This new version is set up a little differently.
I flew out to LA in mid-July and ended up being selected.
Okay, And what about you, Kurt?
Kurt Sowers:Same exact thing, yeah.
The DM slide that I didn’t take that seriously.
I had to bounce it off some of my friends actually and see if I should even consider it.
I don’t watch reality TV.
Kurt doesn’t even have a TV in his bedroom.
We’re not your typical reality TV show guys.
I figured, “Why not try something unconventional and go on a dating show?”
Kurt:Yeah, I never thought I’d be on a dating show.
I used to make fun of dating shows all the time.
I was always picking on any of my exes or something that would watch that TV.
I used to call it trash TV and hate on it, and then here I am.
Steven:Yeah, the face of it.
Steven:Go ahead, Kurt.
Kurt:My family, actually they were pretty supportive of it.
They thought, “Why not?
You might as well put yourself out there and see what happens.”
I told my immediate family, and my brothers were making fun of me the entire time.
My mom wasn’t sure what to think of it.
My dad was telling me, “go for it.”
I figured, “Why not?”
Kurt:None whatsoever.
I think that shows on the [series].
I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
Steven:Yes, same.
They didn’t tell us the nature of the show, how big the show was.
My concern was going down there and being followed around by two or three cameramen using little handy cams.
I was like, “I don’t even know how …
There are cameras mounted to your bedroom walls.
I had no idea what to expect.
Kurt:The production side to me, the behind the scenes of it.
It was pretty cool.
It was pretty crazy to watch that happen.
Kurt:It was pretty impressive, especially condensing it to such a tight timeline, too.
We filmed this thing in seven weeks, so it’s pretty intense.
Did you find it difficult?
You’re thrown into this show, and there’s a lot of women.
Steven:It made it hard, in the beginning, when there was so many women there.
It’s a very short timeframe up until you get to that …
The ten women are left, basically.
We see them for short spurts at a time; the conversations are limited.
Most of the time, their conversations are [interrupted] by other people and/or producers.
It was tough to get to know these ladies at first.
Kurt:Yeah, it was a bit awkward.
It was a bit awkward at first, for sure.
I think you could see that too.
Steven:I don’t think Kurt and I compromised who we are [in] everyday life.
We were the exact same people that we are in literally every single day.
Did they feel like any women were there for the money?
Steven:I don’t think it did for the most part.
These women had no idea what the show was until they got there.
They showed up and were told this on the second day of filming.
For the most part, I think we had a really, really good group of women.
Kurt:I agree.
Do you think that kind of changed the experience in any ways?
Steven:Yeah, for sure.
Way bigger than the money aspect was the …
I think the better twist was the fact that there’s two guys.
Gving them an option, I think, made it a lot more genuine.
We’re able to bounce ideas off each other.
I think that was a really cool aspect of the show.
Kurt:Everyone knows that by now.
What was it like when you first got to set and got to meet each other?
Did you meet each other ahead of meeting the women?
It was on camera.
We hit it off right off the bat going into it.
I didn’t know what to think.
We really are pretty self-confident.
And were you ever concerned about like falling for the same girl?
Kurt:We said that we weren’t allowed to claim anybody, so we kept the door open.
Steven:We eliminated bro code during the filming.
Kurt:It was a friendly competition, if anything.
At the end of the day, we’re on each other’s teams.
One of us would decide to step back [if that happened].
What has it been like now that the show’s airing kind of watching it back?
do you feel like it seems pretty accurate to how it actually was?
Steven:For the most part, everything’s been portrayed accurately to how it happened.
Kurt:Some things definitely got omitted, but I don’t believe anything’s been manipulated.
Steven:There’s a lot.
We’d be shooting.
We were running off next to no sleep almost the entire time.
Steven:By the end of it, we were exhausted.
We were pretty run ragged for sure.
That’s an insane schedule.
It was pretty brutal.
We’d catch naps.
And we’re like, “All right!”
I’d go jump in bed in a tuxedo and nap.
Steven:It was honestly having Kurt there and really hitting off that [brotherhood] with Kurt.
Going into it, again, I did not know what to think of it.
We’ve been together, hell, near about every single weekend since.
Kurt:It’s been the best relationship from the show, has been Steven and I.
It was something that I definitely admired.
I admired how hard these guys worked and how well they all worked together too.
They were a well-oiled machine.
It was definitely inspiring to see that part of the industry.
New episodes of “Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer” air Thursdays on FOX at 8/7c.
Episodes are available on FOX NOW the following day.
