The Big Picture
- Fox’s hit reality show
Joe Millionaire
lied to its contestants about their suitor’s net worth. - The reality series still aimed for its contestants to find love over money, but it led to short-lived relationships.
- Fox ultimately rebooted the series in 2022 as
Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer
, but could never achieve the first season’s success.
Reality TV might be commonplace nowadays, but the early 2000s is where it really took off. Shows like Survivor and Fear Factor took the world by storm, and pretty soon every network on TV was racing to get their own reality shows on the air — especially Fox. While Fox viewers might think of American Idol or one of Gordon Ramsay‘s shows when they think of its reality programming, there is one show that’s completely flown under the cultural radar: Joe Millionaire. Joe Millionaire was best known for its unique premise, but also for constantly obscuring the truth from its contestants. Even the very premise of the show was a lie!
‘Joe Millionaire’s “Millionaire” Was Actually a Working Class Man
Joe Millionaire had 20 women try to win the affections of Evan Marriott, a handsome millionaire looking for love. They didn’t know that Marriott wasn’t actually a millionaire, but rather a construction worker posing as one. Despite this deception, the show still aimed to learn who actually had a connection with Marriott and who was in it for the money. Ironically, Marriott got into the show for the payday, rather than love. “They needed a guy that was in construction but didn’t have kids, hadn’t been in jail, wasn’t on drugs. And basically I fit the bill. They said they would pay me $50,000, and I said, “Where do I sign?” I wasn’t looking for the love of my life,” he told Entertainment Weekly during a 2008 retrospective.
Marriott’s true profession wasn’t the only thing that Joe Millionaire was hiding from folks. According to the show, he was only pulling down about $19,000 a year — but an interview with another construction worker illuminated light on this deception, as the average salary for construction workers in 2003 usually topped out at $42,000 annually in California (where he was listed as a construction worker in 2003). Joe Millionaire was still a major ratings hit for Fox, and after eight episodes ended with Marriott choosing teacher Zora Andrich as the winner of his heart. The couple also won a million dollars, which they split evenly — and then split up shortly after the show’s finale. Fox would try to recapture the success of Joe Millionaire internationally and fall flat.
‘The Next Joe Millionaire’ Proved That Fox Had a One-Hit Wonder on Its Hands
For The Next Joe Millionaire, Fox would shift the setting to Italy, and pick contestants from all across Europe. Even the fake “millionaire” was a different person: David Smith might have pretended to be wealthy, but he was actually a rodeo cowboy! But unlike its predecessor, The Next Joe Millionaire bled viewers and forced then-head of Fox entertainment Sandy Grushow to admit that the well had run dry. “Our instincts told us from the very beginning that ‘Joe Millionaire’ was a one-time stunt and I think we got greedy. We tried to sneak it by the American public a second time and we got called on it,” he said. After the show, Smith won a ranch in lieu of a million dollar check, though his relationship with Linda Kadovza was fairly short-lived. It seemed like Joe Millionaire was destined to fade into relative obscurity…until its inevitable reboot.
In an age where nearly every intellectual property under the sun’s received a reboot, continuation, or spin-off, reality shows are no different. Fox opted to resurrect Joe Millionaire in 2022 with Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer, but this time there was another twist. Instead of one bachelor, there would be two: Kurt F. Sowers and Steven McBee. It also turned out that one of them was actually a millionaire, with Sowers serving as the CEO of his own construction company while McBee was a farmer. This wasn’t the only time the show got a reboot of sorts; there was a British version that only lasted a year.
Related
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The kind of villain that extends across networks and franchises alike!
‘Joe Millionaire’ Helped Improve Some Careers, Including the Original “Joe”
If there’s anyone who’s benefitted from Joe Millionaire, it’s the show’s hosts. That’s especially true for The Next Joe Millionaire and its host Samantha Harris; if that name sounds familiar, it’s because Harris is best known for co-hosting Dancing with the Stars early in its tenure. Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer‘s “butler,” Martin Andrew,is actually an accomplished musician who’s doubled as a Rod Stewart impersonator. It’s Evan Marriott himself who had the most surprising career change, though. The original “Joe Millionaire” now owns his own construction company, and by all accounts, he loves it. Joe Millionaire is definitely a product of its time, but it’s also a reminder that some reality shows can go a little too far in trying to draw in viewers.
Joe Millionaire is available to stream on Tubi in the U.S.
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