Is Everyone Faking It On This Dating Show?

We just can't help it. Maybe it's the escapism of reality TV or the hopeless romantic in all of us, but for some reason, there was a teeny, tiny part of us that still believed there's got to be something genuine about I Wanna Marry "Harry . " But at this point, we should really know better. We already knew the premise of the show was to fool "unsuspecting" women into thinking normal bloke Matt Hicks is really Prince Harry. And we recently discovered that Kingsley the butler is just a regular ol' actor. But now we've learned that Marry "Harry" contestant Kimberly Birch, who was upgraded to the Crown Suite during last Tuesday's episode and will go on a solo date with "Harry" in tonight's episode, is really an actress, and we just don't know what to think anymore.

Kimberly seemed like one of the more down-to-earth women vying for the faux prince's heart. Her ever-present smile and Long Island accent made her endearing to Hicks and us, too. Even though she wasn't totally convinced, like some of the other women were, that "Sir" is really Prince Harry, Kimberly still seemed pretty into Hicks, or at least the man he was making himself out to be beyond the title.

So now you can understand why our hearts sank a little when we stumbled upon Kimberly's IMDB page. In the short time she's been acting professionally, her resume is not too shabby. Kimberly studied acting after graduating from Marist College, and she has starred in a recent Off-Broadway production of John Patrick Shanley's comedy Savage in Limbo. In 2013, Kimberly was in the indie movie Beach Pillows starring Mad Men's Vincent Kartheiser, who is so not like Pete Campbell in this film. Kimberly also has turns in two upcoming indie movies, the drama Fail and the action flick Blue Suede. Kimberly also has a bunch of clips and acting reels on her YouTube channel where she portrays everyone from a lawyer to a drug addict to a prostitute.

The first thought that popped into our heads when we saw Kimberly's current line-up of acting credits was, "Oh, that's why she's on I Wanna Marry 'Harry.'" You coulda been a contender, Kimberly! Well, of course she still can be, but it just makes us think more and more that these ladies are more aware of Hicks' scheme than FOX wants us to believe.

And we're not saying that actors can't be genuine people when they're not playing a role. Kimberly could still be truly looking for love on I Wanna Marry "Harry." But it does seem all too likely that a 24-year-old who has recently started her acting career would take a gig on a reality show on a major network to first and foremost get some exposure. In an interview with Moviepilot, Kimberly basically said she was playing a part during her time on I Wanna Marry "Harry":

Every day was like a game of chess. You know, you have this sort of pseudo-version of yourself, so you have to play up the character that you created, that they cast you in, but very carefully ... There is a general sort of script, if you will.

Kimberly also admitted that one reason she signed on for the show was that it would be good exposure, as the producers told her. But, she did say that she "went into this completely blind to what was going on." Sounds like the reactions from the contestants during I Wanna Marry "Harry" may have been somewhat real after all. At this point, we'll take whatever we can get.

Image: Chris Raphael/FOX