You might have already caught the endless promos on Fox, touting the Bachelor-esque premise of 20 single women whisked off to France for the chance to compete for the attention of a rich dude who gallops in on horseback.


According to Fox, the ladies are wined and dined by a "handsome, young, eligible man who has recently inherited $50 million and is looking for a special someone to share his newfound wealth."


Doesn't sound so groundbreaking, right? Heck, you might even say that Fox is copying itself, having run the one-off special last year called Who Wants to Be a Princess, in which 30 women competed in a glorified beauty pageant for a "dashing young European prince." Or maybe you think the network's trying to reinvent its ill-fated Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?


But there's a big catch. First, the pool of ladies is whittled down to a finalist. Then the show pulls the rug out from under the unsuspecting woman by revealing, in the last episode, that Prince Charming is, indeed, just a "Regular Joe" with a construction worker's bank account. And she must decide if he's still the man of her dreams.


"In a way, we're ripping the mask off the people (who sign up for shows like The Bachelor)," Fox reality programming chief Mike Darnell explains Daily Variety. "We find out whether they're really doing this for love."


Others are less diplomatic.


"It's the gold diggers and the ditch digger," one Fox insider quips to the trade paper.


Fox officials say they worked hard to trick the contestants, er, keep Joe's identity under wraps by treating the women to first-class luxury. Among the highlights: romantic horseback rides through the French countryside, private candle-lit dinners at the Eiffel Tower and expensive gifts for the final contestants.


"We had to keep it unbelievably secret," says Darnell. "If the participants knew (the twist), then you're screwed. And if our competitors found out, the women in the show would have found out."


The network also went to great lengths to prove that even well-educated, beautiful, sophisticated women will humiliate themselves in front of millions just to find a mate. Contestants, who were told they were participating in a matchmaking show called The Big Choice, include a doctor, a banker and a business development executive. (The show just finished months of secret shooting.)

As for good 'ol Joe, it won't be all fun and games either. He will have to endure the trauma of "grappling with the difficulty of maintaining his million-dollar charade," according to a Fox press release, as well as the potential humiliation of getting dumped on national television.

"He must come clean with the fact that he's actually a construction worker who makes $19,000 a year, and his job is moving dirt," Darnell explains. "The question becomes: 'What's more important, love or money?' "

Sure it does.

In any case, Fox officials believe they will have an unmitigated hit on their hands, and they swear this is a singular event. "We cannot duplicate this show. It's a one-time-only thing," Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman tells Variety.

The seven-episode special (which incidentally comes from the minds that created Temptation Island (news - Y! TV)) will bow on Fox on January 6.



Source: E! Online - Julie Keller
Link: Full Story

Comments Bruce Tuesday, February 18, 2003   07:40:57 p.m. Was I mistaken, or did Sarah give "whats his name" a hummer in the woods? gigi3010 Monday, February 17, 2003   11:15:06 p.m. Joe Millionaire is the best show ever- What's better than combining the dumbest guy ever w/ 20 not-so-beautiful (ok, be honest, they were no "Bachelor" girls!) women? I'll tell you whats better than this- the inside of my eyelids!!! Cory Monday, February 17, 2003   09:26:40 p.m. I believe that the girls are millionaires Valerie Saturday, February 15, 2003   10:48:50 p.m. Joe Millionaire is interesting - but not "hot" like "Temptation Island" was. Bring BACK Temptation Island!! To Post Comments please login or register. E-mail: Password: Forgot Password?