TV Review of My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance

MediaCorp Channel 5, Friday, 10pm

The Things People Do For A Million Dollars

By Michelle Tan • UrbanWire
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Randi and Steve are set to walk down the isle on My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance.

Girls, here’s a question: Would you sacrifice your happiness and marry a guy you’d never dream of even dating, for a cool million dollars? I wouldn’t. But reality show participant Randi Coy would. Or maybe she wouldn’t have, if she knew that the joke was on her in My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé.

This is how this 6-part reality series goes: Randi, a 23-year-old teacher, is told that she has to convince her family and friends back home in Littleton, Colorado, that she had fallen in love with someone she met on a reality show, and that they were engaged to be married in 2 weeks. If she is successful in getting her entire family – her parents, 2 brothers and a sister – to attend the ceremony, she will win her family and herself US$1 million (S$1.7 million). But if any of Randi’s family members formally objects to the marriage during the ceremony, or pulls a no-show on the big day, the money will be forfeited.

If Randi thought that was a bombshell, the best was yet to come. After picking 3 possible ‘fiancés’ from a line-up of 10 good lookers, she’s told that a fiancé had already been chosen for her – a fellow reality contestant made to pull the same sham on his family.

Little did Randi guess that her newly selected ‘fiancé’, 29-year-old Steve Williams (Steven W. Bailey), is really a professional actor paid to make the next few days a living hell for her. His family members, whom Randi meets in the 3rd episode, are also professional actors. The only thing that’s real in this entire show is Randi, her family and friends, and their extreme reactions to the absurd situation.

My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé is a refreshing take on the typical reality matchmaking series, a la The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, which have been sorely overhyped. Even though it may seem a little mean putting Randi through the torture known as Steve, you have to admit that her expressive reactions to Steve’s antics are pretty funny. Randi, who is a 1st grade teacher in Arizona, tends to reprimand Steve in a condescending manner, probably the way she’d reprimand one of her young charges when he tips over a pot of glue in class.

Steven, in all his big-sized glory, is classic as the obnoxious Steve. The actor, who is married (and much nicer) in real life, is paid to gross Randi out in every way imaginable with his apparent lack of proper etiquette. From the release of disgusting bodily gases to extreme clumsiness, Steve has turned Randi off so much that he’s become more of a joke to her than anything else.

Steve endures Randi's wrath as she take it out on him by ripping off his back hair!

When Steve was sent for a back waxing session as part of a makeover, Randi laughed mercilessly when Steve howled and writhed in pain each time the wax strips were peeled off. She even joined in the fun by ripping off a wax strip as hard as she could.

“That was 95% real pain and 5% acting,” admitted Steve with a laugh, after his hair-raising ordeal. “Randi was absolutely taking out some aggression [on me]… I think she liked to see me in pain.”

Laughs aside, the show also has its emotionally wrenching moments. As the show progresses and the wedding date looms, watch how Randi’s family reacts to their potential son/brother-in-law. Let’s just say that the Coy family doesn’t exactly welcome Steve with open arms. In turn, Randi is visibly distraught, not at her family’s dislike for Steve, but at the thought of the million dollars moving further away from her.

My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé’s wedding ceremony finale also looks to be an emotional one, with tears shed and tempers flared. Will Randi be able to pull off the scam and walk down the aisle with her ‘fiancé’ and her real prize? Keep on tuning into this entertaining reality series to find out if the bride gets to live wealthily ever after.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Pictures courtesy of the official website.