Transgender dating show

Does anyone remember There’s Something about Miriam? As a trans person, I will never forget it

Me and my mum usually spent quality time together during the winter watching shows on one of only two TV stations we had reception for at our rural farm in dark and wintery Iceland. This one was a dating show where six hunky and conventionally attractive white men competed for the love of Miriam, a young, Mexican woman, with black straight glossy hair and a banging body. At the end of each episode Miriam would send one of them home until there were only two to pick between, where one would emerge as her knight in shining armour and whisk her away on a romantic cruise. Sounds pretty straight-forward, if a tad boring, right? What could go wrong? Well, a lot. The viewers were aware from the start, knowing what would eventually be revealed.

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Ahead of Channel 4's three-part documentary series Miriam: Death of a Reality Star, the Mirror takes a look at one of the most controversial reality shows of all time - the notorious There's Something About Miriam. For many trans viewers watching at home, it was hoped that There's Something About Miriam would be a rare and welcome slice of representation. But it was anything but. The reality dating show, aired by Sky One, centred around Mexican-born Miriam Rivera, as six British men competed for her attention in a sun-kissed Ibizan villa. Each week, the suitors would complete tasks and take Miriam out on dates, while the gorgeous model had to vote one man off after the other, whittling the list down to her suitor of choice. The format perhaps doesn't sound too dissimilar to the dating-focused shows that keep viewers gripped today, but the darkness lay in how Miriam's gender was treated as a punchline.

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Six male contestants apply to be part of a new dating series promising the sexual adventure of a lifetime. What they don't know is that the star of the series is a transgender woman. Six male contestants apply for an exciting new dating series.

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Miriam Rivera, Reality TV's First Trans Star, Will Be the Subject of a New Documentary

The six-episode series premiered on 22 February and concluded on 24 March The men were required to compete in various physical challenges in addition to going on individual and group dates with Rivera. In the final episode, Rivera selected the one contestant who left the best impression on her; upon selection, Rivera revealed to the contestants that she was a transgender woman who had not yet undergone gender-affirming surgery. The series was hosted by Welsh television presenter Tim Vincent.

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