widely, adding: “If you want to behave like that, you have to be single.”
Ryan Jennings, 29, described the event as “terrible for the reputation of the town” and said it would have led to divorce if his own wife had been filmed taking part.
The UK Pleasure Boys, who have eight performers and use stage names including Seduction, AJ and Demolition, describe their act as a dance-based strip show. The group has previously appeared in television programmes including Emmerdale, Casualty, Coronation Street and Judge Rinder, where viewers were not shown full nudity.
Manager John Woodward acknowledged that the Banbury performance “was more heated than usual shows”, but defended the atmosphere on the night.
“There was a great atmosphere,” he said. “It isn’t clear how or what got out of hand, or if it was the women or the men who got too heated. We are looking into it.”
The group’s Wet ’n’ Wild tour has also attracted criticism elsewhere. A 2024 performance in Belfast prompted complaints from attendees, while a Free Presbyterian minister later described a planned show in Enniskillen as “sinful, extremely immoral and of an indecent nature”. The event went ahead after selling out.
The tour remains scheduled to continue, with performances planned in Birmingham and a Halloween show in Lowestoft. Banbury United, meanwhile, has sought to distance itself from the controversy surrounding the event at its ground.
