- Evan Marriott sprang to prominence in January 2003 as the lead of the original Joe Millionaire.
- “This is about all of America being duped into thinking this guy’s a millionaire…
- Marriott has kept a modest profile since his departure from Joe Millionaire.
- And the enigma surrounding the subject continues.
Evan Marriott sprang to prominence in January 2003 as the lead of the original Joe Millionaire, one of the first dating shows. With him in the title character and some intriguing stories, the reality show’s debut season drew more than 40 million viewers — a significant thing at the time.
However, the following season was a flop, and the show was eventually canceled.
However, in November 2021, Fox announced that the show will be relaunched in 2022 under the title Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer.
With a relaunch on the horizon, fans have been wondering what happened to the original Joe Millionaire.
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Evan Marriott: The First Joe Millionaire
Prior to being chosen for the show, Marriott, who was 28 at the time, had previously worked as an underwear model, sought a career in professional wrestling, and was working as a construction worker.
His annual salary was projected to be $19,000.
All of this information, however, was kept from the 20 ladies who were informed Marriott inherited $50 million.
“Now I’m living the biggest lie in front of America,” he reportedly told the show’s staffers on broadcast, according to Parade.
“This is about all of America being duped into thinking this guy’s a millionaire… and the more I think about it, the more it eats my head out, ’cause I truly like this girl,” Marriott added, according to the site.
The truth would be revealed to the participants in the season finale, and if anyone still wanted to be with him despite his working-class status, they would be awarded $1 million in prize money.
When that transpired in the show’s finale in February 2003, substitute teacher Zora Andrich was the last lady standing, having chosen Marriott over his fortune.
And, as promised, the two were given $1 million to split between them.
What Ever Became of Evan Marriott and Zora Andrich?
Many individuals have been curious about what happened to Marriott and Andrich.
Are they still together as a pair, or have they split up?
Joe Millionaire stars Evan Marriott and Zora Andrich. (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox/Everett Collection)
It is, indeed, the latter. They were only together for a brief time before splitting up shortly after the show concluded.
According to Screenrant, they split into good terms and are still in touch.
Andrich, who is a mother of two, is currently working in healthcare and teaching yoga, according to the publication.
Evan Marriott’s Post-Joe Millionaire Life
After his time on Joe Millionaire came to an end, the Virginia Beach, Virginia native received a startling reception from FOX Network.
During his exclusive interview with Vulture in 2015, he revealed that “they removed my lot pass and I was out in front of the Fox studios with the door slammed in my face. It happened so quickly.”
However, because he had become a household celebrity as a result of Joe Millionaire, he was hired as the host of the Game Show Network show Fake-a-Date.
However, the show was terminated after only one season.
Marriott went on to appear in other television shows and films.
However, he did not want to remain in the public eye and liked his usual life before being thrust into stardom.
The general population couldn’t tell him apart from his Joe Millionaire image. He couldn’t either.
“I was going through an identity crisis. I wasn’t Evan Marriott, who could go out for a casual pint with pals.
It’s faded now, but for the first three years in Los Angeles, everyone looked up.
“And that causes you to get paranoid,” he explained to Vulture.
“Even if people couldn’t care less if I got a cheeseburger or a haircut, I kept thinking, years later, somebody’s at my window, somebody’s snapping pictures of me, somebody cares about what I’m wearing today,” he continued.
I talked myself into it, and some of it was true and some of it wasn’t, but it took a long time for me to talk myself out of it.”
What Has Been Happening to Evan Marriott?
Marriott has kept a modest profile since his departure from Joe Millionaire.
He doesn’t appear to be on any social media platforms and has stayed away from the media.
According to sources, the last time he spoke in front of a large audience was in 2015, when he attended the “WE tv’s Evolution of Relationship Reality Shows panel at the Paley Center for Media.”
Unlike in Joe Millionaire, his appearance at the time was quite different.
He’d put on weight and developed a beard.
He joked with People about his beard, saying that he grew it overnight.
“All I have to do is think of a beard, and it appears,” he continued.
What he does today is that, after recognizing that he doesn’t genuinely belong in Hollywood, he invested whatever remained of the Joe Millionaire award money in a business.
According to Vulture, Marriott owns a heavy-equipment rental-contracting company in Orange County, California.
According to the source, the occupation was a logical extension of his life before the dating program transformed everything.
He is content with his current situation and what he has.
“If I’m not [happy], then I’ve got a severe screw loose,” he joked in a 2015 DailyPress interview.
“I’ve had an extremely blessed life.”
“I’ll probably live here in Orange County for another 20-25 years and then move back to Virginia.
I do what I enjoy doing. I work hard and am exhausted, but it is a nice kind of exhaustion.
I go home at the end of the day and drink a Scotch. “I enjoy Scotch,” he added.
Is Evan Marriott now married?
Marriott, who is currently 47 years old, apparently lives alone and has yet to locate a suitable partner with whom to exchange wedding vows.
That explains why he doesn’t have a wife yet.
Little to no information about his dating life after Joe Millionaire has been discovered because he led a secluded life after the show.
However, he had one significant other before joining the dating program and gaining fame.
He was in a relationship with a girl named Amy, whom he broke up with immediately before going to shoot the program, he told Vulture.
According to him, when filming Joe Millionaire in France’s Loire Valley region, he “had this magnificent vista, and I would sit there every night with a beer in my hand and the phone in my ear.”
He was speaking with Amy while “trying to get back together with her.”
He later stated that the dance and kiss he performed with Zora deserved an Emmy prize because all he wanted to do was get back to his love, Amy.
Aside from that, he didn’t elaborate on what happened after that.
And the enigma surrounding the subject continues.
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Evan Marriott’s net worth
Marriott supposedly has a net worth of $1.5 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
