be straight

Playing It Straight

Playing It Straight is a 2004 American reality show in which one woman spent time on a ranch with a group of men in an attempt to discern which of them were homosexual and which of them were heterosexual. All of the men pretended to be heterosexual. The woman went on individual dates with the men, in addition to engaging in group activities with them. Over the course of the episodes, she voted to eliminate the men she believed to be gay.

At the end of the show, the woman had to choose one man. If he was heterosexual, the man and woman would split the prize money, but if he was gay, then he would receive all the money (and the woman would receive nothing).

Fox Show

The show was first broadcast in the United States on the Fox Network and premiered on March 12, 2004. The program was set on a Nevada ranch, and featured Jackie Thomas (a 21-year-old college student at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; Jackie is originally from Los Angeles, CA). Jackie spent time with 14 men (some gay, some straight) with a chance to win $1 million dollars. If Jackie picked a straight man, they would both split the money, but if she picked a gay man, he would win the entire $1 million. It was hosted by Daphne Brogdon and was canceled after only three episodes, due to low ratings. The remaining episodes were posted to the network website. All of the episodes of the show were aired on Kanal 5 in Sweden. The show has since aired again on Fox Reality.

Contestants

Contestant	Status	Sexual Orientation
Gust	Eliminated week 1	Straight
Louis	Eliminated week 1	Straight
Alex	Eliminated week 2	Gay
Ryan	Eliminated week 2	Straight
Eddie	Left the show week 3	Gay
Chad	Eliminated week 3	Gay
John	Eliminated week 4	Gay
Lee	Eliminated week 4	Gay
Bradley	Eliminated week 5	Gay
Luciano	Eliminated week 5	Gay
Bill	Eliminated week 6	Gay
Chris	Eliminated week 8	Gay
Sharif	Eliminated week 8	Straight
Banks	Winner week 8	Straight

In 2005, nearly one year later after the show was recorded, Fox issued a press release stating that Jackie and Banks were still together. After the show, Jackie and Banks dated for about two years. For the first eight months, they had to keep their relationship quiet until the show aired. Banks went so far as to tell friends that he had to leave the show because he broke his arm, rather than reveal he won.

In 2007, Fox Reality is reairing these episodes paired with "Reality Revealed" interviews of the contestants at each commercial break.

Channel 4

Channel 4 (UK) broadcast their own version of the show, first episode on 8 April 2005, as part of their Twisted Dating Season. The show is set on a Mexican ranch and Zoe Hardman is spending time with 12 men. Ten men started the show and two more, Lee and Marco, were added in week 3 - it was revealed when they arrived that one was gay and one straight. The prize money was £100,000 and the show was hosted by June Sarpong. The show is being repeated on Channel 4's sister station E4.

Contestants

Contestant	Status	Sexual Orientation
Pretesh	Eliminated week 1	Straight
Raphael	Eliminated week 1	Straight
Demetrius	Eliminated week 2	Gay
George	Eliminated week 2	Straight
Lee	Eliminated week 3	Gay
Peter	Eliminated week 3	Gay
Jonny	Eliminated week 4	Gay
Alex	Eliminated week 5	Gay
Daniel. K	Eliminated week 5	Straight
Marco	Eliminated week 6	Straight
Danny. B	Eliminated week 6	Straight
Ben	Winner	Gay

Ironically, Ben was actually Mr Gay UK 1998.

Seven Network

An Australian version of the show aired on the Seven Network starting October 2004 hosted by Natalie Garonzi. Despite much of the hype surrounding it the shows ratings dwindled and it was moved to a later timeslot. After Rebecca eliminated Campbell (who was gay) Chad, Dane and Evan were left for one non-elimination round before appearing in the final episode. Rebecca chose Chad and he was revealed to be straight, whilst Dane and Evan were both gay. The Australian show has also aired in the US on FOX Reality. Rebecca and Chad are no longer together.

Contestants

Contestant	Status	Sexual Orientation
Simon	Eliminated week 1	Straight
Sam	Eliminated week 1	Straight
John	Eliminated week 2	Gay
Glenn	Left the show week 2	Gay
N/A	Eliminated week 3	N/A
N/A	Eliminated week 4	N/A
N/A	Eliminated week 4	N/A
Ben	Eliminated week 5	Straight
Dean	Eliminated week 5	Gay
Damon	Eliminated week 6	Straight
Campbell	Eliminated week 7	Gay
Evan	Eliminated week 8	Gay
Dane	Eliminated week 8	Gay
Chad	Winner	Straight