Reality star Harry Jowsey has flirted, broken hearts and lied on TV. But now the 28-year-old Australian says he’s ready to find his soulmate — and he’s nervous.
Last month, applications opened on a website for his new Netflix reality show, “Let’s Marry Harry,” with thousands of people signing up for the chance to be the former “Too Hot to Handle” star’s bride.
On the day the show was announced, Jowsey marveled that women posted TikToks on how they just applied to be on his show.
“I don’t think anyone would click on it, because it’s a vulnerable thing to do to apply for a dating show, especially one where we’re getting married,” Jowsey told The Times earlier this month, laughing. “It’s like ‘Oh, people like me!’”
Netflix is counting on it.
Jowsey is part of what the streaming video giant calls its “Netflix Reality Universe” — made up of regular people looking for love or who are up for competing against others. For example, “Love on the Spectrum,” follows people on the autism spectrum going on dates. “Too Hot to Handle” challenges attractive contestants not to engage in sexual activity. “Squid Game: The Challenge” features people competing in games similar to the hit South Korean drama.
Reality TV is a key part of Netflix’s programming strategy, which aims to take the place of traditional TV with a wide variety of programming for virtually every demographic. Dating shows, cooking competitions and live reunion specials are comfort food that help supplement the streamer’s large library of movies, scripted dramas like “Squid Game,” kids shows like “Sesame Street” and, increasingly, live events and sports.
By taking breakout stars from its reality shows and casting them in a variety of programs and roles that promote the streaming service, Netflix helps boost their clout, and vice versa.
“Netflix has created its own subculture with their audience,” said Tom Nunan, a former studio and network executive. “If that means having some of your favorite reality talent move over to some of their other reality shows, so much the better. It’s just trying to keep it all in the family.”
“Let’s Marry Harry,” which debuts next year and is executive-produced by podcaster Alex Cooper, is a prime example of Netflix’s strategy. Since he appeared on “Too Hot to Handle,” Netflix has found ways to make Jowsey a bigger star, putting him in the second season of dating series “Perfect Match” and casting him in an upcoming movie on the streaming service, romantic comedy “The Wrong Paris.”
Netflix has given similar opportunities to “Too Hot to Handle” costar Chloe Veitch, who has appeared as a contestant on “The Circle” and “Perfect Match” and was a host of “Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark.” Comedian Michelle Buteau, who served as a host of Netflix reality show “The Circle,” has comedy specials on the streaming service and stars in her own scripted series, “Survival of the Thickest.”
Positioned as Netflix’s first “The Bachelor“-like reality show, “Let’s Marry Harry” elevates Jowsey, who is known for qualities that did not exactly make him obvious marriage material. In the second season of “Perfect Match,” he initially lied about kissing another contestant.
The drama that comes with reality TV is part of the gig.
“We’re gonna be judged regardless,” Jowsey said in an interview while eating a New York strip steak at Calabra, a rooftop restaurant in Santa Monica. “It’s kind of freeing to just be like, ‘Well, f—k it. I’m just gonna do it and be myself, and people aren’t gonna like it, people are gonna love it.’ It’s the best job in the world, just get to be myself on camera and have fun.”
Jowsey’s playfulness, charm and mischievous nature are some of the reasons why audiences have been drawn to him since “Too Hot to Handle” premiered on Netflix five years ago, said Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vice president of nonfiction series and sports.
“He’s like a lovable rapscallion, right?” Riegg said. “He’s got the accent. He’s got a bit of mischief in those eyes. He’s fun. He’s a good person … if the show is a more efficient way of helping him find the potential Mrs. Jowsey then I think, awesome. And so we’ll go on that journey with him.”
Riegg was instrumental in building Netflix’s reality TV programming lineup when he joined Netflix in 2016. Back then, the streamer’s reality slate was bare. But Netflix today has more than 1,800 unscripted titles, including 500 reality TV titles.
The streamer developed worldwide hits such as “Love is Blind,” which has been adapted in 10 countries, and the U.S. version will launch its ninth season later this year. “Love is Blind” was the second-most watched original streaming show on U.S. TV screens last year, according to Nielsen.
Riegg said reality dating shows are “fertile ground.” When he was at ABC, Riegg said he and executive Rob Mills were instrumental in coming up with the idea for “Bachelor in Paradise,” which is a reality dating show that brings together the contestants from past seasons of “The Bachelor” or “The Bachelorette.”
At Netflix, the contestants on “Love is Blind” and “Too Hot to Handle” have participated in other reality programs such as “Perfect Match” or “Battle Camp” that bring together participants from across the streamer’s unscripted universe. Jowsey has been one of the more controversial contestants. “Let’s Marry Harry” was a logical next step.
“It was good idea with the right piece of talent and the right auspices behind it, so we’re excited to get going on it,” Riegg said.
The Netflix strategy, following in the footsteps of other TV networks like MTV and Bravo, has given some people, like Jowsey, the opportunity to build massive followings from relatively modest beginnings, putting their faces in front of hundreds of millions subscribers around the world. That creates a virtuous cycle, getting the star’s social media fandoms to return to watch other shows. As of last year, Netflix said it had more than 301 million subscribers.
Jowsey’s social media following rose from 140,000 to 2.4 million on Instagram after “Too Hot to Handle” premiered in 2020. Today, he has 4.4 million followers on Instagram and 5.1 million on TikTok. He hosts a podcast called “Boyfriend Material” and sells skincare products.
Jowsey grew up on a farm in Australia, the youngest of five siblings. When he was in university, his brother’s friend died by suicide — a wake-up call for Jowsey that university wasn’t the place he wanted to be. Jowsey said he loved making people laugh, and first leaned into modeling and then landed on New Zealand reality dating show, “Heartbreak Island.”
With his wavy brown hair and self-described cheeky vibe, Jowsey applied to multiple reality shows, eventually landing a role on “Too Hot to Handle.” He wasn’t even subscribed to Netflix at the time because he didn’t have the money for it.
“Obviously, it just turned into this beautiful relationship, and I get to live out my biggest dream,” Jowsey said. “I remember putting in my manifesting book, ‘One day I’ll have a bachelor-style show’ … and it’s here.”
On the day “Let’s Marry Harry” opened contestant applications, Jowsey left from an early dinner to Netflix Summer Break, an event at the Santa Monica Pier promoting the streamer’s reality stars that about 450 people attended.
Jowsey and his team boarded a black SUV headed to the Netflix event. When asked what is the ideal person he’s looking for, Jowsey said, “Someone who is happy. I’m going in with no idea … ‘My type’ … hasn’t worked out.”
Once at the event, he took photos on a lip-shaped red couch and on the boardwalk under a large sign that said “Netflix Summer Break.” The event resembled a summer beachside carnival, with loud pop and R&B music, a stand serving colorful cotton candy, food trucks and a supply of themed drinks, including “I Do” (a gin beverage) and “I Do … Not” (a concoction with tequila).
As he walked past crowds of people, he got catcalls. “Harry, you sexy mother f—ker,” one attendee told him. He greeted Tanner Smith from Netflix’s “Love on the Spectrum,” Mark L. Walberg, host of “Temptation Island” and posed for photos with actors from “The Wrong Paris,” a movie about a woman who joins a dating show that she thinks is in Paris, France, but learns is actually in Paris, Texas.
Jowsey went through a string of media interviews. “This is the last one,” Jowsey said, referring to his stint on reality dating shows. The interviewer was skeptical — “Are you sure about that?”
He hasn’t had the best track record in love.
His relationship with “Too Hot to Handle” costar Francesca Farago fizzled even after he proposed with a candy ring. He was attracted to Jessica Vestal on “Perfect Match” but then kissed costar Melinda Melrose and lied about it.
Jowsey said he doesn’t want to hurt anyone anymore, a tough goal when the whole conceit of the “Bachelor” genre involves rejecting potential mates.
“I hope the person that I marry is so happy that it outweighs all the hurt,” Jowsey said. “I feel like if it was the wrong person, and they were with me for too long, then it’ll hurt more so I want them to hurt as least as possible.”
After Jowsey finished his interviews, he appeared onstage as part of the Netflix Summer Break evening program, where reality stars were given awards — favorite reality couple, for example — and others promoted their shows. The program’s host AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys called Jowsey one of his “all-time favorite flirts.”
As the Netflix Summer Break program drew to a close, the reality stars were getting ready to experience the rides on the pier exclusively for an hour. “Try not to drink too much before you go on the coasters,” McLean said, encouraging attendees to “eat, drink and be merry, and create content, of course.”
But for Jowsey, he’s already preparing for a life beyond reality TV. On a typical day, he said he wakes up at 5 or 6 a.m. and works on trading stocks. One of the companies he’s invested in is Netflix.
“I realize this reality TV, this life, it’s all kind of rented,” Jowsey said.
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