They were duped and they are bitter

A reality TV game show that tricks a group of men into winning the affections of a beautiful “woman” who is actually a man -- what could go wrong?

British pay-TV company BSkyB and independent producer Brighter Pictures are facing a threatened lawsuit from six contestants on the show, “There’s Something About Miriam,” who are trying to prevent the program from being broadcast. The contestants are challenging the consent forms they signed before discovering that Miriam, a male preoperative transsexual, was not all that “she” seemed.

“After they’d been encouraged to have sexual contact, they found that she was a he,” said a spokesman for the law firm representing the contestants. “They all found it extremely traumatic.”

A BSkyB spokesman said the show hasn’t been scheduled.