Fox latches onto ‘Truth’

If you would be willing to divulge on national TV whether you’ve ever cheated on your spouse or lied to get a job, for the sake of pocketing half-a-million bucks – has Fox got a reality series for you!

The network that brought you “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?,” “Temptation Island,” “The Swan” and “Unan1mous” has ordered seven episodes of “Nothing but the Truth.”

All contestants have to do is get strapped to a lie detector, answer 21 personal, often embarrassing, questions honestly, and the cash is theirs. Tell a lie, and they’re out.

“It’s simple, yet diabolical – perfect for Fox,” jokes Mike Darnell, the network’s recently promoted president of all-things-reality-television.

Uncomfortable-making as it sounds, this show already is such a hit in Colombia that more than 50 percent of the country watches it each night it’s on.

Smelling a good thing, 23 other countries have signed up, including Spain, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom.

The “game” is mind-numbingly simple: You take a polygraph test. Questions are asked in batches of three. Answer the first three honestly and you get a certain amount of the half-mil.

You can then opt out or move on to the next tier. Once you decide to move on, you must answer the next three questions honestly or you lose the cash you’ve accrued. And so on, until you’re out or you’ve pocketed the half-million.

According to Fox, a sampling of the questions contestants will be asked, in front of their family and friends in the studio audience, includes:

•Have you ever lied to get a job?

•Do you like your mother-in-law?

•Have you ever cheated on your wife?

•Ever stolen anything from work?

And, our fave:

•Do you really care about starving children in Africa?

One question that’s been asked in the Colombian version: Do you love one of your children more than the others? Fox may not use that one, or may rework it, says Darnell.

Regardless, Darnell says he has no worries about getting people to participate.

“There is no reality show that cannot be cast. … And when money’s involved – forget it,” he says.

“They don’t think about all the questions they’re going to be asked. They also … think they can beat (the polygraph test). And for money, they will do pretty much anything.”

Darnell says he bought the show right away after seeing a presentation in which the game was played.

“Most of the time, they excruciatingly told the truth in front of their wives and families,” he says. “They know why they’re there: They have to tell the truth, and if they lie, they’re gone.”

Darnell says he’s not concerned about putting contestants and their families through the sure-to-be painful questioning. Fox’s obligation, he says, is to inform contestants and their families that the questions can “get that dicey.”

“Every contestant has the ability to not answer” any question, he points out.

“They can leave, and they know the questions are going to be escalating. … It’s their own free will – including the family members. They all know what they’re doing.”