Hulu has consistently built a strong lineup of original shows, including The Bear and Only Murders in the Building. Although it is regarded as one of the most esteemed streaming platforms right now, Hulu also features a variety of steamy and provocative series.
Among all genres on Hulu, romance is one of the most popular, offering audiences many steamy scenes to enjoy. But these romantic shows aren’t only about explicit content; they also include humor, heartfelt stories, exciting action, suspenseful moments, and well-developed characters that viewers connect with. The passionate scenes enhance the strong storytelling, creating bold, engaging narratives.
The Bisexual Is the Steamiest Smart Comedy You Haven’t Seen
Created, directed, co-written, and starred in by Desiree Akhavan, The Bisexual is six episodes of sharp, frank, and frequently explicit comedy about a self-identified lesbian named Leila who breaks up with her long-term girlfriend Sadie, played by Maxine Peak.
She then begins exploring attraction to men for the first time in the show. The sex scenes are choreographed with a candor and awkwardness that most shows avoid, which is why they land harder: Akhavan refuses to make them glamorous. Every beat is funny, honest, and intimate in ways that feel true, making it a comforting yet steamy show for audiences who are seeking that combination.
Brian Gleeson plays Leila’s hapless new flatmate and fumbling romantic interest with warm comic precision, adding emotional intelligence to The Bisexual beneath the raciness. Akhavan uses Leila’s sexual journey to excavate the specific shame that comes from living between categories that others keep insisting you should choose between.
Pam & Tommy Is the Most Explicit Prestige Drama Hulu Has Ever Made
Pam & Tommy comprises eight episodes, two of the most committed lead performances of 2022, and more explicit content than most premium cable dramas dare. The series chronicles the whirlwind marriage between Pamela Anderson (Lily James) and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan). The show digs into the theft of their honeymoon sex tape by a disgruntled contractor, played by Seth Rogen.
The show is created by Robert Siegel and the first three episodes are directed by Craig Gillespie. Lily James disappears so completely into Anderson that her transformation became the story before the show even aired. Stan as Tommy is unhinged and totally absurd, also going through a physical transformation, totally tattooed up.
There is extensive nudity and explicit sex, including an animated prosthetic sequence, but the heat stays because of the love story underneath it all. Pam and Tommy were recklessly devoted to each other in a world where it was impossible.
Nine Perfect Strangers Is the Steamiest Luxury Nightmare on Streaming
Based on Liane Moriarty’s 2018 bestselling novel and created by David E. Kelley, Nine Perfect Strangers drops nine emotionally damaged strangers into Tranquillum House, a boutique wellness retreat in Byron Bay, over two seasons. It is presided over by Masha, a Russian wellness director played by Nicole Kidman, who exudes a hypnotic and unsettling calm.
Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Luke Evans, Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall, and Samara Weaving make up a cast that brings a collective sexual and emotional tension to the retreat, which the show lets simmer before detonating it.
The heat in Nine Perfect Strangers is as psychological as it is physical, as Masha is revealed to be secretly dosing her guests with psychedelics, loosening the inhibitions and buried desires of the residents of Tranquillum House. Even the show’s setting, full of golden light and outdoor baths, gives bodies permission to exist without shame and colors the story with innate sensuality.
Normal People Is a Realistic Look at Modern-Day Relationships
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Everything about Normal People was novel, particularly the relationship between school jock Connell (Paul Mescal) and oddball Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones), who start seeing each other secretly at school. This story not only focused on a rather anguished love but also on the couple’s social and economic status and how these affected their relationship.
Marianne and Connell went through high school and then college, somehow always finding their way back to each other through every curveball that life threw at them. Their passionate love was shown in various intimate, realistic scenes that weren’t as choreographed as people expect.
Marianne and Connell were an atypical couple, and their intimacy felt raw, authentic, and a little complicated — resulting in a 10-minute-long sex scene in the second episode. Marianne and Connell’s relationship embodied modern millennial love, and their steamy scenes reflected their messy yet real emotions.
Rivals Centers on Cutthroat Corporate Scandals and Plenty of Sex
Based on the Rutshire Chronicles novel series by Jilly Cooper, Rivals is a campy, dark-comedy soap opera set in the mid-1980s. It centers on a rivalry between two men in British elite society whose television companies compete for dominance. David Tennant stars as Tony, Lord Baddingham, and Alex Hassell as rival Rupert Campbell-Black.
The sex-heavy show is regarded as one of the steamiest on streaming, and it stands out for catering to the female gaze. This shift is appreciated by many viewers, as is its use of multiple intimacy coordinators who help keep the cast comfortable during these provocative scenes.
Rivals has been renewed for Season 3 in June, following two wildly successful seasons that earned a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Tell Me Lies Centers on Toxic Love
Tell Me Lies is a steamy show that exposes the intoxicating pull of desire when it’s tangled with manipulation, insecurity, and obsession. Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen’s (Jackson White) attraction to each other is a heady cocktail of physical attraction and power dynamics, as they keep falling for each other’s games over eight years.
Their romance is dangerous and addictive, and the two of them have remained enmeshed since college. Tell Me Lies does not shy away from nudity or sex; instead, it is bold with them in ways that serve the story. Love and intimacy go hand in hand, and this show depicts sex as currency, which Stephen and Lucy use to get the upper hand on each other.
By refusing to romanticize every act of intimacy, Tell Me Lies cooks up a seductive show that is unsettling yet interesting, and this feeling of teetering on the edge makes it so good.
Scandal Is a Racy Shonda Rhimes Drama
Shonda Rhimes is renowned for creating and producing iconic TV series filled with intense relationship drama, including Grey’s Anatomy, Bridgerton, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, and Scandal. Starring Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope, Scandal offers a captivating, racy political drama.
Olivia Pope transitions from serving as the President of the United States’ top aide to running a public relations firm in Washington, D.C. One of her main romantic relationships is with the married President (Tony Goldwyn). The two share many passionate scenes, including a memorable moment in the Oval Office. Later in the series, some of the steamiest scenes are shared with spy agent Jake Ballard (Scott Foley).
Scandal ended in 2018, but it has seven binge-worthy seasons on Hulu.
Catherine the Great Gets Wild in The Great
Loosely based on the life of Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning), The Great is a highly fictionalized account of her life in Russia. It documents her marriage to Emperor Peter III (Nicholas Hoult) and her relationship with her lover Leo (Sebastian de Souza).
Darkly comical, The Great doesn’t care to be historically accurate and is full of absurd, violent, and funny scenes. Catherine’s relationship with her husband is also a key part of her story, and she and Peter aren’t afraid to get steamy, sometimes a bit too much, but it adds to the appeal of the show.
Its intimacy is raw, often shocking, and layered with humor, manipulation, and vulnerability, making every sexual encounter feel politically and emotionally charged. The combination of freewheeling history and a complete disregard for accuracy makes it unapologetically fun and a perfectly provocative, steamy show to binge on.
Dying for Sex Follows a Woman Exploring Her Sexuality in Her Last Days
Truly an outlier in a list of sexy miniseries, Dying For Sex takes a heartwarming, nearly fragile look at sensuality through the story of its protagonist, Molly (Michelle Williams), who finds out she has Stage 4 cancer.
In an unconventional twist, Molly decides to leave her husband and moves in with her best friend (Jenny Slate), eager to finally explore her sexuality for the first time as life comes to a reluctant end. Dying For Sex is tender, but it’s also funny, as Molly discovers her kinks (dominating men) and finds new sexual experiences in the last phase of her life.
Depicting intimacy in this way is completely novel, and the show will leave fans excited, heartbroken, and amused all at once. Death and sex don’t usually go hand in hand, but a stellar performance by Michelle Williams makes this unusual, alluring show come to life.
Harlots Is Hulu’s Answer to Bridgerton
Harlots takes place in 1760s Georgian-era London, where the rise of puritanical authorities threatens to strip the city’s escorts of what little financial independence they have. In response, brothel owner Margaret Wells (Samantha Morton) relocates her business to the wealthier Soho, where she uses the area’s wealthier clientele for her own gain.
When the series isn’t focusing on sex, it gets into the lives of its characters, juxtaposing the lowest of the working-class with the richest of the elite. In the sense of it being an unabashedly steamy period drama that suspends disbelief, Harlots is the closest thing Hulu has to its own Bridgerton.
It’s an underrated period drama that uses its censorious backdrop to add a layer of taboo to every sex scene it has (and it has plenty). Surprisingly, its depiction of 18th-century London is closer to reality than any steamy costume drama, offering a window into the seedy, lurid underworld of Georgian Britain.
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