Dictionary

showmance en · NOUN

Etymology

Blend of show + romance.

Meanings

1. (colloquial, countable, uncountable) A romance between cast members or production crew of a play or television show (often reality shows) which only lasts the duration of the show, or its filming.
   • I notoriously fell for my leading man. I really did. By the third or fourth leading man I said "No, Mom, it's real. I love him. I know it is sort of like a pattern but I love him." There is legitimacy to a showmance." 2004, David Wienir, Jodie Langel, Making It on Broadway: Actors' Tales of Climbing to the Top, New York, Allworth Communications, Inc., →ISBN, page 115:
   • In addition to mud-slinging, deception and drama, showmance is one aspect that makes reality television so addicting. 2008, David Lyle quoted in "Love is in the Air This Valentine’s Day When Fox Reality Channel Premieres 'The Top 25 Hottest Reality Showmances,'" Business Wire, February 11, 2008, 09:00 AM EST, (article)
   • Reality TV is a guilty pleasure for a lot of Libras, and TDI was basically reality television in animated kid form, complete with challenges and some Total Drama showmances - both good and bad. 2021 August 29, Amanda Suarez, “Which '90s/00s Cartoon Network Show Are You, Based On Your Zodiac?”, in Screen Rant:
   • Eventually the tale of a stagehand who seemed to be separated from his housebound wife, but, oddly, not when she came to visit, seemed more amusing than appalling, and I learned not to wince at the various (sometimes painfully) young women who arrived breathless and eager for a Showmance—whether or not there was a wife in the background. [sic] 2005, Jane Ganahl, Single Woman of a Certain Age: 29 Women Writers on the Unmarried Midlife—Romantic Escapades, Empty Nests, Shifting Shapes, and Serene Independence, New World Library, →ISBN, page 161:

Forms