"Welcome aboard it's love!" was certainly not the greeting Rick Rockwell received on his Caribbean honeymoon cruise. After legally acquiring his bride, Darva Conger on the 120-minute Fox game show "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire," Rockwell (self-proclaimed multi-millionaire real estate mogul) was blindsided with the shocking news that she just "didn't have those kinds of feelings for him." The ice princess admitted that she participated in the show as a lark and never thought that she would win the contest. She says she "just wants her life back" and is seeking an annulment.

This millionaire romantic is understandably upset. After all, he won his bride fair and square. He thoughtfully and carefully chose her among 50 other blushing bride wannabes after watching a series of beauty competitions like the "beach wear" and wedding gown contests. He also listened intently to contestants' responses to thought provoking Q and A sessions regarding their likes and dislikes. He spent two whole hours of exhausting deliberation, narrowing down the array of beauties until he found the perfect bride.

And all the while he remained a mystery to the contestants, watching the pageant on a studio monitor and making his selections backstage. His identity was revealed after he made his final selection and only moments before he and his bride were to be wed on national television. Can you imagine knowing virtually nothing about your husband to be the while he spends two hours scrutinizing you from behind closed doors? Fox really knows how to play up the intrigue! It is also refreshing to see that girl power is finally receiving the backlash it deserves. Fox took a stand to shift the balance of power back where it belongs--in the man's lap while he sits in front of the T.V.

Of course the feminists are outraged by what they contend is Fox's blatant reinforcement of stereotypes about male superiority and female gold digging. They rattle off the same old tired, knee-jerk body politic argument and claim the show reduced women to mere sex objects to be auctioned off to rich and powerful men. It is a mockery of the sanctity of marriage, is proof that Western civilization has gone awry...blah, blah, blah. Cry me a freakin' river.

Get over it already! You're all just jealous because you weren't eligible for the competition. Maybe if you'd shave your legs, put on some eyeliner, get off the couch and do some Tae-Bo you wouldn't be so bitter. Darva Conger got her money the old fashioned way--she earned it. She works hard to maintain that slim figure, that artificial hair color, that deep tan. As women, you should know that looking pretty by today's standards is no easy task. She does what she's good at, and by God, she deserves that $35,000 engagement ring and brand new Izuzu Trooper--compliments of Fox!

If anything, Fox has offered women equal opportunity game show participation with this program. Since so few women ever qualify for ABC's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," this version grants women their rightful access to wealth and recognition. It's a show that allows them to show off their talents while the men sit on the sidelines. Who's got the power now Regis!? In my opinion, the only thing conspicuously absent from this competition was a good old-fashioned cat fight, preferably bikini clad in a boxing ring filled with mud. Perhaps that segment of the competition is being sold to FX to be aired on "The X Show" or to Comedy Central for "The Man Show". Stay tuned!

Other critics of the show may argue that the same network that created and broadcast "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire" also runs the popular reality-based television series "COPS" which frequently arrests women for prostitution. To the jaundiced eye, this may appear to be a political contradiction. However, I think Fox is intentionally making a statement that "Hey, we like seeing women get handcuffed and shoved by their heads into police cars for soliciting themselves on the street as well as whoring themselves in a legal television forum for a multi-millionaire. It is our First Amendment right to exploit both the seedy and glamorous ends of the spectrum. Above all, we just want everyone to live happily ever after. I mean, didn't you see Pretty Woman?"

What critics are overlooking is Fox's sincere attempt to unite two strangers in the name of romance and fantasy. Just as Jerry Springer conscientiously tries to resolve irreconcilable differences among friends and family members as he enlightens guests and spreads peace and wisdom to all with his "Final Thought," Fox legitimately wanted to give women the opportunity to meet Prince Charming and live in his castle on the hill. And they wanted to let a millionaire select a woman who will look pretty, learn to love him and clean that castle. Is that so wrong?

Arranged marriages happen all the time in places like Bangladesh and most of the time they turn out just fine. I have a friend whose parents were married this way. And you know what, they are still together. Feminists need to give up the power struggle and realize that equity isn't everything in marriage. It's the other kind of equity-- that buys you stuff--that matters.

"Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire" reached 23 million viewers and was second in ratings only to ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," the show from which it received its inspiration. Fox was ready to rebroadcast the show when the online magazine, The Smoking Gun came forward with dirt on the groom's past. Fox made an executive decision to remove the program from their schedule in light of the news. Apparently in 1991, Rick Rockwell's ex-fiancee filed a restraining order against him which barred him from going within 100 yards of her home or office. In addition, Rockwell was ordered not to "contact, molest, attack, strike, threaten, sexually assault, batter, telephone, or disturb the peace" of his ex-fiancee.

In her hand written statement, Rockwell's ex-fiancee claimed " [Rockwell] threw me around and slapped and hit me in the face. Recently, he said he would find me and kill me." She also charged that Rockwell vandalized her car and twice entered her home without permission. Rockwell began harassing her after she attempted to break off their engagement.

According to The Smoking Gun, her petition to the court also revealed personal details of her 18-month relationship with Rockwell. "Many times, during sex, he attempted to become physically and verbally abusive...his temper is short and he will randomly throw anything in his path."

I just can't believe that some trivial allegations prevented this highly entertaining show from being rerun. Women tell lies all the time for a little publicity. I bet the ex-fiancee will end up in some Playboy spread talking about her pet peeves. Actually, the Internet Entertainment Group, which runs several web porn sites has already offered the current bride $1 million to pose nude for its Club Love site. She has yet to respond to the offer but it looks like she may not need Rockwell's money after all!

Anyway, even if the rumors about the groom are true, we shouldn't be so high and mighty and condemn him. What domestic violence skeletons are in your closet? Who of us would make the grade if a criminal background check was done on our past? Remember, we are all sinners in the eyes of the Lord.

In a recent interview Rockwell said he felt "hammered" by the media's scrutiny of his past. When questioned about the situation with his former fiancee Rockwell said he was innocent of most of the charges and said that he had only struck her, vandalized her car and threatened to kill her. "It's ancient history to both of us. We both wished each other well and it's over," he added.

This man is nothing more than a millionaire status scapegoat, an innocent victim of media slander. The only thing he is guilty of is being a hopeless romantic. And if that has become a crime, then slap the cuffs on me cuz I'm guilty too! The Harlequin Romance-inspired groom was truly hoping to find the woman of his dreams and merely opted for a courtship whereby he wasn't an active participant in a relationship per se, but rather a spectator of a high stakes meatmarket. Who isn't looking for the proverbial hooker with a heart of gold?

During a live interview on CNN, Rockwell poured his heart out to Larry King about the failure of the marriage. ``I was really hurt...devastated because to me this was something that was going to work.'' Rockwell also told Good Morning America that he took the legal aspect of the televised marriage seriously. "I thought there was a chance and I'm an optimist, I'm the person who always looks for the good in the story". To Rockwell, selecting among 50 game show brides was a "magical journey" into love.

As expected, another publicity hound came out of the woodwork to discredit the distraught groom's sincerity. She told The Province that she recently met Rockwell from an online personals ad and claims, "Three weeks ago he was trying to get into my pants. He's not for real". I smell a TNT movie deal in the works for this cyber-slut!

And where has all of the bad publicity surrounding "Who Wants to Marry a Multi Millionaire" gotten us? Well we can probably kiss goodbye "When Animals Attack I, II and III", "The World's Most Dangerous Police Chases", and "America's Funniest Home Videos" because Fox has sworn off all future exploitative programming. If we're not careful, the local news bringing us breaking stories like, "What you don't know about tomorrow's Doppler forecast could kill you" could be next in line for the network programming guillotine.

Fox just caught too much (unnecessary) flak for the so-called "reckless endangerment" of the bride by "not doing a thorough background check" on the groom. Just because the last woman who almost married Rockwell required court ordered protection for breaking off the engagement doesn't mean this bride would have anything to worry about! Bygones, people. Bygones.

Sociology experiments conducted on real people for our viewing enjoyment is precisely what the First Amendment was created to protect. Remember the good old days when men were sent into the coliseum to be ravaged by lions for public entertainment? Now we are ruled by a military state of political correctness that is scaring advertisers, promoters and networks from tapping into the virtual goldmine of the human experience. As Americans, it is our God-given unalienable right to be entertained at all costs. So support the First Amendment...demand exploitation!