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Last week, Dutch television company Endemol was lambasted by people the world over for starting production on The Big Donor Show. Allegedly, three critically-ill dialysis patients would compete for a kidney from a dying woman.

Turns out the dying woman was an actress, but the three contestants are real patients in need of a kidney transplant. The contestants knew the show was a stunt from the start, but gladly participated to raise awareness of the critical shortage of organ donors in the Netherlands.

Big Donor Show presenter Patrick Lodiers said, “We are not giving away a kidney here, that is going too far even for us.” Just as the show’s “donor”, Lisa, was about to reveal her selected winner.

That may’ve been shocking for viewers who’d bought the premise of the show, but as Lodiers said, the reality was more shocking. Some 200 people in the Netherlands die each year waiting for a kidney - the average wait is over four years.

The show was hailed a “fantastic stunt” by Ronald Plasterk, Dutch Culture Minister. Before the show’s broadcast, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenede had criticized the show, fearing it would have a negative impact on people’s view of the Netherlands.

And kidney patient Caroline Klingers, who watched the show from a treatment center in Bussum, also praised the program, saying: “It’s good for the publicity - there are no losers.”