Topic: Joe Millionaire

Joe Millionaire is an American reality television show broadcast on FOX beginning in January 2003. It was broadcast in the UK that same year. A sequel, The Next Joe Millionaire, followed in October 2003.

The show was wildly successful and became a pop culture phenomenon, with over 40 million viewers in the US tuning in to the season one finale making it the most-watched episode of any reality show since the season finale of the first season and premiere episode of the second season of Survivor.

The basic premise is that bachelor Evan Marriott has inherited millions of dollars and is searching for a potential bride. He takes a group of hopeful women on several dates to exotic and luxurious locations, eliminating women at the end of each episode until only one woman remains. The main gimmick of the show is that the entire "millionaire" premise is actually an elaborate ruse. The women are not aware that this bachelor is in fact a working class construction worker. (The Smoking Gun later discovered that Marriott had also been an underwear model for California Muscle.) After all other contestants have been eliminated, the secret is revealed to the last remaining woman. If she decides to stay with Marriott anyway, the couple is surprised with a real check for a million dollars.