''Strange Love'' is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series featuring

Brigitte Nielsen Brigitte Nielsen (; born Gitte Nielsen; 15 July 1963) is a Danish actress, model, and singer. She began her career modelling for Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton. She subsequently acted in the 1985 films ''Red Sonja'' and ''Rocky IV'', later retu ...

and

Flavor Flav William Jonathan Drayton Jr. (born March 16, 1959), known by his stage name Flavor Flav (), is an American rapper and hype man. Known for his yells of "''Yeah, boyeeeeee!''" when performing, he rose to prominence as a founding member of the rap ...

that aired on VH1. Sparked by their on-screen romance in the third season of VH1's ''

The Surreal Life ''The Surreal Life'' is an American reality television series that records a group of celebrities as they live together in Glen Campbell's former mansion in the Hollywood Hills for two weeks. The format of the show resembles that of ''The Real W ...

'', it is a spin-off that focused solely on Brigitte and Flav. The series premiered on January 9, 2005 and ended its run on April 24, 2005. Due to mutual jealousy, the couple was constantly fighting and yelling, and they went their separate ways in the end, with Nielsen choosing instead to live with her Italian boyfriend, Mattia Dessi. Flavor Flav would go on to have his own reality show, ''

Flavor of Love ''Flavor of Love'' is an American reality television dating game show starring Flavor Flav of the rap group Public Enemy. While not a direct spin-off, the show was a result of Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav's failed relationship on '' Strange ...

'', where he continued to search for love.

Episodes

# "The Flavor of Love" – ''aired'': January 9, 2005 (1.8M viewers) # "The Smack Is Back" – ''aired'': January 16, 2005 # "Balls Well That Ends Well" – ''aired'': January 23, 2005 # "The Wine, The Romance, and The Truth" – ''aired'': January 30, 2005 # "Flav's Fried Chicken" – ''aired'': February 13, 2005 # "Public Enemy Number 1" – ''aired'': February 20, 2005 # "Bronx Cheers" – ''aired'': March 6, 2005 # "The Family That Flav's Together, Stays Together" – ''aired'': March 27, 2005 # "Flav Can't Lose" – ''aired'': April 3, 2005 # "You May Now Flav the Bride" – ''aired'': April 10, 2005 # "Reunion" – ''aired'': April 24, 2005

Controversy

North Carolina's Reverend Paul Scott labeled Flav's performance "a coon act on a modern-day minstrel show." Flav's friend and fellow

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe p ...

member

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped creat ...

accused VH1 of "Flavsploitation" in
journal entry
regarding the March 27 episode which showed a tense conflict between Flav, three of his children and their mother.

"Peeps will let the Bridgette thing perhaps slide, but not the wild statements and what seems like a disrespect conflict on camera with his children and their mother. Last week, it was that same part of his family who went on Wendy Williams' program and launched the worst on-air diatribe ever directed at a father by his children."

Flav responded by saying,

"I want ''Strange Love'' to be a mirror for them. I want them to see themselves, because they did disrespect me also. But that's their mother. When children grow up without both parents, there's an imbalance — and what you see on the show with my kids is an imbalance…But I love my kids."

References

External links

* * {{VH1 original programming 2005 American television series debuts 2005 American television series endings 2000s American reality television series American dating and relationship reality television series American television spin-offs Reality television spin-offs VH1 original programming The Surreal Life spinoffs English-language television shows Television series by 51 Minds Entertainment Television series by Endemol Television series by Lionsgate Television