Rick Edwards on Being Nicole Rémy’s Guide on ‘The Courtship’ and Keeping the Suitors in Check
The Courtship follows Nicole Rémy trying to find love Regency-style. She has her family and friend by her side on the reality TV show, but also Rick Edwards.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet talked to Edwards over Zoom on April 5, 2022. He revealed what it was like to figure out how the unique process would playout for the first time.
Rick Edwards couldn’t wait to watch ‘The Courtship’
Edwards revealed his first thoughts when approached with the job of being on the reality show. “They described the show to me, and all I could think throughout the meeting was I can’t wait for this meeting to be over so I could tell my wife about this show because me and her would love watching this show,” he told Showbiz Cheat Sheet.
The married couple loves watching dating shows and already saw Bridgerton. However, the television personality didn’t use that to help him with his new role.
“We wanted me to be a sort of less of a host and more of a kind of guide,” he explained. “So there to kind of guide Ms. Rémy and the court through this regency. Well, try and be there to help her really and kind of keep the suitors in check.”
He also admitted that his costume for the show didn’t quite match the theme. “And then I never quite worked out what time period I was in, to be honest because I wasn’t in Regency gear,” Edwards said. “But I definitely wasn’t wearing my own clothes either. So I was wearing sort of classic, sort of temporary-ish, country gentleman stuff.”
The host mentioned his outfits were usually tweed, and the suitors’ impressive costumes were made from scratch on-site.
Edwards said Nicole Rémy’s casting was essential
Edwards claimed the star of the show was kept a mystery to almost everyone until shooting. He said the casting of the heroine is “essential” for this type of show, but it didn’t take long for him to be impressed by Rémy.
“And within two minutes of talking to her, I was like, ‘Oh, they nailed this,”‘ he said. “She’s amazing. She’s so warm and smart and funny and sort of wise.”
He also said the court, which included her parents, Claude and Dr. Claire Rémy, her sister Danielle Baker and her friend, Tessa Cleary embraced their role in the show to help her find love. “They were really funny and quite, I think at times, like quite sort of intimidating as well, which is what you want,” Edwards said.
‘The Courtship’ suitors who struggled the most with the theme
The suitors learned different skills to adjust to Regency-era courtship. Some rose to the occasion while others struggled. Edwards revealed what went through his mind when he had to watch suitors make their points to stay while dancing for the first time.
“Honestly, I don’t think any of us quite knew how it was going to work,” he admitted. “We hadn’t. We hadn’t done it. You just sort of finger crossed that it works on screen and they remember enough of their dance, and they, like, get enough stuff out. And even on the very first one, so in episode one, it got super emotional, and they were like, ‘Oh, we might be. Yeah, we might be onto something here.'” He added that everything was “intensified.”
Edwards answered which suitors least matched the Regency theme. He named Mr. Caleb Ward.
“I don’t think he bought into it as much as lots of the other suitors did, which in a way is a shame,” he explained. Edwards said it probably wasn’t the right show for the content creator.
But there were two men who did fit in. “Mr. [Daniel] Hunter always seemed very, very keen to be very proper within the period,” the host later said. “Even Captain [Daniel] Kim. Captain Kim has a tough old time. But he was, yeah, I think in terms of just someone whose values most naturally aligned with the values of the Regency period, I think it would–probably was Captain Kim. Like if anyone, if anyone sort of overstepped the mark at all, he’d genuinely get upset about it.”
Rick Edwards wants 2 heroines if ‘The Courtship’ returns for season 2
It’s still unclear if The Courtship will get a second season. But the host answered what change he would like to see in the show.
“I think it would be quite interesting, maybe to change the numbers,” he answered. “So maybe you could have, I don’t know if you could have two heroines. Not quite sure how that works but it might do. It might be interesting.”
Edwards said they hit their stride with the show, and it would be nice to return and do it again. Fans will have to wait to see what the future of The Courtship will be. The show is now on USA on Wednesdays at 11/10 CDT and it’s available on Peacock.
