Set at the Sizzling Saddle Ranch in Elko, Nevada, the series depicted fourteen men who attempted to pursue a romantic relationship with college student Jackie Thomas.

Through a series of group activities and one-on-one dates, Thomas was required to eliminate men from the competition who she believed identified as gay.

Playing It Straight was a part of Fox's intent to capitalize on a rising interest in LGBT-themed reality television shows.

Set in Elko, Nevada, at the Sizzling Saddle Ranch, the series followed Jackie Thomas, a 21-year-old college student from Wisconsin, as she was pursued by a group of fourteen men.

[2] Thomas was required to discern which of the men identified as gay; she made her determinations based on observations from a series of individual and group dates.

After ten days of deliberation, Fox selected the pair's fourth proposal, a dating series that revolved around one woman and fourteen men, some of whom were gay.

Variety initially reported that the series was a potential cover for a new season of the reality dating show Joe Millionaire.

"[11] On March 29, 2004, following the broadcast of its third episode, Playing It Straight was removed from the Fox schedule due to lackluster ratings.

[12] The series was replaced on the network's schedule with reruns of Totally Outrageous Behavior and World's Craziest Videos.

"[14] Two months later, Fox posted synopses of the unaired episodes on its website, in which it was revealed that the final suitor selected by Jackie was a straight man and thus they both split the $1 million reward.

[15] On January 17, 2005, Fox published the entire series on their website, in which users could download the individual episodes on a pay-per-view basis.

[18] An "insider" at Fox claimed that the underperformance of Playing It Straight was a significant factor in the special's cancellation, as it caused the network to "believe the gay reality phenomenon was on the wane.

[19] The underperformance and cancellations of these series resulted in executive producers Douglas Ross and Tommy Campbell consulting GLAAD for review of He's a Lady.

After Rebecca eliminated Campbell (who was gay) Chad, Dane and Evan were left for one non-elimination round before appearing in the final episode.

Ten men started the show and two more, Lee and Marco, were added in week 3 - it was revealed when they arrived that one was gay and one was straight.

This time the location was set in Spain and the new series was hosted by T4 presenter, Jameela Jamil and comedian Alan Carr provided the narration.