While not a direct spin-off, the show was a result of Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav's failed relationship on Strange Love, as well as The Surreal Life.[3] Those two series as well as Flavor of Love (Seasons 1-2 only) have aired in repeats on TV Guide Network.
The third season of Flavor of Love began on Monday February 11, 2008 at 9/8c.[4]
On May 14, 2008, it was announced that Flavor of Love 3 would be the final Flavor of Love. After 3 seasons, Flavor Flav chose to not marry or date any of the winners from any of the three seasons. Instead, it was revealed that he would marry Liz, the mother of his seventh child, Karma, on the Season 3 reunion show.
The show was a ratings success for VH1. The Flavor of Love 2 finale was the second highest-rated non-sports basic cable show of 2006.[5][6]
In the show, each contestant is given a nickname by Flav and is referred to by that nickname for as long as she remains in the competition, as Flav says he can remember nicknames more so than real names. Flavor of Love features a clock ceremony where contestants who are not eliminated receive gold clocks to wear around their necks with their picture and nickname behind the hands of the clock. When a contestant is eliminated, her real name is then revealed, followed by a champagne toast.
There are a few basic elements of the show's format that have been consistent through each season of production. Throughout the season the contestants compete for intimate dates with Flav by competing in various challenges. Also, Flav brings the few remaining women's parents on in the third or second to last episode. Finally, the season finale takes place in a tropical destination. The two finalists and Flav spend the last two days at a luxurious resort preceding his final decision.
The week following the finale an all-cast reunion is typically aired. The host, La La Vazquez, spends this time reviewing the most memorable moments and interviewing the contestants after they have seen the season. This is also when the viewer finds out if Flav is still with the woman he chose and what they have been up to since the season wrapped.
VH1 has also introduced an internet component into the show. Viewers can create profiles, interact with contestants and other fans, and stay current with news at flavorofloveworld.com. In season 3, fans even got to vote online to elect five of the contestants, though Flav sent four of them home in the premiere episode.
^[a] One supposed contestant, "Eyez," was actually an impostor hired by the producers. "New York's" re-entry into the competition officially increased the contestant count to 20.
^[b] Although there were 21 contestants originally, there were only 20 clocks, as two contestants, "Thing 1" and "Thing 2", shared a clock. Also, nearly halfway through the season, 4 new contestants were brought to compete. On episode 8, Flav split up the twins.
Nicole Deannae Alexander is the winner of the first season. After the show, she started acting and modeling. Hoopz and Flavor Flav broke up soon after the show ended. She has since gone on to compete in the VH1 series I Love Money, winning the grand prize of $250,000.[10] She dated Shaquille O'Neal.[11]
Chandra Davis is the winner of the second season. She has her own line of jeans called D-Cut, and participated in a 2009 national tour of the Vagina Monologues with an all-black cast, most of whom are also former reality show contestants.[12] Davis also appeared on I Love Money 3 along with Buckeey.
Thing 2
Tresha is the winner of the third season. Tresha entered the competition with her sister Trisha (Thing 1, who was eliminated after the "Never-Wed Challenge"). Although Tresha eliminated in episode 12, she was brought back in episode 13, and subsequently won the competition. She was dumped on the reunion show when Flav decided to reunite with Liz, the mother of his son Karma.
Liz
The mother of Flav's youngest child, Karma. Flav said she was the right one the whole time and proposed to her on the reunion show of Season 3.
Big Rick
Big Rick is Flavor's assistant and bodyguard. He and Flav met in 2004 while in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel Casino while shooting for Flav's other show, Strange Love. Big Rick used to work at a detention facility in Florida.[13]
Tiffany Pollard was the runner up of both the first and the second seasons. After the show, she appeared on her own reality dating show, I Love New York, which aired for two seasons, as well as New York Goes to Hollywood and New York Goes to Work.
Pumkin
Brooke Thompson finished in third-place on the first season. She gained notoriety after spitting on Tiffany Pollard shortly after her elimination. After the show, she received the Best Fight Award (with Pollard) at the Fox Reality Awards in 2006.[14] She now has a clothing line called Pumkin Apparel, which includes a shirt that reads "Pumkin spit on me and I like it…"[15]
She appeared on Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School and I Love Money. She has also appeared on Judge Jeanine Pirro, the Family Feud as a member of the Gardiner family, and Playboy TV's "Foursome" in 2009.
Saaphyri Windsor was disqualified in the first episode of season two after fighting with another contestant. After the show, she appeared on Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School, winning the competition. She currently has her own lip balm line called Lip Chap and her own brand of weave hair called Saaphyri's Ultimate Indian Hair. She placed fifth on VH1's I Love Money 2. It can also be noted that Windsor holds the record for being the only contestant in the series that did not receive a nickname.
Candace Cabrera is the runner-up on the third season.
Bootz
Larissa Aurora appeared on Flavor of Love 2. After the show, she appeared on Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School. Later on, during the show's reunion special, she got into an argument with Charm School's "headmistress"' actress Mo'Nique. In Flavor of Love season 2 she finished in fourth place.
Buckeey
Shay Johnson appeared on Flavor of Love 2. After the show, she appeared on Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School. Then later was a contestant on the unaired 3rd season of I Love Money 3, along with Deelishis.
Domenique Majors appeared on Flavor of Love 2. After the show, she appeared on the first season of I Love Money, where she was eliminated on the second episode, placing 16th.
After the second season of Flavor of Love, VH1 first aired a spin-off series entitled I Love New York, featuring the twice rejected Flavorette Tiffany "New York" Pollard.[18] The first season premiered in January 2007, following a similar format to The Bachelorette and Flavor of Love. After the first season concluded, a second season premiered in October of the same year.
The first season, Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School, premiered on April 15, 2007, featuring 13 contestants from the first two seasons of Flavor of Love. The contestants strive to develop proper etiquette and to become strong women, with the ultimate prize of $50,000 and the title of "Charm School Queen". Season two, Rock of Love: Charm School, premiered on October 12, 2008, featuring contestants from Rock of Love. Season three, Charm School with Ricki Lake, premiered May 11, 2009, featuring contestants from Real Chance of Love and Rock of Love Bus. Season two and three doubled the prize money to $100,000.
A number of contestants from Flavor of Love, Real Chance of Love, Rock of Love and I Love New York are brought together in a mansion in Huatulco, Mexico to compete in a co-ed battle of mental and physical challenges to win $250,000. The first season's winner was Nicole "Hoopz" Alexander. The second season's winner was Angela "Myammee" Pitts. The fourth winner was Mindy Hall. The canceled third season winner was Ryan Jenkins, but it has never aired.
^ abCronin, Mark (June 3, 2020). "The Real Apprentice". Columbia Journalism Review. In 2007, I produced Flavor of Love, a show on VH1, in which 20 women competed to date the Public Enemy hype man Flavor Flav (another Howard Stern Show regular). Those women believed he was rich—after all, he was famous—and that they were living in his mansion. In fact, he was not long out of jail for not paying parking tickets. He had very little income. We rented the mansion from a nice family in Encino.
^"Corrections". News. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 20 October 2006. p. A2. A Living story about TV ratings Thursday incorrectly stated that the finale for "Flavor of Love 2" had the highest ratings this year among non-sports, basic cable networks, using information from VH1. An episode of TNT's "The Closer" had higher ratings in June.
