Flavor of Love is an American reality television dating game show starring Flavor Flav of the rap group Public Enemy, in which 20 different ladies compete for Flav's heart as they live together in a mansion in Encino, California.
The series originally aired in the USA from 1 January, 2006 to 26 May, 2008. There are 39 hour-long episodes in three seasons.
The first season of Flavor of Love aired in South Africa on DStv's MTVbase from 12 June to 21 August, 2007, on Tuesdays at 21h00.
Season 2 premiered on MTVbase on Tuesday 3 June 2008, at 21h30. There are 12 episodes in the second season.
Repeats
Sundays: 21h30
Series Synopsis
The show was part of VH1's Celebreality lineup and its format is similar to that of The Bachelor.
Twenty different ladies compete for Flavor Flav's heart as they live together in a mansion in Encino, California. He is helped in his quest by his bodyguard and chauffeur named "Big Rick".
He was also assisted by his mother, as well as his former romantic partner Brigitte Nielsen in the first season, and Tiffany Pollard in the second.
The show also helped spin off two new shows: I Love New York and Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School.
In the show, each contestant is given a nickname by Flav and is referred to by that nickname for as long as she remains in the competition.
Flavor of Love features a clock ceremony where contestants who are not eliminated receive gold clocks to wear around their necks with their picture behind the hands of the clock.
When a contestant is eliminated, her real name is then revealed, followed by a champagne toast.
There are a few basic elements of the show's format that have been consistent through each season of production. Throughout the season the contestants compete for intimate dates with Flav by competing in various challenges.
Another typical component of the show is the involvement of the women's ex-boyfriends. This usually occurs when there are six or less contestants left. Also, Flav brings the few remaining women's parents on in the third or second to last episode.
Finally, the season finale takes place in a tropical destination. The two finalists and Flav spend the last two days at a luxurious resort preceding his final decision.
The week following the finale an all-cast reunion is typically aired. A host spends this time reviewing the most memorable moments and interviewing the contestants after they have seen the season.
This is also when you find out if Flav is still with the woman he chose and what they have been up to since the season wrapped.
Season 1 Synopsis
The star of The Surreal Life 3 and Strange Love, Public Enemy front-man Flavor Flav returns in Flavor Of Love as an eligible bachelor, with a host of women trying to win his heart.
After his failed relationship with Brigitte Nielsen, Flavor Flav is ready to find true romance. In Flavor of Love, 20 single women from all walks of life, selected for their love for Flav, will move into a "phat crib" in Los Angeles, and vie for his affection.
With help and advice from Big Rick, Flav's body-guard and chauffeur, Flavor Flav will date all of the women. After weeding out the ones who are only after his fame and fortune, he will choose his one true love.
Along the way, Flav will put the ladies through several challenges, including a lie-detector test administered by former girlfriend and fellow Surreal Life star Brigitte Nielsen.
There is also a cooking contest judged by Flav's own mother, and the dreaded blind-fold sniff test.
There are several other surprises throughout this ten-part series including clock ceremonies, dates at Red Lobster and a new set of gold teeth.
Season 2 Synopsis
The fact of the matter is, Flavor Flav's "romantical" experiment, The Flavor of Love, didn't quite work. It seems once the show ended, Hoopz (the finalist) started getting a lot of attention, from magazines and men. And now she doesn't have time for her man Flavor Flav.
After the taping of The Flavor of Love wrapped, Flavor took Hoopz to London to spend some time with him while he completed a small tour with Public Enemy. While there, Flavor asked her to accompany him on a trip to Hawaii.
Hoopz informed him that she wouldn't be going. It seems her newfound career was more important than Flavor. You see, Hoopz was an aspiring model/actress just like all the rest. She only went on the show for fame.
Flavor then called his producers, furious that he had been duped. "Get me 20 more!" He screamed into the phone. "I went through all that and I ended up with nothin'! Get me 20 more!"
Now Flavor, undaunted by this failure, is going to try again, but this time he's doing it right.
This season Flavor has chosen 20 new unique girls of all different races, ages and body types and brought them to his mansion. This time the entire show will be focused on truth; no lies, no fakery.
This time Flavor is hoping to find real girls who really want to love Flavor Flav.
Every challenge Flavor poses, from running a soul food restaurant to competing in a hip hop dance off, will be engineered to weed out the gold diggers, fame chasers, fakes and chicken heads.
Whether it's meeting Flavor's celebrity friends from the world of hip hop or accompanying him on a trip to some exotic local, these girls will constantly be put to the test.
In the end, Flavor will pick his favourite girl and present her with a shiny new gold grill. And this time, hopefully, she won't be a lying gold digger.