Multiple Women 'Tricked' Into Dating Prince Harry 'Lookalike'; Accused Producers Of 'Skewing Reality'

Several women entered a reality show thinking they would be joining the royal family but only met Matthew Hicks, a Prince Harry lookalike.

Twelve women were flown to England for Fox's controversial reality show "I Wanna Marry Harry." They were led to believe that they had a chance to be Prince Harry's girlfriend. The show was released in 2014, two years before Prince Harry met and dated Meghan Markle and four years before they tied the knot.

Show winner Kimberly Birch and fellow co-stars Meghan Jones and Chelsea Brookshire detailed their experience on the reality show and why they were convinced that they were dating an actual royalty when they appeared on "The Bachelor of Buckingham Palace" podcast. Ten years following the reality show dropped, the women accused the producers of "skewing reality." Apparently, the women thought they were filming "Dream Date." The producers also allegedly planted clues that a true royal was involved in the program.

"There was a night where we had security outside of our rooms and one of the security guards told a producer, 'We have to get him back to the palace, there is a situation there with the royal family,' so whatever was heard, it suggested something that you weren't supposed to hear," Birch recounted, per the Mirror.

"Production came out and said, 'Stop filming, stop filming, this is very serious,' so without cameras on, they gathered all of us girls and producers in Kim and I's room and they told us, 'Your safety is at the utmost importance to us, we are dealing with someone who is a high target individual,'" Jones added. "I thought that was their most impactful trick."

The producers also reportedly faked paparazzi chases and security threats, which convinced the women that Hicks was the actual Prince Harry. Hicks, who is now a teacher, admitted that he was also uncomfortable faking his identity.

"At the time I had no idea they were going to do that. I was a bit miffed and felt quite stressed, I didn't appreciate the way they done it without telling me, but then again I signed up for this, I knew it might happen at some point," he said on the podcast. "I only had one option really and that was to just deal with it, so I just carried on the same way really and played it like it didn't happen."

Birch won the competition, and Hicks had to reveal that he wasn't a true royalty. The pair didn't know they would receive $300,000 if she would accept him for who he was. The duo won the prize and split it. They stayed together briefly but separated when the show stopped due to poor ratings.

According to Jones, all of the contestants felt "betrayed and lied to" when the truth was exposed. Birch was even called "America's most gullible woman" after she won the show.

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