‘What were they thinking?’ rage Channel 4 viewers as they hit out at dating show staring late Miriam Rivera
CHANNEL 4 viewers have been left horrified after watching clips from the 2003 dating show There’s Something About Miriam.
Footage from the hugely controversial telly series aired in the first part of documentary Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star.
The three-part C4 series looks back at the life of the world’s first transgender reality contestant, Mexican model and activist Miriam Rivera.
Tragically, Miriam was found dead at her home in Mexico in February 2019, with a cause of death being ruled as suicide.
But 16 years prior to her passing, Miriam found herself in the headlines after agreeing to take part in a show called There’s Something About Miriam.
The series aired on Sky 1 and saw six straight British males battling for the attention of the beautiful glamour model.
In a dramatic ‘twist’ in the final episode, however, Miriam revealed her identity as a transgender woman.
Two decades on and viewers of the documentary have been left horrified that such a show could ever have even been made.
Sharing their thoughts on X, formerly known as Twitter, one said: “Watching #miriam on Ch4. I vaguely remember it but didn’t watch it but what the hell were they thinking? 20yrs ago I know but it was clearly going to go wrong.”
Another added: “Don’t remember this at all. But who the f*** gave the green light for this show to be made? Shame on them.”
A third raged: “How on earth did that show ever get made?”
And a fourth simply wrote: “WTF was this programme?”
Legal action
There’s Something About Miriam was hosted by Tim Vincent and the six male contestants were kept in the dark about Miriam being a transgender woman.
Following the reveal, they all sued producer Endemol for conspiracy to commit sexual assault, defamation and personal injury.
The men claimed they had suffered “psychological and emotional damage” and eventually settled for an undisclosed fee.
One report suggested they’d been paid as much as £500K each.
The winner, Tom Rooke, received £10,000 in prize money and was supposed to go on a romantic holiday with Miriam. But he didn’t follow through with the trip.
Due to the reality show being so controversial, and the lawsuits that followed, Sky 1 pulled it from their channel and it has never been allowed to be shown again.
But as the first episode of Miriam: Death of a Reality Star aired on Monday night, snippets were shown.
It also featured ex crew members from There’s Something About Miriam, along with two contestants; Aron Lane and Toby Green.
Toby admitted he had twigged Miriam was transgender and he was seen being asked by Aron in 2003: “Do you still think she’s a man?”
Speaking now, Toby said: “I never wanted to do any harm by saying she’s transgender on camera. But Aron then let slip my thoughts on a mic.
“I don’t think he was playing to the audience, I just think he was having a bit of banter. But everything started changing almost immediately.”
Aron was shown being sent home from the competition by Miriam as she began whittling them down. She eventually ended up with one partner, Tom Rooke.
Meanwhile, in later years, Miriam went to marry her husband Daniel Cuervo and they lived together in New York.
On February 5, 2019, Miriam was found hanged in her mother’s apartment. Her death was ruled as suicide.
It’s understood Daniel was the last person to talk to her before she passed away.
- Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star continues at 9pm, C4, Tuesday April 30.
