As a connoisseur of fairy tale-fueled FOX shows from “Joe Millionaire” to “Forever Eden” to “Paradise Hotel,” the network's punctuationally challenging “I Wanna Marry 'Harry'” was right in my sweet spot.
And, after watching the premiere, I knew I definitely wanted to talk to series star Matt Hicks about the series, in which he has to convince a giggling coterie of love-starved American party girls that he's royalty, specifically that he's Prince Harry.
It also struck me that since Hicks' claim-to-fame for this series is his resemblance — 99 percent, according to the show's facial recognition software — to the man who is fourth in line to the British throne, merely doing my standard Q&A interview might give depth, but it wouldn't let you look at a guy who looks a bit like another famous guy.
Several things to keep in mind as you watch: Matt does, indeed, look somewhat like Prince Harry, but he mostly looks like Prince Harry if you only somewhat know what Prince Harry looks like. He admits without hesitation that this show wouldn't have worked with British women raised on daily newspaper and TV coverage of the real Harry. You also need to know that the pilot features a makeover that Harry-ifies him an additional amount, but this interview finds Matt in his natural condition.
In our chat, Matt talks about his pre-FOX background, how earnestly he was out there looking for love, why this premise works better with America girls and just how much gullibility was required. He also told me what, exactly, the conversation might be like if he ever met the real Prince Harry.
While Matt hadn't seen “Joe Millionaire,” I told him about Evan Marriott's later confession that he behaved a bit like a douche on the show and he tells me what will keep him from behaving the same way.
Check out the full interview above.
“I Wanna Marry 'Harry'” premieres on Tuesday, May 20 at 9 p.m. on FOX.