In one of the most controversial shows of the 2000s, six male contestants were tasked with courting the “girl of their dreams” but were not told she was transgender.
The 2003 Sky1 dating series There’s Something About Miriam made Mexican model Miriam Rivera the ‘world’s first transgender reality star’ Miriam Rivera, but she took her own life aged 38 in 2019 after being ‘destroyed’ by the backlash from the show.
Now, twenty years after the show first aired, Channel 4’s new series Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star explores her extraordinary life, death and fame in more detail.
In the reality show, described as “the most explosive dating experience of my life”, six “typical guys” were given the task of wooing Miriam, then 21, with the winner receiving a £10,000 prize and a romantic yacht cruise with her.
But the producers did not tell them that she was a transgender woman who had not undergone gender-affirming surgery and kept it a secret through a series of strictly managed methods.
On Something About Miriam in 2003, six contestants had to compete for the attention of Miriam Rivera (pictured on the show), but they were not told she was transgender.
In the documentary, executive producer Remy Blumenfeld of Brighter Pictures admits: “I don’t feel like I was cruel in doing it. I feel like I was incredibly naive. Our intention for the show was for viewers to watch it and identify with Miriam’s story.” .
But Dr Gareth Smith, a psychiatrist who was hired to work on the show, called it “unethical, ridiculous, horrible and disgusting.”
“The fact that Miriam had a penis seemed to be the punchline to a joke,” he said. ‘But it wasn’t a joke: it was Miriam and her life. And these kids, who weren’t given the option to consent. It was cruel television.
In the first episode of the documentary titled The Secret, contestants Aron Lane and Toby Green tell first-hand what it was like to be on the show and meet Miriam.
Toby, who was 23 at the time, described the group as “typical lads who wanted to party and chat to women.”
He said producers gave each contestant a huge contract at the start of the show, saying “half of it was in a language we didn’t understand.”
Meanwhile, crew members were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. They claim they were given walkie talkies and told to constantly monitor the boys to ensure Miriam’s true identity remained a secret, because Sky1 had spent hundreds of thousands on the show and wanted to ensure the shocking twist was not revealed.
Winner Tom Rooke, 23, and the other contestants were only informed after it was announced who had won the show.
On screen, producers even hired a doctor to “make sure” she was transgender.
Aron Lane (pictured in the documentary) was a contestant on the show. He saw an ad in the Metro newspaper that said, ‘Do you want to appear on a dating show?’
Toby Green was also on the show but ended up leaving after expressing his suspicions about Miriam.
Tom Rooke won the show after being chosen by Miriam, but turned down the prize money before the show aired.
Tom appears in the photo at the end of the show knowing that Miriam is trans. He later joined others in a lawsuit.
Speaking on the dating show, Miriam said: “I tried to be honest in everything I say, but there’s a secret the guys don’t know.”
‘I’m transgender and I look like a girl because I’ve been living half my life the way I am now. I don’t have any operations.
‘Only this! (pointing to his chest). I love my life, I love my way of being.’
The scenes with Tom were especially controversial. On one occasion, he and Miriam filmed intimate scenes together and kissed passionately.
The producers intervened, fearing it would go too far and reveal Miriam’s secret: they told the couple they had to stop kissing because “it wasn’t that kind of show.”
‘It’s the fact that he didn’t know he was [kissing a transgender woman] That was uncomfortable for me,” said crew member Leo McCrea.
And Dr Gareth Smith said: ‘No one had thought of this. If Tom had found out she was trans, she would have stayed out of it.
Even contestant Aron, then 20 years old, did not suspect the truth at the time and said he found it “strange” that the producers intervened, apparently when the goal of the show had been completed and Miriam and Tom were getting along.
Miriam appeared on the show when she was just 21 years old. In 2019, she died in an apparent suicide.
Miriam was known as the “world’s first transgender reality star” and appeared on Big Brother Australia.
Aron himself first became involved in the show after seeing an ad in the newspaper that asked, “Do you want to be on a dating show?”
Speaking in the documentary, he said: “I just wanted to have fun. I was excited to be away from home, it was non-stop, work hard, play hard.”
Meanwhile, Toby, who had just spent a year and a half traveling the world, had his mother fill out his application.
They both thought the application process was strange, especially when asking about intimate details about their sexual history and preferences. One question even asked: ‘If your best friend dated your mother, how would that make you feel?’
When the six of them finally met, they were handed a large contract. But Toby said they “didn’t know what we were signing up for.”
He admitted: ‘They literally wanted it done and they dusted it off very quickly. We didn’t know what we were signing up for.
‘Half of it is in a language you don’t understand and you just want to get on the flight and experience this reality show, so am I really going to say ‘I don’t agree with that paragraph’? No.’
After arriving in Ibiza, the first challenge saw them swim to a yacht, where Miriam was waiting for them. The winner, Tom, got to give him a kiss.
Dr Gareth Smith, a psychiatrist who arrived late to work on the programme, called it “unethical and ridiculous”.
Sky later removed There’s Something About Miriam from its platforms and apologized.
Crew member Leo said it was “mind-bogglingly” difficult to keep it a secret from the start.
The crew were told they couldn’t lie outright: they weren’t allowed to say the words “he or she” and instead had to call Miriam a beautiful “person.”
Iain Park, another member of the team, said everyone had a walkie talkie. Each of the contestants almost had their own team to follow them and make sure they hadn’t discovered the truth.
But everything almost fell apart when Toby began to discover what was really going on and secretly shared his thoughts with the other boys.
The other boys thought her suspicions were funny, but when they jokingly asked, “Do you still think she’s a man?” In front of the cameras, the producers quickly intervened to keep the secret.
Toby was told that he had been “specially selected” for a date with Miriam because he was her favorite, but she immediately showed a lack of interest and it wasn’t long before she selected him to leave the competition.
Reflecting on how it all unfolded, Aron said, “It was all because he knew.”
The next two episodes of Channel 4’s deep dive will feature interviews with Miriam’s father and explore the outcome of the reality show in more detail.
At the end of the series, Miriam chose Tom Rooke as the winner and initially accepted the £10,000 prize and the holiday. But he was visibly shocked when he was told she was transgender at the end of the show.
He later refused the award before the show aired and joined the other contestants in a lawsuit.
The men alleged conspiracy to commit sexual assault, defamation, breach of contract and personal injury in the form of psychological and emotional harm.
There’s Something About Miriam has been widely described as “cruel” and “exploitative”, and a similar format has yet to be reproduced anywhere in the world. Miriam photographed in 2004
Miriam, who was born in Mexico, started taking hormones when she was 11 and was living as a woman by the time she was 16.
After her school boyfriend realized she was transgender, she became angry and told the truth to others at school. Miriam said her experience had made her feel “lost and alone” and that on the show she wanted to find someone “honest” who could “be there for me.”
His death, which authorities claimed was a suicide, in 2019 has never been solved.
Her husband Daniel Cuervo has always maintained that she was murdered, but friends said she suffered from deep depression as a result of fame.
Banijay, which acquired Endemol in 2020, said in a statement published on the show: ‘Benijay does not in any way support the editorial concept or production processes of the show.
‘We defend inclusion and prioritize well-being. The management responsible for this show no longer works with the company.
Sky later apologized and removed There’s Something About Miriam from her platforms.
Miriam Star: Death Of A Reality airs this week on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays on Channel 4 from 9pm Episode One: The Secret airs on Monday night.