Revisit the show that tricked women into thinking they were dating Prince Harry
With Prince Henry Of Wales having just proposed to actor and activist Meghan Markle, the world—well, most of the world—is again indulging in the fantasy of being a real-life Disney princess. They’re also, presumably, revisiting the ill-fated 2014 Fox reality show I Wanna Marry Harry, a series that Broadly writer Sirin Kale calls “an exercise in gas-lighting unrivaled by any other show and, as such, should be considered the nadir of the entire post-2000 reality TV epoch.”
That’s a lofty accusation for a culture that gave us Joe Millionaire and four seasons of Average Joe, but in her piece, Kale makes a good case by pointing out the extreme lengths to which the producers went to convince the 12 American contestants that its lead—environmental consultant Matt Hicks—is Prince Harry without ever actually saying so. See, the premise of the show is that these women are dropped at a British estate where they’re shuffled off on dates with a mystery man who gives up not-so-subtle hints that he’s a member of the royal family while paid bystanders scream out Harry’s name. To be there is to be in a state of constant confusion, and all of it is capped off when the winner is confronted with the truth. If the woman admits to being still into the guy even though he’s not Prince Harry, she receives a cash prize.