Wildest TV Dating Shows
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Baggage (GSN, 2010-15)
This guilty pleasure believed in ripping off the Band-Aid right away, letting daters know what their potential partners' most embarrassing secrets (or pieces of "baggage") were before they made their choice. (Like, say, "I Eat Whole Sticks of Butter.") And of course, their "baggage" was represented by literal pieces of luggage. Hey, it was hosted by Jerry Springer, so no one would ever accuse it of being subtle.
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I Wanna Marry 'Harry' (Fox, 2014)
This elaborate fake-out was a royal trainwreck, with a dozen American women believing they were vying for the affections of the real Prince Harry... only they were really dating a lookalike. It was yanked off the air after just four airings and did not earn a Season 2 — but we all know Meghan Markle won the big prize anyway.
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Married at First Sight (FYI, 2014-16; Lifetime, 2017-present)
Love Is Blind? Pfft, that's nothing. At least they get to talk to each other first. On this long-running cable hit, the couples are paired up by relationship experts and agree to get married before they even meet. Drama ensues, of course, and after an eight-week trial period, the couples have to choose whether to stay married or get divorced. We can't imagine what might compel people to marry a complete stranger; we're just glad the reality TV cameras were rolling when they did.
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Dating Naked (VH1, 2014-16)
Might as well get the important stuff out of the way first, right? VH1's heavily blurred dating experiment paired up eager singles in a tropical locale — minus even a stitch of clothing. The people in charge of pixelating naughty bits had to work overtime, but maybe the strangest thing about Dating Naked was how normal it actually turned out to be... and how it managed to last for three seasons.
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Game of Clones (MTV, 2019)
This one still makes our eyes hurt: It set up MTV personalities like Jersey Shore's Pauly D with seven doppelgangers for their celebrity crush (Megan Fox, in Pauly D's case) to see who they choose when looks are equal across the board. It was truly bewildering to watch one person go on a date what looked like septuplets — but this is MTV, after all, so we were fairly sure that nothing resembling actual romance was going on here anyway.
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Parental Control (MTV, 2006-10)
Another show about meddling mothers and fathers, but this one went a step further: A contestant's parents, unhappy with their kid's current boyfriend or girlfriend, would try to set their child up with a more suitable partner. Making things even more awkward, the parents and their child's current partner would sit together and watch video of the contestant's date with a new person. Yikes. Actually, the word "yikes" doesn't even begin to cover it.
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The Littlest Groom (Fox, 2004)
Let's be thankful we now live in an era where an offensively ill-conceived show like this would never see the light of day. Fox — of course it was Fox — took dwarf Glen Foster and matched him up with both women of his height and average-sized women in a Bachelor-style competition for his heart. It only ran for two episodes, after someone apparently came to their senses.
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Chains of Love (UPN, 2001)
This short-lived effort took its title maybe a little too literally: A dater was actually chained at the ankles to four prospective matches for four consecutive days, eliminating the least compatible matches one at a time. The bizarre, S&M-y concept made it an instant lightning rod for criticism, and it was pulled after just six episodes. But it did feature a "Lockmaster" who put on the chain in a "Ritual Room"... maybe it just needed to air in a post-Fifty Shades world?
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Date My Mom (MTV, 2004-06)
The premise of this one is right there in the title, folks. Contestants went on three separate dates with three mothers, who tried to get the contestant to choose their age-appropriate son or daughter, sight unseen. It made for some awkward small talk, to be sure... but at least none of the daters ended up choosing the mom instead (as far as we know).
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Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? (Fox, 2000)
This notorious stunt will forever live on in the annals of reality TV infamy: In a one-off primetime special, 50 women competed to say "I do" to a "multi-millionaire" (notice the quotes) they had never met. Darva Conger ultimately "won" (notice the quotes) the right to marry Rick Rockwell — but soon after, his net worth came into question, and past allegations of domestic violence surfaced. Conger quickly got the marriage annulled... and Fox never aired another edition.
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Room Raiders (MTV, 2003-09)
Who cares what a person looks like? What we want to know is: What's in their underwear drawer? This certified oddball, which somehow lasted for eight (!) seasons, saw contestants choose who to date based solely on what they find while inspecting their bedrooms. The prospective dates watched along via hidden camera as their rooms got turned upside down, revealing embarrassing items like old yearbooks, half-eaten food and... baby teeth?
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Mr. Personality (Fox, 2003)
Hey, wanna watch a dating show where a woman chooses from 20 men, all of whom are wearing creepy masks to conceal their looks, so she'll have to make her decision based on their sparkling personalities? Well, you're too late, because this misfire only lasted a single season. Bonus fun fact: It was hosted by Monica Lewinsky!
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Temptation Island (Fox, 2001-03; USA, 2019-present)
You can't keep trash TV down for long. This scandalous entry, which whisks couples away to a tropical resort where they're tempted to cheat by a bevy of sexy singles, stirred up a ton of controversy during its original three-season run on Fox. But USA brought it back with a vengeance last year, airing a pair of seasons with all of the messy intrigue intact.