'Joe Millionaire' Is Coming Back To TV In 2022: Everything We Know

Credit: Courtesy FOX/YouTube

'Joe Millionaire' Is Coming Back to TV in 2022: Everything We Know

History repeats itself. Joe Millionaire was one of the first dating shows to make a splash during the reality TV boom of the early aughts — and now it's coming back. Fox announced in November 2021 that a relaunch titled Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer will launch in 2022, though there's a major new twist. Instead of competing for the love of one millionaire bachelor, 20 single women will vie for two different men, and only one of them will be worth "more than $10 million." The original Joe Millionaire debuted in January 2003 with Evan Marriott, then 28, in the title role. The Virginia native was a former underwear model who worked construction before he was tapped to star on the show, but contestants were told that he was the heir to a $50 million fortune. The lie about his wealth was supposed to help him determine which women were there for the right reasons and which ones just wanted his money. Marriott would reveal his working-class status in the season finale, and if his winner still decided to pursue a relationship, they would share a $1 million prize. Zora Andrich, the last woman standing, ultimately did decide to stay with Marriott, but they later split. The show returned for a second season titled The Next Joe Millionaire, which aired later in 2003. Because too many American women already knew the premise of the first season, producers had to go to Europe to find contestants to compete for David Smith, who pretended to be an oil tycoon worth $80 million. Smith and his winner, Linda Kasdova, split up shortly after filming ended. Instead of splitting a prize, Kasdova won $250,000 and Smith received a 90-acre ranch in Texas. The second season wasn't nearly as popular as the first, which made Marriott an early star of reality TV. More than a decade after the series ended, the Hollywood Squares alum claimed that he didn't really know what he was getting into when he signed up for the show. “I thought I was doing something like Blind Date," he told Vulture in September 2015. When he realized what the show's real premise was, he said he told producers about his misgivings to no avail. "That was when they said, ‘We’ll give you 50 grand if you just go with the flow here and do what we say.’ So I said, ‘OK, fine.’” Keep scrolling for everything to know about Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer: [podcast_block]

Credit: Courtesy FOX/YouTube

'Joe Millionaire' Is Coming Back to TV in 2022: Everything We Know

History repeats itself. Joe Millionaire was one of the first dating shows to make a splash during the reality TV boom of the early aughts — and now it's coming back. Fox announced in November 2021 that a relaunch titled Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer will launch in 2022, though there's a major new twist. Instead of competing for the love of one millionaire bachelor, 20 single women will vie for two different men, and only one of them will be worth "more than $10 million." The original Joe Millionaire debuted in January 2003 with Evan Marriott, then 28, in the title role. The Virginia native was a former underwear model who worked construction before he was tapped to star on the show, but contestants were told that he was the heir to a $50 million fortune. The lie about his wealth was supposed to help him determine which women were there for the right reasons and which ones just wanted his money. Marriott would reveal his working-class status in the season finale, and if his winner still decided to pursue a relationship, they would share a $1 million prize. Zora Andrich, the last woman standing, ultimately did decide to stay with Marriott, but they later split. The show returned for a second season titled The Next Joe Millionaire, which aired later in 2003. Because too many American women already knew the premise of the first season, producers had to go to Europe to find contestants to compete for David Smith, who pretended to be an oil tycoon worth $80 million. Smith and his winner, Linda Kasdova, split up shortly after filming ended. Instead of splitting a prize, Kasdova won $250,000 and Smith received a 90-acre ranch in Texas. The second season wasn't nearly as popular as the first, which made Marriott an early star of reality TV. More than a decade after the series ended, the Hollywood Squares alum claimed that he didn't really know what he was getting into when he signed up for the show. “I thought I was doing something like Blind Date," he told Vulture in September 2015. When he realized what the show's real premise was, he said he told producers about his misgivings to no avail. "That was when they said, ‘We’ll give you 50 grand if you just go with the flow here and do what we say.’ So I said, ‘OK, fine.’” Keep scrolling for everything to know about Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer: [podcast_block]

Credit: Courtesy FOX/YouTube

What's the Premise?

The new series will follow 20 women as they attempt to suss out which "Joe" is the real millionaire, while also deciding whether love or money is more important. Based on the first teaser, it seems there will be another butler presiding over the affair. (Paul Hogan undertook that role in the original.) The contestants will seemingly stay in a lavish estate, and there will be at least one horseback ride.

Credit: Courtesy FOX/YouTube

When Does It Premiere?

The show will debut on Fox in January 2022.

Credit: Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock

Where Is the First Joe Millionaire Now?

Marriott left reality TV behind after his stint as a fake millionaire and eventually opened an equipment rental company in Orange County, California. Though he's since appeared on a couple of panels about that early era of reality television, he has mostly kept to himself. “I’ve been offered all kinds of things as far as interviews and shows, and I’ve said no so much over the past 10 years that a lot of people think I’m crazy,” he told Vulture in 2015. “I’ve got a good job I can fall back on. If something else comes along, I’ll do it, but I don’t really have to."

Credit: Drew Herrmann/FOX

Who Are the Joes?

The network released a new promo in December 2021, giving viewers their first look at the two suitors searching for love. One show lead is Steven McBee, who’s a farmer and rancher, while his fellow Joe Millionaire is Kurt Sowers, a general contractor.

“I’m most excited about stripping everything down to just who I am as a person,” Steven said in the trailer. “It’s all about the sweet gestures, you really put how they’re doing and how they feel before yourself.”

Credit: Courtesy of Fox

Who Is Competing?

The series revival also unveiled a first look at the women vying for Steven and Kurt’s affections in a separate trailer from December 2021.

“I still believe in romance and I still believe in that old-school love,” real estate agent Amber said in the clip.

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