‘Too Hot to Handle’ Finale: What Did You Think of That Winner Twist?
Too Hot To Handle has crowned the winner of its second season and it came with an interesting twist.
Parisian playboy Marvin Anthony walked away with the $55,000 cash prize (the remaining funds after several rule breaks) after the show’s artificial intelligence host Lana announced that the other contestants would have to vote for a winner. This marked a significant shift in the format from the first season, which saw all the non-rulebreakers split the prize pot at the end of the competition.
The Netflix dating show sees a group of contestants living together at a luxury resort where they are forbidden from kissing, heavy petting, and sexual gratification of any kind. Money is deducted from the $100,000 prize fund every time a contestant breaks the rules. In Season 1, ten of the 14 participants were deemed winners at the end, each walking away with $7,500 before taxes.
However, this time around, the group was whittled down to three finalists, Anthony, Carly Lawrence, and Cam Holmes. The final episode saw all three competitors attend dates with their partners, while flashback footage showed how each contestant had grown throughout the season. The other cast members then shared their thoughts on who deserved to win, with Chase DeMoor, Elle Parham, and Anthony’s girlfriend Melinda Melrose referencing how Anthony had learned to show more vulnerability over his time on the show.
Anthony had started the season frivolously spending the group’s money and not caring about a serious relationship. But he later opened up, sharing stories about growing up with a single mother and recognizing how that had influenced his opinion on relationships. Anthony eventually asked Melrose to be his girlfriend, something that he wasn’t looking for when he first entered the resort.
Too Hot To Handle was developed by Laura Gibson and Charlie Bennett and produced by Fremantle’s Thames and Talkback. It debuted in early 2020 and quickly became Netflix’s biggest competition ever, according to the streamer’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos. The show has already been renewed for a third season.
What did you think of the new twist? Did the right person win? Sound off in the comments.
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