What makes a rising ER doctor in Belfast, Norther Ireland who comes from a prominent Egyptian family, star in an American reality TV show? We met up with Dr.Tim Hatem, who has already broken many hearts off screen, as he stars in the NBC production, The Courtship, currently streaming on USA network, Hulu and Peacock.
The show, he fills us in, is a “Bridgerton meets The Bachelor” reality dating program, where 19 contestants are put against each other with the goal to win over Miss Nicole Remy and potentially finding real love with her.
And who is Nicole Remy, who is accompanied by her parents, sister, brother and best friend, referred to as “The court”? The pretty 26-year old is a graduate of The University of Southern California and former Seattle Seahawks cheerleader from Seattle, Washington who now works as a software engineer.
Until date “The Courtship” has aired 6 episodes with a new episode released every week, aiming to also reach an international audience as NBC, who has invested 40 Million Dollars, aims to sell the new US blockbuster to an accessible streaming service for the rest of the world after the season is complete.
The grand “Remy Castle” in Yorkshire and the fabulous Regency era costumes should do the trick. After all the world is currently spellbound by such period dramas as “Bridgerton” and “The Gilded Age”.
Timmy as he is known to his family and friends, joined the cast in Episode 4. He isn’t really sure why NBC picked him, but they did contact him through his Instagram account. That’s where you can also watch his grand entrance into the series.
He admits that initially he had his doubts and the whole idea of so many guys competing for one girl sounded a bit too strange to him. But in the end the thought of such a unique experience and maybe the unlikely chance to find true love, won him over.
We wondered how his family back home in Cairo would react? They were actually a lot more supportive than he thought they would be. His mother, a full of life socialite with a PHD in Immunology made him promise he would stay true to his heart, their family values and wouldn’t do anything she wouldn’t be happy with.
His colleagues in hospital found it quite comical, especially the way the series was shot and the “American” way of things being quite cheesy. Overall his newfound “TV stardom” has become a topic of entertainment at work, to say the least.
Staying on location in York for more than 4 weeks the young doctor and his fellow contestants had to go through hours of etiquette, calligraphy, dance, and horse-riding lessons. He could have done without the fancy period costumes, he admits. He describes himself more of an urban, relaxed outfit kind of guy and found the costumes quite stiff and uncomfortable, especially the shoes.
Practically living in isolation and the competitive nature of the series, did of course bring out rivalry among the young men. More between some individuals than others, Timmy recalls. But he also made new friends and he and some of the boys even flew out to Spain and Greece to meet up there post-filming.
Friendships is the thing he feels he has gained mostly from the experience. And he has also learned a lot, particularly about show business and how reality TV is made. But what about finding true love on a reality show?
“I’ve also learned that finding love can be quite easy for some, not so much in my case. Apparently, it is possible to induce romance in even the strangest situations. I have learned more about myself, having experienced being in such a surreal environment. I believe there is value in all unique experiences”, he ends our interview.
We are left to wonder if he will be the one to win Nicole’s heart or will he be eliminated and sent back to the “modern world”? We will have to watch to see!
In the meantime you can follow the handsome Egyptian doctor on his IG @teespursuit, and although he can’t say that he is actively seeking further TV shows to star in, “The Courtship” might just have been the start to a successful acting career in the making!
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