Alex Buscemi
After the inaugural season of Survivor achieved massive success in 2000, TV stations scrambled aboard the reality TV train. Basic cable in the early to mid-aughts became flooded with all manner of reality shows. Some, such as The Bachelor and The Amazing Race, achieved widespread success and continue to run new seasons to this day.
But this era also spawned some of the most vile and exploitative concoctions ever dreamt up by a studio.
Enter the deeply problematic reality show There’s Something About Miriam, which aired on the UK’s Sky1 in 2004.
There’s Something About Miriam featured men vying to win the heart of Mexican model Miriam Rivera. The catch? They didn’t know she was trans
The aged-like-milk premise of the show was to fly six young men to Ibiza and have them compete in Bachelorette-style challenges in hopes of finding love with Miriam Rivera, a beautiful Mexican model.
But what they didn’t know was that Miriam was actually a transgender woman. This wasn’t revealed until the final episode when Miriam made the confession after selecting the winner.
20 years later, the whole concept feels so cruel and unethical it’s hard to fathom such a thing could have aired on national television.
In the shocking and tasteless series finale, Miriam revealed her gender identity after picking the winner
The gut-wrenching scene shows Miriam bravely confessing her gender identity to the group of men after selecting winner Tom Rooke, who was 23 at the time.
“I tried to be honest with all of you as much as I can,” she tells them in the clip, which has recently resurfaced and gone viral. “Yes, I’m from Mexico, I’m a model and I’m 21.”
She continues: “But, Tom, I really love spending time with you. I love men and I love being a woman.
“But I’m not a woman, I was born as a man.”
The men cruelly mock Miriam as the winner just stands there with a dumbfounded expression
You can watch the moment below. But be forewarned: everything about the clip is sickening, from the derisive laughter of the men to the producers’ judgment for letting this happen in the first place.
@..dollhistory There’s Something About Miriam (2003). Miriam Rivera (1981 – 5 February 2019), known by the mononym Miriam, was a Mexican-born transgender model and TV personality, who resided in New York City, who became known for starring on the British reality television show There’s Something About Miriam and guesting on Big Brother Australia 2004. She became recognized as the first openly transgender reality television star. There’s Something About Miriam is a British reality television series broadcast by Sky1. The six-episode series premiered on 22 February 2004 and concluded on 24 March 2004. Set in Ibiza, Spain, the series depicted six men in competition for a £10,000 reward over who could make the best impression on 21-year-old Mexican model Miriam Rivera. 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. She was found dead in February 2019 at her apartment in Sonora, Mexico. She was deemed to have died by suicide, but her husband believed she had been murdered. #miriamrivera #theressomethingaboutmiriam #realitytv #2000s #2000srealitytv #trans #transrealitystar #transgender #transsexual #transhistory #🏳️⚧️
Tom expressed his dismay to the cameras, saying he was “very shocked” to find out he had been “deceived” by Miriam. His reaction continued as he used male pronouns to refer to her, criticizing her for “lying to everybody.” The situation escalated, impacting everyone involved.
Leo McCrea, a crew member, described the atmosphere during the reveal to Miriam in “Death Of A Reality Star” as extremely tense. “It was so incredibly uncomfortable. It felt like all the air had been sucked out the room. And Tom, he was gasping, and looking around at all the deceit,” he explained.
The incident didn’t just affect Tom. The rest of the male contestants were also visibly upset. Toby Green, one of the participants, recalled the intense reaction from Scott Gibson, the runner-up, who “went berserk” as emotions ran high among the group.
Miriam suffered from PTSD after the incident and died of an apparent suicide in 2018 at the age of 38
The extraordinary life and tragic death of Miriam is examined in the new documentary Miriam: Death Of a Reality Star, which aired on Channel 4 in the UK.
Viewers of the documentary were left in shock by the treatment of Miriam, highlighting the apparent disregard for her welfare both during and after the show.
The show’s approach to her mental well-being was particularly criticized. A disturbing insight from the psychiatrist hired for the dating show revealed a significant oversight. He explained, “I had been brought in ostensibly to look after the boys. No one had given a thought to how Miriam might feel.”
The reaction of the male contestants to learning that Miriam was transgender was described as “nothing short of disgusting” by Channel 4. The psychiatrist further detailed the lack of support for Miriam, stating, “The reveal was her coming out to the world and as far as I was aware, Miriam hadn’t been psych tested. How would she deal with rejection? Not just from who she picked, but everyone who thought trans people were freaks.”
He lamented the situation, saying, “They sold her a dream without anybody telling her what could go wrong. I thought, she’s vulnerable, she’s had a really really hard life, like a bird with a broken wing.”
The exploitation of Miriam for entertainment struck a chord with viewers, especially as Miriam had shared her painful personal experiences.
She recounted how the first boy she fell for had reacted with anger upon learning she was born male, outing her at school.
Miriam also spoke about her journey, revealing she had been taking hormones since age 11, had lived as a woman since she was 16, and that her father had refused to accept her identity.
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