The show follows groups of "Beauties" (people—almost always women—who rely on their attractiveness and outgoing personalities but typically lack intellect) and "Geeks" (people—almost always men—who rely on their intellect, but typically lack social ability) who must pair up to compete in challenges to survive psychotic elimination. The final pair remaining is declared as being "More than just a Beauty and a Geek" and wins the grand prize of $250,000.
While a competition, the show is also billed as a social experiment, in which each contestant typically learns from their teammate. During the competition, the contestants live in a mansion and compete in a series of challenges, with the beauties competing in challenges of intellect, and the geeks competing in challenges involving social ability.
Following the second season, the American version moved to The CW, the new network formed when both The WB and UPN ceased operations in September 2006. The two-hour season premiere for the third season aired Wednesday, January 3, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. EST on The CW. The fourth season premiered on September 18, making BATG the first series to premiere for the CW for the 2007-08 television season. Beauty and the Geek was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on March 12, 2008.
After the fifth season, the show was put on indefinite hiatus in order to stoke renewed interest in the show, and perhaps the addition of innovative twists to the format.[1] In October 2008, casting began for a sixth season,[2] scheduled to air on MTV, with minor celebrities as the beauties.[3] However, a sixth season never materialized.
^Hanson came out as transgender in 2021, changing her name to Lily Hanson. This section reflects the male identity Hanson presented at the time of the filming and airing.
^After incidents when Richard kissed Krystal (in episode 3), Lauren (in episode 4), and MIndi (in episode 5), Richard's title was changed from "Has never kissed a girl" to "Has kissed three girls".
^ abAfter winning the first challenge, original partners Chris & Amanda were allowed to choose any two teams (including themselves) and swap their partnerships. They opted to swap themselves and Brandon & Tristin.
Episode progress
#
Contestants
Episodes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1
Cher
SAFE
WIN
WIN
RISK
SAFE
RISK
WIN
WINNER
Josh
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
RISK
WIN
RISK
WIN
WINNER
2
Brittany
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
WIN
SAFE
RISK
RUNNER-UP
Joe
SAFE
SAFE
WIN
SAFE
SAFE
WIN
RISK
RUNNER-UP
3
Jennipher
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
RISK
WIN
OUT
Ankur
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
RISK
SAFE
OUT
4
Sarah
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
OUT
Wes
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
WIN
SAFE
OUT
5
Danielle
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
OUT
Karl
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
SAFE
OUT
6
Tristin
SAFE
RISK
RISK
OUT
Chris
WIN
RISK
RISK
OUT
7
Thais
SAFE
SAFE
OUT
Tyson
SAFE
WIN
OUT
8
Amanda
WIN
OUT
Brandon
SAFE
OUT
The contestants won the competition.
The contestant won the challenge and their pair was safe from elimination.
The contestant's partner won the challenge and they were safe from elimination.
The contestant did not win the challenge but their pair was safe from elimination.
The contestant and their partner survived elimination.
^There was no elimination room finale; instead, the two challenge-winning teams selected a team to eliminate directly.
^For the first time, the show's winner was decided by America's votes, four months after the taping of the first 12 episodes.
Season 5
Season 5 premiered on March 11, 2008, taking over the timeslot of Reaper.[16] For the first three episodes, the beauties competed as a group against the team of geeks. The remaining beauties and geeks then paired off to compete against the other pairs, as in previous seasons.
^For this challenge, one member of each team was required to temporarily join the other team. After the selections were made, the contestants were informed that the temporary member of the losing team would be automatically eliminated.
^The seven remaining beauties were asked to each pair up with a geek. The last remaining unpaired geek would be eliminated.
^Instead of elimination trivia, each losing team cast a vote for another team to be eliminated. Since each team received one vote for elimination, Tommy and Amanda cast the tie-breaking vote.
Contestants who appeared on other competition shows
Federica Panicucci and Enrico Papi (2006) Paola Barale and Enrico Papi (2010) Paolo Ruffini and Francesca Cipriani (2020) Andrea Pucci and Francesca Cipriani (2021) Barbara D'Urso (2022)
In Brazil, the original American show aired on the cable television network Multishow under the title As Gostosas e os Geeks (The Hotties and the Geeks).[33]
