With Britain (and the world) on Royal Wedding watch as speculation intensifies that Prince Harry may be close to proposing
to long-time girlfriend Cressida Bonas, a group of U.S. women get one last chance to win the Prince’s heart before he goes off the market. Not really. I’ve learned that Fox is moving forward with its hush-hush reality series I Wanna Marry “Harry”, in which 12 single American girls were whisked away to the palatial Englefield House in Berkshire and spent weeks trying to impress a royal-looking redhead young Brit they were led to believe was Prince Harry.
Instead, it was Prince Harry lookalike Matthew Hicks, an average English “bloke” given a royal makeover, trying to convincingly act the part so the women don’t find out who he really is. The project, from Ryan Seacrest Prods. and ZigZag Prods., was greenlighted in August under the title Dream Date, with details about the premise kept largely under wraps for obvious reasons. Now it is gearing up, eying a summer launch.
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I Wanna Marry “Harry” is in the vein of Fox’s similar “hoax” dating reality series Joe Millionaire, in which single women competed for the heart of a good-looking guy they thought was super rich. Instead, he was an average Joe. The 2003 show, a take on ABC’s The Bachelor, became a pop culture phenomenon, drawing 34.6 million viewers for its finale. It was the brainchild of former Fox head of alternative Mike Darnell who also originally brought in and ordered I Wanna Marry “Harry” before leaving the network in May. The project was then shepherded by his successor, Simon Andreae, who is British-born.





Cruel.
I have to say, that’s a pretty brilliant idea for a reality TV show. I love it. I’ve grown really, really tired of Bachelor type shows and haven’t watched one in years — but this is an inspired twist with a funny concept. Who came up with the idea? There’s no way Ryan Seacrest himself thought of it…
Hardly a new concept. Fox already did something similar a few years back, letting female competitors believe that the “Joe Millionaire” of the show’s title was mega loaded… only he wasn’t.
Is it cruel to expose the idiocy and desperation of American women?
Maybe you’re the idiot for thinking these women actually believe he’s “the prince.” It’s a show, it’s fake. Silly people like you believe it.
How could anyone be that stupid that they would think that a member of a royal family would be a part of a reality show like this.
The majority of the women on shows like this aren’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
Guess even without Darnell, Fox is back to trash TV (and not even talking about its cable news network)
Mean-spirited.
A bit like Joe Millionaire—if anyone remembers that one.
Not sure Prince Harry is current enough for most of the women who watch The Bachelor.
So, not sure this will interest anyone……
Awful…. and totally Fox-worthy.
And yet a whole bunch of American women would trip over themselves (and each other) backwards and forwards for the mere chance to compete for the affection of a prince. Why oh why are American girls socialized to have such reverence for a bunch of people who inherit their wealth, haven’t done much or anything to earn their titles or influence is waaay beyond me. The Royal wedding, The royal baby, the royal bowl movement. Who cares???
Are you referring to the royal family or the Kardashians?
Just kidding, but your comment hits the nail on the head.
Wow. So we perpetuate a Prince Charming myth to girls and when they are women trick them into thinking they might marry one. For ratings. Beyond cruel.
You think perpetuating the “Prince Charming myth” is worse than these women going on a reality show in the first place with the intention of marrying someone they just met (and clearly don’t know well enough to even deduce that he’s a fake) for money and fame? Please.
If you’d follow the logic of my original post, Rock-A-Billy, you would get that I suggest the desires of these women are conditioned by society when they are girls. As women they are just playing it out. Should they try to do better? Maybe. But exploiting them for commercial breaks is abhorrent.
This is so mean. Poor girls.
Poor girls? Seriously?
Any girl who is idiotic enough to fall for this or participate in this deserves utter humiliation in front of the entire world.
Stop sympathizing with weaklings, dunces, and the dignity-less. These people deserve to be crucified and squashed.
That said, this show sounds as pathetic too. Joe Millionaire 2 bombed. And they’re going back to that well. So much for Fox execs and Kevin Reilly having any vision for television reality shows.
Oh, really? So stupid, gullible, people should be publically humiliated? Look in the mirror, Pete, you may not like what you see if you truly believe this.
Yeah i also feel super sorry for women that sign up for reality dating competitions.
Any woman so shallow, greedy, and superficial that she would fly halfway around the world to try and seduce a total stranger on a reality TV show just because he’s rich and famous deserves to be mocked and ridiculed.
This concept disgusts me for a completely different reason: it will serve only to show how stupid and petty some American women are.
Whether the women were actually conditioned as girls to feed into the PRINCE/PRINCESS crappola doesn’t EXCUSE a grown woman from making an arse of herself for the world to see on television.
anyhoo, most of these ladies are really interested in becoming faux celebs themselves…
making money by making people hate/love/pity/talk about them, photograph them and write/print stories about them….i.e every reality TV starlet who has ever had her name mentioned in a blog post by Perez Hilton or Michael K from Dlisted (love him.)
Good luck to the future SNOOKIS and COURTNEY STODDENS……
All the creative minds and talents … all the money going to network execs and development teams… and FOX gives us this?
Really?
Click.
Having met some of those minds and ‘talents’, this is not surprising.
It`s bloody briliant!
This sounds REALLY stupid. That is all.
If they do this, then I think they should bring in that Princess Kate look-alike to talk to the girls and be like “Ok, this is the key to Harry’s heart…and the way to become my royal sister-in-law.”
And this is reality how again?
Awesome. I love it when peoples get rich schemes fail miserably.
Fuck “reality” shows (or most of them) and the vegetables that continue watching them.
Same to you, b. Some of us make our living on those shows… and it’s some of the only work that’s staying in California. Plus, get used to it, it’s not going anywhere…
Most. Depressing. Post. Ever.
Bring back More to Love!!! Even full figured people need love..
I love how people can’t get behind these romantic comedy / funny shows. I miss the Joe Schmos of the world; which everyone watched. This is not cruel and its happens to be the subject matter of half of Shakespeare’s comedic plays as well as other notable literary works like Prince and the Pauper and almost anything written by Jane Austen (Not that I would compare them to reality TV but the themes are the same). I also get irked when people judge before seeing things, I am sure Simon Andrae would not air this if he didn’t think there was something redeemable in it. For me I’m excited, its going to be refreshing to see one of these big scale shows again (its been a long time) and not have yet another singing, surviving or cooking competition.
Are people really feeling this bad for girls who go on a dating tv show to find true love??
Did they really think the royal family would marry their scion off in a reality TV show? Hahahahaha. Or are they all wannabe actresses who are playing along with this nonsense in the hopes of being “discovered” (many careers have been launched from reality junk) and the joke is on the audience? I suspect the latter, so I won’t be watching (not that I ever do.)
The women who fell for this deserve to be laughed at. For them to actually believe Prince Harry would marry the winner of a reality TV show makes them idiots and it will be very entertaining to watch. Camilla and I look forward to laughing at these tarts.
From Ryan Seacrest Productions….did you expect anything more – or in this case, less? Thanks to Seacrest, we will forever have Kardashian shows and mean spirited crap like this for many years to come.
disgusting on so many levels. shame on the network, that they broadcast this garbage, and the participants, that they, well, participate.
Hard to feel sorry for any girl who is so ill informed as to think Prince Harry would participate in this type of reality show.
That’s awful.
Funny how outraged people seem to be about this. How is this any more pathetic than the chicks on The Bachelor that are in tears when they are sent packing after 3 days because they pinned their hopes, dreams and life on marrying a stranger? THREE DAYS!
Yuck. Just. Yuck.