Forget The Bachelor. If you’re looking for something new this fall, tune in to Finding Prince Charming – the first gay dating show of its kind. After all, as Entertainment Weekly’s deputy news director Breanne Heldman wrote, “fairytale romance isn’t limited to a man and a woman, so reality dating shows shouldn’t be either.”
Aired by Viacom-owned Logo, an LGBT-friendly network, the show will feature “13 handsome and sexy suitors” competing “for a moment of intimate connection, romance, and perhaps, true love,” according to Deadline. EW’s Heldman also reported that the “ultimate goal” is a “committed, exclusive relationship.”
The network itself enticed viewers to watch as suitors race "to win the heart of one of the nation's most eligible gay heartthrobs."
The host will be none other than actor and producer Lance Bass, whose gay “wedding” and canine groomsmen were televised on the E! channel in 2014. Speaking of the “historical” occasion, E! writer Carrie Dilluvio enthused, “It will be the first time an American television network is broadcasting a celebrity wedding between two men!”
The entertainment media’s new obsession with the topic may be another way to push viewers to think that gay relationships are just like straight ones. However, NPR Invisibilia co-host Hanna Rosin revealed the “dirty little secret about gay marriage” in her 2013 article for Slate: “Most gay couples are not monogamous.” In fact, San Francisco University’s 2010 “Gay Male Couples” study revealed that only 45% of couples interviewed had monogamous agreements.
While critics have censured ABC’s The Bachelor and The Bachelorette for a lack of diversity, Finding Prince Charming will likely pacify them – and more.
