Russell T Davies, whose dramas include Channel 4’s Queer as Folk, It’s a Sin and Tip Toe, spoke about big names stars who suggested that the on set romance experts were stifling creativity.13:23, 26 May 2026TV’s Russell T Davies has blasted “privileged” actors including Gwyneth Paltrow for claiming that intimacy co-ordinators are an unnecessary part of the sex scene filming process.‌Russell, whose dramas include Channel 4’s Queer as Folk, It’s a Sin and upcoming Tip Toe, claimed that big names stars suggesting that the on set romance experts were stifling creativity were plain wrong.‌Insisting they were now an incredibly important part of many productions in the wake of the #MeToo movement, he said: “There's been a rash recently of very famous actors saying you don't need intimacy co-ordinators.”‌Name-checking Paltrow, he declared: “They are disgraceful human beings. They have so much power and so much privilege and they have no idea what it is like to be a jobbing actor with no power on a set. Shame on them.”‌READ MORE: Channel 4's 'gripping' new thriller is must-watch for fans of It's A SinLast year it emerged that the American actress, 53, had told the intimacy co-ordinator on her movie Marty Supreme to “step back”, while acting alongside leading man Timothée Chalamet.She recalled how the film’s co-ordinator had asked if she would be comfortable with a certain move during one intimate scene. "I was like, 'Girl, I'm from the era where you get naked, you get in bed, the camera's on'," she explained. "We said, 'I think we're good. You can step a little bit back’.”‌And Gwyneth added: "I don't know how it is for kids who are starting out, but, if someone is like, 'OK, and then he's going to put his hand here,' I would feel, as an artist, very stifled by that.”She has been backed by the likes of Kim Basinger and Sean Bean, who had both made similar complaints. Kim, whose work includes the 1986 erotic thriller 9 1/2 Weeks opposite Mickey Rourke, insisted she wouldn't have used an intimacy coordinator on set even if they had existed then. "I can't imagine having somebody come up to me and say, 'Do you mind if they put their hand here?' That's just another person in the room. Either we work it out or we don't," she explained.And after appearing in Game of Thrones, Sean Bean said he was not a fan of intimacy coordinators because they “spoil the spontaneity” of an intimate scene.‌But many actors have said they felt far more comfortable with the sex scenes being co-ordinated like a stunt, while others have said they’d wished the experts been around when they started out in the industry.Kate Winslet said in 2024: “I would have benefited from an intimacy coordinator every single time I had to do a love scene or be partially naked or even a kissing scene. It would have been nice to have had someone in my corner, because I always had to stand up for myself.”Daisy Edgar-Jones, who starred in the BBC’s sexy series Normal People in 2020, aged 22, said she thought it was right the actors had “more protection” explaining: “Mentally, it's a really vulnerable place to put yourself in. You need to feel like you have the control and agency in those moments so that you can feel relaxed and give a better performance.”‌Russell’s upcoming Channel 4 series Tip Toe contains scenes of a sexual nature mostly involving the inhabitants of Manchester’s famous Canal Street, which is where the drama was filmed.Director Phil Collinson said he’d learned the value of intimacy co-ordinators on his and Russell’s previous award-winning series It’s a Sin, about the 1980s AIDS crisis. “I'd never done it before - it’s an incredible experience. Before that point, I was just left out there. It was like, go on, make this sexy. And then it'd be me and two actors all looking at each other and lots of people just with their arms folded.”Tip Toe is an urban thriller about the rise in hatred towards the LGBTQ community in recent years, starring real life pals Alan Cumming as bar owner Leo and David Morrissey as his next door neighbour, electrician Clive.Article continues belowAlan, 61, said that filming the intense storylines was so all-consuming that he couldn’t find the energy to socialise afterwards. “I basically lived like a monk. I was like ‘ooh, months and months in Manchester, I’ll have such a good time’. But I hardly went out. I mean, that's so unlike me - I just felt I needed to sort of have some time to myself. It was really a lot.”David says his character might seem like the villain of the piece but Clive was complicated. “What Russell does brilliantly is he writes a character that is three-dimensional and complex - sometimes you feel for him and sometimes you can’t stand him.”Tip Toe, Channel 4, 31 May & 1 June, 9pm