[ql06] TORT?: "There's Something About Miriam"
- From: "Ken Campbell" <2kc16@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ql06@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 08:09:01 -0500
[I guess this is tort?... Shades of the Jenny Jones disaster. Her pic is
at media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1074310,00.html - Ken.]
Contestants in transsexual show to sue Sky
Jason Deans
The Guardian
Thursday October 30, 2003
Six men are suing Sky TV after they took part in a reality TV show in
which they competed to win the affections of a beautiful woman - who
later turned out to be a man waiting for a sex-change operation.
The contestants have instructed law firm Schillings, which specialises
in media cases, to begin legal proceedings against Sky One and the
show's producer, independent company Brighter Pictures.
The men claim they were tricked into kissing, cuddling and holding hands
with the "woman", Miriam, and say it was only after three weeks of
filming that they were told she was male.
While viewers know from the start that Miriam is a male-to-female
transsexual, the contestants, who include a Royal Marine commando, a ski
instructor and an ex-lifeguard, only discover the truth when Miriam
picks the winner and then lifts up her skirt.
One contestant was so furious he is said to have punched the show's
producer when he found out.
The programme, There's Something About Miriam, is due to be broadcast on
November 16 but the contestants are now trying to stop it going on air.
A central element of the case is said to revolve around whether
contracts the six men signed - giving Sky permission to broadcast the
show before filming began - are legally binding.
There's Something About Miriam was filmed in Ibiza over the summer.
It pitted seven single men - all aged between 20 and 35 and described as
"lively and outgoing" - against each other in a contest to win Miriam's
affections.
The men had to pick the woman they found most attractive from a line-up
and all selected Miriam.
Members of the Brighter Pictures production team on the show are said to
have been very upset by what happened and have offered to help the
contestants in their legal action.
Cameras filmed the men attempting to woo Miriam, including scenes of
them kissing and fondling her.
It is understood one of the areas of legal contention are the consent
forms they signed.
Sources say they were signed just before Miriam's secret was revealed,
although neither Schillings nor Sky were available for comment.
A spokesman for the programme makers said they had made a point of never
referring to Miriam as a woman when getting the men to take part.
"As Miriam is a transsexual, I would never refer to her as male or
female. She is a gorgeous creature," he said.
There's Something About Miriam follows in the footsteps of US show Joe
Millionaire, in which a group of women vied to win the hand of a wealthy
businessman, only to discover he was a cash-strapped builder.
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