TV show tricks women into dating fake millionaire

Producers of a US reality TV show tricked 20 women into competing to marry a penniless builder by telling them he was a multi-millionaire.

Joe Millionaire follows the contestants as they battle to win the heart of a man they believe has inherited £32m (€49m).

Viewers will know from the start that Joe is, in fact, a blue-collar construction worker who earns just £12,000 (€18,700) a year.

Fox TV describes the new show as the "gold diggers and the ditch digger", and the plan is to "rip the mask off" people who sign up for similar programmes.

Fox's head of reality TV, Mike Darnell, said: "We find out whether they're really doing this for love."

For the programme Joe is transformed into a wealthy playboy who takes the women horse riding through what they think are the grounds of his French chateau.

In the final episode, he will chose the one woman with whom he wants to have a relationship. If she agrees, Joe will be forced to tell the truth that his bank account is empty.

The seven-episode show was shot in secret in France to avoid any of the contestants discovering the twist.

Fox will not say if there is a marriage proposal, or what happens when the truth is revealed, but promise a "spectacular ending".

Reality TV show The Bachelor, in which a group of women compete to marry a wealthy man, was a massive hit in the US this year.