- Randi Coy
Randi Coy (born 1980) is a former
elementary school teacher who gained celebrity in January 2004 when she (along withSteven W. Bailey ) was chosen by the producers of theLos Angeles -basedFox Network reality tv show "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance " as one of the show's two titular personalities.A native of
Littleton, Colorado , but living inPhoenix, Arizona , Randi Coy was 23 years old at the time of production. The show's difficult-to-repeat gimmicky concept revolved around the $250,000 prize which Randi would win for herself, and another $250,000 for the rest of her family, if she participated in a fake wedding engagement to a man named "Steve Williams". In order to earn the money, she had to convince her family of the engagement and have a wedding arranged in 12-days' time with all her family members attending.By the first episode, complications set in, as the fake fiance at the center of the scam was revealed to be the very annoying and unattractive man who fit the show's title. The revelation of the engagement to Randi's family was deliberately intended to cause tension in Randi's family. The subsequent episodes continued to follow Randi, Steve, and the Coys as they prepared for the wedding. As an additional emotional strain for the Coys, Steve's family turned out to be just as obnoxious as he was.
On the wedding day, Steve and Randi arrived at the altar to announce that the whole wedding was a setup. At the same time it was revealed that Steve was in fact an actor named Steven W. Bailey, and his "family" were also all professional actors—something that even Randi did not know. Upon Steve's revelation that "it's fake" and that he's an actor, Randi began crying.
Because nobody caught on to the entire scheme, and because Randi was unaware that Steve was part of the scam, she and her family were presented with double the amount of money that Randi had expected—$500,000 for herself and $100,000 each for her father, mother and three siblings.
The end credits of the final episode revealed that Randi's family had forgiven her for putting them through the ordeal. [http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/my_big_fat_obnoxious_fiance/2004_Feb_24_randi_coy_the]
In the wake of the airing of the show, Randi resigned from her job as a first grade teacher at
Pope John XXIII Catholic Community School in Phoenix. She had in fact only taught at the school for two months before taking unpaid administrative leave to film the show. [http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/my-big-fat-obnoxious-fiance-star-randi-coy-quits-schoolteacher-job-2194.php]References
* [http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/my_big_fat_obnoxious_fiance/2004_Feb_24_randi_coy_the Article about the Coy family's reaction to the show's revelation (with links to other articles about Randi Coy and the show)]
* [http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/my-big-fat-obnoxious-fiance-star-randi-coy-quits-schoolteacher-job-2194.php Article detailing the conflict between Randi Coy's teaching duties and her sudden celebrity]External links
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