A dating app almost ruined a major twist in the new reality show 'Joe Millionaire'
- "Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer" premiered Thursday night on Fox.
- The show immediately started with a twist when one of the men recognized a woman from a dating app.
"Joe Millionaire," a dating reality show that first premiered back in 2003, returned to Fox on Thursday night with the spinoff "Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer" — and the drama began early.
The new series includes a twist. Instead of the women competing for the love of one wealthy bachelor, now 18 women are competing for two bachelors – one who is rich (Steven McBee) and one who is not (Kurt Sowers). But the women don't know which man is the millionaire and which one is "poorer."
One contestant's chance was cut short during the show's premiere because when a conflict of interest was discovered.
As the men introduced themselves to the women, McBee recognized Caroline Campbell, a 23-year-old recruiter from Nashville, Tennessee. The two matched on a dating app, Hinge, and follow each other on social media – which gave her intel that he was the "wealthy" bachelor.
The show's production halted as producers were notified – all while being filmed – and Campbell was immediately sent home.
"My whole goal in coming here was to find love in its truest form and meeting women that don't know anything about me whatsoever," McBee said to Campbell.
He continued: "Not a single thing. As unfortunate as it is, I can't do that with you knowing who I am. So I'm going to have to send you home. I'm so sorry. It's nothing against you."
Production ended for the night but the other women were able to meet the men the next day. Campbell posted several Instagram photos about her time on the show on Thursday night as the episode aired for the first time.
"Glad I got to be a small part of something so cool and I will be continuing watching these love stories unfold," she wrote in one post. She ended the caption by tagging Hinge and joking that the dating app "is cancelled."
"Joe Millionaire" airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.