With all the splendours that reality TV now offers, it's inevitable that a bisexual looking for love would become some producer's bright idea for a "hot" new hit.
Enter MySpace sexpot Tila Tequila, 26, the star of MTV's new reality show with a twist, "" (which airs Saturdays on CTV at 1:05 am ET.).
Unlike those dapper dudes and hot sweethearts on "The Bachelorette" and "The Bachelor," this MySpace celebrity, singer and model is test driving 32 potential love interests (16 straight guys and 16 lesbians) under one roof until she finds the man -- or woman -- who rocks this equal-opportunity dater's world.
Which showbiz celeb would she share her bed with?
"Had I picked the contestants we would have no show. I'd have found my love then," Tequila (aka Tila Nguyen) told CTV's "eTalk" recently.
In fact, in a perfect world this cyber sensation with 2.3 million MySpace friends would gladly choose Clive Owen or Christina Ricci to be her permanent new bed pal. "Clive's married, so he's out," she laughs. "But I'd take Christina over Clive. She's got this mysteriousness to her and she's her own person. She's kind of like me."
A sexy star and a controversial TV concept
Since "" debuted on October 23 critics -- including some conservative Christians - are seeing red over the bisexual dating show, denouncing it and its star. Others that are both bothered and bewitched by Tequila liken this new MTV romp to an oncoming train wreck - you know it's going to get you, or at least kill a few good brain cells throughout its 10 episodes. Yet not watching it is hard to do.
It's a controversial advantage that hasn't been lost on this mercenary littler marketer who fans have dubbed the Madonna of cyberspace. To them Nguyen's rise represents the new cultural zeitgeist, where personal technology, a few million cyber friends and a risqu锟� TV concept can catapult a nobody into stardom that is self-created, not studio made.
Not your average cyberspace babe
"People who don't know me think 'Oh she just got famous off the internet for doing nothing.' But that's not true," says Tequila, who emigrated to the U.S. at age one from Vietnam. "I accepted every friend request and kept adding everyone that added me. It just really exploded from there."
No, this new reality star is not your ordinary babe, so she says.
"Other girls are just using their attractiveness and sitting on their asses thinking that their good looks will get them somewhere. But not me," says the one-time Tomboy, who, so her story goes, grew up in poverty, ran wild as a troubled teen and turned her life around with music at 19.
"My success is astounding. I come from a boat," says Tequila, whose pregnant mother feared she'd miscarried due to the lack of food. "Maybe that's why I'm so small today, but I'm such a fighter."
"It wasn't bad that I happened to be hot. It was a bonus."
Accepting her "hot" factor wasn't easy, so says this hyped lightweight who weighs less than 100 lbs.
"I've never said I was a hot chick. My personality has always been like a dude in a chick's body. But when guys started hitting on me at 19 I thought I might as well use that hotness and keep that a part of who I am. I just got really good at it."
Indeed.
Since being discovered in a mall at 18 by a "Playboy" scout, this 2002 "Playboy" Cyber Girl of the week has moved on. Included in "Stuff Magazine's" 100 Sexiest Women Online in 2006, her popularity on MySpace (where she's "the baddest bitch on the block" and spins tunes like "F锟斤拷..k Ya Man" - a ditty that's logged millions of spins) Tequila scored a "Maxim UK" cover in 2006. The magazine ranked this racy, resourceful self-marketer at #88 on their Hot 100 List.
Yet Tequila's transition to TV was mulled over with all the shrewdness of a Fortune 500 CEO.
A "Tila friendly" deal
"At first I didn't want to do it. It's like your whole life is out there. Then I thought about it really hard. This must have come to me for a reason and I need to take a stand."
The savvy sexpot didn't sign on without an advantageous deal. "Trust me. Our deal, unlike any other, is very strict. It's very Tila friendly," she says.
Filled with "very out there, very broken characters that make for great TV," this new reality star falls for several of the show's suitors. But beyond looking for love, promoting bisexual awareness was a huge motivation for signing on.
Bisexuals want love
"Bisexuals are just the same as anyone else. We're just looking for love. Without even seeing the show critics called it promiscuous, bisexual, confusing. That's totally wrongbecause that's not the case at all," says Tequila.
A racy new "role model"
Now on a mission to be a positive influence on her fans, both kids and their parents consider her a role model, so she says. "I read my fans notes every day. Parents may judge me at first. They'll say 'I thought you were a whore, a slut. But after getting to know you I see you're really deep and intelligent. I have so much respect for you."
Bisexual kids, too, so says Tequila, revere her. "So many kids who write to me were afraid to come out. They felt alone. But now they feel really proud and they say 'So what. Tequila's bisexual, too.' Now it's like a cool thing."
Inspirational cyber sensation or reality TV's trashiest babe?
In the end, is this cyber princess's rising star a boon for the democratization of celebrity and greater awareness about bisexuality? Or is this new MTV mix serving up a crass exploitation for personal gain that can only leave viewers with a Tequila headache?
"Sure I'd like to be a mega-mogul. Sure I'd like to have a movie about my life made - and hopefully I can play the lead or give some young unknown a chance to get famous the way "Selena" turned Jennifer Lopez into a star," says this business woman unapologetically.
"I started out with something very negative and turned it into something very positive," says this pinup with a purpose. "Someone like Paris Hilton doesn't give people much hope. She started off rich. But my story gives so many minorities and people of all kinds hope that dreams can come true."
