'Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer' May Be More Lax With the Rules About Hooking up

There's no denying that Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer is wildly different from The Bachelor. There are two male leads, and the women are unafraid to get drunk, swear, and admit if they're gold diggers. But what about hooking up? Some viewers of both shows are curious if they have fantasy suite dates on Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer like they do on The Bachelor.

On The Bachelor, fantasy suite dates are the designated time toward the end of a season when hooking up is socially acceptable. The Bachelor narrows the women down to his final three and goes on separate overnight dates with them, during which they often consummate their relationship. Things might get hot and heavy long before the end of the season on Joe Millionaire, though.

During the premiere, there's no mention of how the season moves forward beyond group dates, one-on-one dates, and verbal brawls between the women. There's also talk of one of the contestants starting a relationship of sorts with a crew member.

But what about one of our leading Joes? There doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule about hooking up on Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer. And this isn't The Bachelor, so there aren't actual fantasy suite dates.

Does that mean Kurt Sowers and Steven McBee hook up with women left and right this season? Probably not. But the original Joe Millionaire did feature a scene which heavily implied leading man Evan Marriott hooked up or got intimate in another way with runner-up Sarah Kozer while out on a walk. However, both of them denied that anything happened.

But the fact remains that these leading men can get alone time with contestants if they want it. And if contestants are interested in hooking up long before we get to the final few episodes, who's to stop them?

Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer is more about the trashy drama than most other dating reality shows, and you have to expect that producers are pretty lax when it comes to rules about sex.

The Bachelor features its share of drama each season. Sometimes, it's the only thing that makes the show worth watching when the leading man is a walking, talking potato. Hey, they can't all be winners, okay? But Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer is a show that is reminiscent of early 2000s reality TV.

You know the kind. It's what made VH1 give MTV a run for its money in something other than music for the first time ever. But it's what reality TV fans kind of need in a world where The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are sometimes only worth watching so viewers are familiar with the contestants on the much more laid back Bachelor in Paradise.

Watch Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer on Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on Fox.