How bizarre reality show tricked women they were marrying Prince Harry but they got Matthew Hicks
The royal family never spoke about the showIn 2014 a random reality TV show tricked women into believing they were going to marry Prince Harry – but really it was a man called Matt Hicks.
Becoming royalty is sometimes what people could only dream about. In 2014, 12 women thought they were in with a chance for that fairytale wedding. The American reality TV series, I Wanna Marry ‘Harry’ was broadcast on Fox in the US – but was pulled after four episodes. But the whole series aired on ITV2 in the UK.
The premise was that 12 American women were manipulated into believing they were competing for Prince Harry’s hand. But that wasn’t the case at all.
Where is Matt Hicks now?
At the beginning of the show, the contestants were not explicitly told that the man is Prince Harry, but they were led to make that assumption based on the close resemblance from Matt Hicks.
Then in the fifth episode, after they had been taken on lavish dates and surrounded by servants, Matt Hicks told them individually that he was Prince Harry. A butler – portrayed by actor Paul Leonard later confirmed it.
Since the show ended, Matt Hicks now works for an environmental consultancy firm. In the past he done some very small-scale impersonations of Prince Harry – but had no other acting experience.
In order to do the show he had to dye his hair ginger and was given training in horse riding, fencing and ballroom dancing. He also was given extensive knowledge on Prince Harry so he could respond properly.
He previously did an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, admitting he felt “guilty” about tricking the women.
He said: “At times I felt guilty and that was the worst thing about it for me. But we wanted to see if the girls were shallow. If the fanciness would buy them. And then if they would shun me when they found out the truth.”
However, when The Telegraph reviewed the show, they labelled it as “fodder for the braindead”. The outlet even noted how Matt Hicks “wasn’t a wild or weird enough character” to front the show.
Despite the negativity, the show did have a winner, Kimberly Birch. She has since spoken about her feelings after years away from the show.
What has been said about the show since?
Kimberly Birch told Business Insider she knew she would face criticism for taking part in the show. But that her negativity towards it changed when Harry actually married an American actress, as most of the trolling was people telling her something like that would never happen.
She said: “At the time, it was just something that seemed so far-fetched for people. There were a lot of comments like, ‘Did you really think that Prince Harry would ever date some nobody actress in America?’
“Then I remember hearing about the backlash that Meghan Markle got. ‘She was this B-list actress. A nobody’. Then she was married to Prince Harry. For me, it was so ironic. It was life imitating art.”
But Kimberly was insistent that she actually knew Matt Hicks wasn’t the real Prince Harry by the time she won the show – despite previously considering that he was telling the truth.
A podcast, The Bachelor of Buckingham Palace, was made to look more in-depth at the show. Former Buzzfeed TV editor Scott Bryan spoke about how his opinion on the show changed over the decade.
He explained that he now feels “guilty” for “laughing at rather than with the women”. While a lot of UK viewers obviously knew Matt Hicks wasn’t actually Prince Harry, Scott pointed out that American’s may not have known much about the royal family. Just like those in the UK may not know much about the Canadian Prime Minister or the President’s family.
Read more: Jeremy Kyle predicts Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will ‘split’ as he reignites feud
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