Big date? Big mistake, Mary! Before Mad Men star Jon Hamm ever stepped foot into Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, the heartthrob was a contestant on a reality competition show called The Big Date — and he lost!
Vulture unearthed the gem footage on Friday, April 4, taken from a 1996 episode of the short-lived TBS dating show hosted by Temptation Island‘s Mark L. Walberg. Hamm, who was an aspiring actor at the time at 25 years old, competed for the affection of two single women while sporting a floppy center-parted ’90s hairstyle.
Hamm pitched his potential as a suitor to one contestant named Mary, with the promise of a solid “fabulous”-sounding date. “Start off with some fabulous food, a little fabulous conversation, and end it with a fabulous foot massage for an evening of total fabulosity,” the St. Louis native said.
Unfortunately, both Mary and the second contestant, Shonia, passed on a “fabulous” slice of the Hamm: One opted for a stuntman and the other went for a finance major, leaving the future A-lister as the loser of the night. As the storyline goes, Hamm eventually went on to win, in life.
One year after his appearance on the show, he started dating longtime love, actress Jennifer Westfeldt. In 2007, he landed the role of Don Draper on AMC’s beloved series, Mad Men, which begins its final season on Sunday, April 13.
Watch the throwback clip and tell Us: would you have picked Hamm?