As if the beauty-pageant-style dating special “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire” wasn’t controversial enough when it aired in 2000, Fox made it even more so with “Joe Millionaire.” The series continued in 2003, adding an outright lie to the hidden identity element of its spiritual predecessor. Here, the women again compete against each other for the heart of a billionaire while living in a posh French chateau. Except the man they’re competing against isn’t rich, even though he actively supported the lie all season long.
In Tuesday’s (September 24) latest episode of The Dark Side of Reality TV, several former contestants, including winners Zola Sabrina, Melissa Michael, Allison Ball and Amanda Garcia, along with casting producer Dawn George, talk about how wild their experiences were and what viewers didn’t know about the show.
Here are the special’s strangest revelations:
1. The contestants were fooled from the start.
According to the documentary series, the 20 women recruited for the show, called “The Big Choice,” had some very strict conditions in their contracts, including a requirement that they be willing to kiss the man at the center of their relationship, but it was not revealed that they had been lied to about the man’s financial situation.
2. They were encouraged to fight over dresses.
The contestants also revealed that when they were asked to dress up for a formal evening, producers prepared just enough dresses for each woman, which led to a massive brawl over all the dresses. One contestant said it was at this very moment that she realised she was “being made fun of”.
3. A potential candidate was sent home because he knew too much.
Participants also revealed they were shocked when one contestant who was thought to have an easy path to victory was booted out after revealing he had information about real-life “Joe Millionaire” Evan Marriott and his so-called “sugar mama.”
4. One of the contestants found a microphone in his hotel room.
Melissa revealed in the special that co-star Sarah Kosar had privately told her that a producer had overheard her making disturbing comments about her underwear, and that as the pair were writing down their concerns, another producer burst in and told them to stop. That’s when the pair realized they were being spied on with a microphone hidden in their dresser, something they hadn’t been warned about or agreed to. Sarah was then threatened to “fuck you up” if she didn’t stop speaking out about her concerns.
Fox/Everett Collection
5. Evan himself was uncomfortable with what was going on.
Behind-the-scenes footage of Evan on set reveals that he had serious ethical concerns about the way women were being deceived on the show, and that he was vocal about those concerns to production staff.
6. The winner received an unexpected attack from the audience.
After winning, Zola quickly found out that Evan wasn’t actually a millionaire, and she took the news pretty well. It also helped that she was given a check for $1 million to share as the two of them went their separate ways (they didn’t even date after filming). But while Evan’s life was somewhat smooth sailing, with parties and media appearances following his newfound fame, Zola reported feeling attacked by media personalities and even people who knocked on her apartment door. She was unable to defend herself due to the constraints of the non-disclosure agreement she signed to appear on the show in the first place.
7. Before the show aired, the cast had no idea how they would be portrayed.
One contestant revealed that she first learned that she and the other contestants were being framed as “gold diggers” when she happened to see the first ad for the show on air with her family.
The Dark Side of Reality TV, Tuesday, 9pm/8pm CST, Vice TV
