Every single contestant on a 2004 British dating show filed lawsuits against the network for psychological damage.
The production company settled for an estimated $500,000 per contestant.
"There's Something About Miriam" aired on Sky1 with six men competing in Ibiza, Spain for a £10,000 prize and the chance to impress 21-year-old Mexican model Miriam Rivera.
The show followed a standard dating format across six episodes, with contestants eliminated one by one as they vied for Rivera's attention.
The Final Episode Revelation
In the final episode, Rivera revealed to contestants that she was a transgender woman who had not yet undergone gender-affirming surgery.
Winner Tom Rooke initially accepted the £10,000 prize and vacation.
Then he rejected the prize and joined the other five contestants in legal action.
The Lawsuit and Settlement
The legal action delayed the show's airing while settlement negotiations proceeded.
Production company Endemol settled for an amount estimated around $500,000 each.
Contestant Toby Green stated: "We all felt deceived and wronged by the programme makers who set out to deceive us. We all felt we had been manipulated."
Behind the Production
Rivera had been taking hormones since age 11 and living as a woman since 16.
Her father refused to accept her identity.
The show's psychiatrist later revealed: "The reveal was her coming out to the world and as far as I was aware, Miriam hadn't been psych tested. How would she deal with rejection? Not just from who she picked, but everyone who thought trans people were freaks."
British critics noted the show's premise "was designed to elicit horror from the winning contestant discovering that his dream date had a penis."
The Aftermath
Sky later apologized for the show and removed "There's Something About Miriam" from its platform.
Rivera was found dead at her apartment in Sonora, Mexico in February 2019.
She was deemed to have died by suicide, though her husband believed she had been murdered.