Poor Prince Harry, he really must be having a hard time getting over his breakup from Cressida Bonas because he’s just turned up on an American dating show entitled, ‘I Wanna Marry Harry’. Hang on, Britain’s fourth in line to the throne, pimping himself out on a reality show? Sounds completely preposterous doesn't it? Well if only the 12 American girls we met on Fox’s ‘I Wanna Marry Harry’ last night thought the same way.

Prince HarryThe REAL Prince Harry

‘I Wanna Marry Harry’ is a reality dating show made by Fox, where 12 American girls compete for the heart of Matthew Hicks, a red haired English gentleman who kind of, slightly, I guess maybe if you squint, but really not so much, resembles Prince Harry. He never says he is Prince Harry, of course, because well, he isn’t. But he never really says he’s not, leading the girls to put two and two together, get five and think they’re competing for a date with a real Prince.

Matthew is actually a 23 year old redhead who isn’t even remotely royal and actually can't afford a car at the minute. But the show’s producers have seemingly turned him into a Prince, with a crash course in how to be royal (‘Harry School’ it’s called) and by giving him suitably extravagant surroundings to impress the obviously very impressionable ladies.

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The group of 12 American women, which includes a preschool teacher and a pre-med student, have travelled all the way across the pond in order to find love with an eligible English bachelor. From the first episode, which featured Harry, sorry Matt, arriving in a helicopter, it seems the girls may just believe they have an actual prince on their hands. One lucky girl, Rose, was given the ‘key to the crown suite’ so she could spend more time alone with Matt, causing another to say, “‘I feel like Rose isn’t good enough for Prince Harry.” Maybe not, but Matt probably doesn't mind.


The emotional core of the show, yes there is one, is once Matt chooses his lucky lady, can their love survive when she finds out he is not actually prince Harry. Can a girl love Matt just as Matt? Or will any hope of a fairytale ending be over once the girl realises she’s definitely not about to move into Buckingham Palace? Somehow we imagine Matt and whichever lucky lady he choses probably aren't going to one day be telling their grandkids of how they met on a reality show where he was impersonating Prince Harry.

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Part dating show, part elaborate TV prank, some have called ‘I Wanna Marry Harry’ the lowest of the low. After all, these girls are being made fools of, supposedly for our entertainment. Even if none of them were to believe that Matt actually is Prince Harry, the whole rouse is so stupid that no one can walk away from this one unscathed. But really is it any worse than any other show of it’s genre? No. It might be a little crueler, given that Matt isn't exactly being honest with the ladies, but it’s no more ridiculous than shows such as the 'Bachelor'. Come on, there’s even been shows where girls have competed for the heart of Poison’s Bret Michaels and Flavor Flav, now that’s low. Yes ‘I Wanna Marry Harry’ is very fake but, news flash, all reality shows are. The good news is we might just have hit the bottom of the barrel which could mean an end to this whole genre. The bad news is, we'll have to suffer through ‘I Wanna Marry Harry’ first.