‘Obnoxious Fiance’ role fits Bailey just fine
He’s crude. He’s crass. And he’s America’s newest favorite TV bachelor.
As the oafish betrothed in Fox’s “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance,” actor Steven Bailey has belched, scratched and rankled his way into millions of viewers’ hearts.
Hired by the network to participate in the program that asks an unsuspecting young woman to compete for $500,000 by convincing her family that she’s marrying a complete stranger, Bailey oozes frat-boy lewdness with glee.
The audience knows he’s an actor playing the part of an unseemly suitor. His would-be bride, Randi Coy, 23, of Scottsdale, Ariz., is clueless.
The Jan. 19 premiere drew 19 million viewers, landing the show in the ratings top 10 for the week. The second installment, broadcast last week, attracted 13.4 million, according to Fox.
For Bailey, a classically trained actor from Seattle, the show looks to be a ticket out of the obscurity of bit parts– his resume lists the TV roles of “cave demon” in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “phone guy” in “Becker”–and work in commercials. He is the man who gets blown off his locker-room bench by a hair dryer in the current Hungry-Man frozen-dinner spot.
But for Coy, the series appears to have been a bumpy ride.
Earlier this month, the former yoga teacher told a gathering of TV critics: “I definitely have some resentment.” She said deceiving her family proved to be more painful than she’d expected.
And participation in the show cost Coy her job as a first-grade teacher at Pope John XXIII Catholic School in Phoenix. She resigned from her post after school officials told her she’d been away from the classroom for too long.
In real life, Bailey, 32, is a married man who studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater’s Advanced Training Program in San Francisco. He’s done everything from Shakespeare to dish-soap commercials in a long struggle to break through.
The role of “Steve,” the obnoxious fiance, has catapulted him into the public consciousness, where he said he’d like to stay.
Nobody will divulge how the big, fat faux wedding show turns out. But Bailey said he was pleased with the boost the goofy gig has given his career.
“I’ve been contacted by some other people,” he said. “And I hope to have some meetings that might lead to other work.”
