Miramichi woman seeks love on reality TV

TV producers orchestrate drama in risque environment

A 27 year old Miramichi woman, Dominik Herbert, is appearing in an MTV (VH1) reality TV series that is similar to other dating reality TV shows like "The Bachelor" or "Temptation Island".  If you have never watched a show like this and are not familiar with the format, there are 13 similar themed shows on Netflix for you to sample and the idea of the format.  The best way to describe the format is that the producers bring men and women together in a  setting, typically a tropical location with a beach and hottub, to see if any of the contestants form a love match.  Then the producers add drama to the situation by eliminating participants, and adding new ones.  The method of eliminating contestants varies from show to show, but typically involves a vote by other contestants.  Generally contestants are disappointed to get voted off because they leave behind people they care about, or leave before they get a chance to form a connection with someone. The more drama the producers can create, the more compelling the series can be.  If the contestants are sexy and emotional, well, that also helps.  The winners can be the last couple standing, or the people who make lasting connections.  Win or lose, all contestants get a springboard into fame, good or bad.

Dating Eality TV Examples: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/best-dating-shows

The show that Ms. Herbert appears in has one noticeable wrinkle:  The contestants are naked.

The series "Dating Naked" has been around for a few seasons, and in the current season in which Herbert appears, several episodes were available at once on Paramaount+, with a new one being released each Friday.  The disclaimer on the program warns people of the nudity, but also says precautions have been taken to safeguard people's emotional and physical well-being.

In many  of the episodes the contestants remarked that being naked was st first awkward, but felt the nudity actually helped promote relationships, and became a non-factor for them.  I'm not sure if it ever got normal for the viewer.

It starts with the introduction of the contestants,  who arrive at the secluded location dressed in beach attire, but then  strip down to nothing but a blue microphone necklace when they make their appearance at the resort.  For the most part the contestants are from the UK, but a few are from Australia and North America.  6 men and 6   women start the show,  which in  a perfect world would not make for much drama if it resulted in 6 love matches, but the TV reality Gods saw to it that one person was the most desirable to several contestants and so the posturing began.

In Dominik's case she and Romeo (his real name) made an unchallenged love match right away and spent much of the time in the early episodes happily getting to know one another better while the others engaged in the orchestrated drama of finding a match and not getting off.  Life was good on Naked Dating until the episode where one man was getting voted off, and more than one man said that Romeo had indicated to them that his connection to Dominik was vulnerable if he met someone who was more appealing to him.  We don't know if this is true or if this was gamesmanship by the other male contestants, but either way, Romeo was out, and Dominik was alone and also vulnerable.  One  criteria contestants used to vote people off (with less guilt) was whether or not they had made a match on the island and if anyone would miss them if they were gone.  But when it came time to vote off a woman, and Dominik was unattached, she was saved by a new male contestant, Shawn,  who had the option of giving someone immunity.

Shawn and Dominik had some alone time, thanks to the producers, to get to know one another, and the chemistry was evident.  Shawn was full of compliments during his cameos, and Dominik said the time she spent with Shawn was the most romantic time of her life, and prior to that had never even received flowers from a male suitor.  What?  C'mon Miramichi guys, you can do better.

Shawn was a guy who was desirable to many female contestants, but his attraction  to Dominik was getting stronger and looked like they were locked in until some drama derailed their connection.  The producers took that as a challenge and in later episodes brought back two contestants who were voted off, to see if it would yield any drama.  Romeo returned, which left Dominik with a dilemma.  This is where I stopped watching, so I don't know how it all works out for the local girl.

Dominik represented herself well by being constantly focused on the relationship at hand, and never being trashy or unhinged.  Even in the face of uncertainty when Romeo re-entered the show and wanted to reconcile, it appeared she was prepared to make a logical decision and not be emotional about it. 

Miramichi Online approached Dominik to provide an interview but she declined  -- the series was still not over when we made the request, so she might not have been able to reveal the results of the series before it was concluded.