Tami Roman’s ‘Caught In the Act: Unfaithful’ is What ‘Cheaters’ Wanted to Be

As Caught In the Act: Unfaithful’s second continues on MTV, there is another reality TV series about infidelity that comes to mind. Cheaters, which ran over twenty years from 2000 to 2022, was one of the first of its kind. Like Caught in the Act, Cheaters utilized private investigators to uncover real stories of infidelity from suspicious partners. While the show had a noble cause, it was also known for being a little bit unhinged. And by a little, we mean a lot. Filmed in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, the series featured people from all walks of life that were concerned about their partner’s fidelity. There were fights, arrests, and other crazy happenings throughout the series. Caught in the Act has definitely perfected what its predecessor wanted to do, however, we can’t help but miss the hot mess that was Cheaters.

‘Caught In The Act: Unfaithful’ Is A Structured and Polished Update of ‘Cheaters’

Season two of Tami Roman’s Caught In the Act: Unfaithful premiered in July, and it’s clear that season two seems to be filled with another round of intense drama. Tami is a great host; she is able to empathize with the victims while taking an objective look into the full picture of their relationships. Her empathy is only matched by her no-nonsense attitude. She is there to do a job and will stop anything she deems unproductive or foolish. The structure of the show is smart; she doesn’t go into the confrontations alone. She is joined by a relationship counselor and relationship expert, Kevin, who assists in facilitating discussion during the confrontation. There is a system and a structure that is clearly polished even in explosive moments. Conversations are able to happen and the couples must ultimately come to a decision.

But the series isn’t the first to catch cheaters in the midst of infidelity. In the year 2000 the series Cheaters premiered, and focused on using private detectives to catch cheaters in the act. The series is probably one of the most controversial reality shows to date, given the raw and ridiculous nature of the confrontations. The show was initially hosted by Tommy Habeeb, who went by Tommy Grand on the series. After two seasons he was replaced by Joey Greco, who went on to host the series for a decade. The series was filmed primarily in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and each episode focused on one person trying to figure out if their partner was cheating on them. A cheesy voiceover laden with pun after pun is played over the grainy investigation footage before it is presented by the host to the victim of the infidelity, and then immediately leaves to confront the cheating partner. All of this leads to the most magical part of Cheaters: the confrontation.

‘Cheaters’ Fights, Arrests, and Other Mishaps Is Why People Still Tune In

If you’ve ever decided to turn to VH1 for your Saturday morning viewing, you have most certainly seen Cheaters reruns playing back-to-back. The confrontations in Caught In The Act: Unfaithful can get pretty heated, but they are nothing in comparison to the confrontations on Cheaters. Known for being incredibly wild, Cheaters’ confrontations happen directly after the victim has seen their partner’s infidelity on video for the first time. They don’t have time to process what they’ve seen, which is what makes the confrontations all the more explosive. There have been fights, arrests, proposals, and more. Cheaters’ longest-running host, Joey Greco, experienced getting arrested on one occasion. The next host, Clark Gable III had a much tamer experience, but on one occasion did hop on a motorbike to chase a cheater down. Clark Gable III, who was the grandson of Clark Gable, was the host of Cheatersuntil his death due to an accidental overdose of fentanyl in 2019. He was later replaced by Peter Gunz, who used the moniker of Peter Pankey for the series. Peter is a known philanderer himself, so having a host that has cheated on multiple occasions provided a different flair to the series in 2020. Peter certainly had his own wild moments in his short term as the host, getting into fights himself, as well as being tempted to get a lap dance on a bus full of strippers doing a confrontation.

‘Caught In The Act: Unfaithful’ vs. ‘Cheaters’

Caught In the Act: Unfaithful clearly has a higher production budget than Cheaters ever did, and that is easily noticed when watching the series. Cheater is fun to watch due to the raw-nature of the confrontations. One thing that both shows do have in common are the accusations of being fake. Viewers of Caught In the Act: Unfaithful noticed how polished and well mic’d every episode is, which certainly takes away from the excitement of it. Cheaters has also been accused of hiring actors to create storylines, and they did. In fact, it did not take long for investigators to realize that there were some real episodes, while many of the later episodes were crafted for entertainment. There is one infamous episode that viewers quickly learned was faked, and it’s the episode in which then-host Joey Greco gets stabbed during a confrontation. That’s right, they staged a stabbing.

Caught In the Act: Unfaithful does it better because they make room for conversation in the midst of confrontation, and it is certain that Tami Roman would never put herself in a situation that could get her arrested. That sort of recklessness, however, is what has cemented Cheaters forever in our hearts. The series ended its 21-year run in May 2021, and it’s a little sad for the fans of the show. It’s sad for the viewers who tuned in each night, regardless of whether the stories were true or not. It’s also sad for the Dallas-Fort Worth locals who hoped that one day they’d be in the presence of a confrontation, and for the teens that will never know the joy of sneaking out to drive around the city late at night to find one. Caught In the Act: Unfaithful is great, but Cheaters has a magic it will never be able to recreate.