“Joe Millionaire” producer regrets 'convincing' women to do show: 'I apologize that I had anything to do with this'

The 2003 reality show is the focus of a new "Dark Side of Reality TV" episode.

When the original Joe Millionaire aired in 2003, the premise was that it was a prank on a group of gold-digging women told they were being introduced to an heir to a fortune, when Evan Marriott was really a construction worker.

But what was supposed to be the shocking twist on the Fox show didn't bother the contestants nearly as much as other aspects, such as them being treated poorly and unfairly portrayed in the series that resulted, according to several former contestants interviewed for the latest episode of Vice's Dark Side of Reality TV.

"I apologize that I had anything to do with this," casting producer Dawn George says, "and that I was someone who was convincing them to do this, especially if it ended negatively. I was not doing it to be hurtful or deceitful. I was doing my job."

Several cast members — Alison Ball, Amanda Garcia, Melissa Michael, and winner Zora Sabrina — of the show's first season recalled their treatment on the production as elusive and even sketchy from the start. All they were told is that the show they were applying to be in was called The Big Choice, and being in it meant they would be taken to Europe for the opportunity to meet a bachelor and find romance. They assembled at a chateau and, just before Marriott was introduced and literally galloped in on a horse, were told that he had come into millions, which Garcia found strange.

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"When they announced that he'd inherited all this money, I felt like, that's weird," Garcia said. "Why are they announcing that?"

The women plunged ahead, at first. They wanted to fall in love, but they were soon disenchanted with their fairy-tale life. It began with little things, such as when, early on, they were introduced to a psychologist, whom they were made to understand would not keep their troubles confidential.

They had a formal ball, which felt set up to make them argue. Although they had been instructed to bring a formal dress, the 20 women were now told that they would have 30 minutes to figure out which of them would wear the 20 dresses provided by production.

"They have all of our sizes," Ball said, "so had they wanted to make us look good, they would've had dresses in our size assigned to us or we would've been able to pick from a hundred dresses. But no, it was exactly 20."

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When Michael convinced the women to go in four at a time, she recalled that the in-house psychologist interrupted the plan and said they would all go at once.

After the production moved to Paris, the contestants said that they began to feel more isolated, as they weren't allowed to leave their hotel even for a morning run. They had become paranoid they couldn't trust the show.

Once, another cast member passed Michael a note, because nothing contestants said was private.

"The note said when I was on my excursion with Evan, that the camera men were setting up for my interview and that [contestant Sarah Kozer] heard them in my room, and they were talking about my underwear," Michael said. "And they were talking about sexual acts. They were extremely inappropriate and violating."

She said that while she and the other woman continued to write notes, an assistant producer came in and told her she wasn't allowed to write. They wanted to know how the producer knew they were writing, and then they found a camera underneath the nightstand. Michael, who had even turned over her money and passport to the production, said she was told that her complaint would cost people their jobs.

As Ball noted, they were "kind of prisoners to the process" who had signed a contract.

All the while, their so-called Joe Millionaire — the whole reason they were there — was distant.

"The thing that was odd…I never really could tell if he was into me," Sabrina said. "He never once said, 'I really like you, and I would love to get to know you outside of this.' He never said that. I never said that to him."

As she saw it, "Evan and I never, we never dated." But the two were awarded a $1 million prize to share.

While the women said they were grateful for the friendships they made, they were extremely unhappy with being labeled as women out for only money on the show that resulted. It was only on the train ride back to the airport that they learned the show's title would now be Joe Millionaire.

Michael said she actually received a phone call from someone who said he was an editor on the show. He said he was sorry, but he couldn't talk about it.

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For Garcia, "It just felt dirty a little bit. It felt like the joke's on us. It was disappointing that they wanted to premise a show that the women were gold diggers when that's not what we signed up for. It was disheartening and manipulative."

The contestants faced backlash, too, but they were bound by non-disclosure agreements to stay silent.

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"It was bullying. And it was nonstop," Michael said. "I could not defend myself. I could not tell my side of the story. I had to just sit there and take it."

The former contestants were appalled to see that Joe Millionaire, which originally aired for two seasons, was rebooted in 2022, as Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer. The premise was that the women competed for two bachelors, only one of which was secretly a millionaire.

"Wouldn't you think that more progress would be made in 20 years?" Garcia asked.

Dark Side of Reality TV airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Vice. Future episodes focus on shows including The Surreal Life, Survivor, and more.

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