I unwittingly signed up to the same dating show as my dad. We competed in a strip tease contest on the second day of shooting 'MILF Manor.'

• Joey Schifilliti, 21, appeared on "MILF Manor" season two, where young men date older women.

• In the second episode, the young men discovered they were competing against their dads.

• Schifilliti told Business Insider that he'll never forget competing in a strip tease contest against his dad.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Joey Schifilliti about appearing on TLC's "MILF Manor," a much-talked-about reality dating show with a unique format. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My first 48 hours on "MILF Manor" season two may have been the wildest of my life and the strangest bonding experience that I've had with my dad.

Toward the end of 2023, I joined the cast of "MILF Manor," a show where older women and young men date to find their perfect match.

Season one was super awkward because the young men found out that the group of older women was made up of their mothers. Luckily my mother wasn't on the show.

When I arrived at the lakefront house in Canada, where we would be filming the show, I met a group of six beautiful women in their 50s. There were only five young men at the beginning, including myself.

The uneven numbers were strange, but I didn't think too much of it. I just wanted to enjoy my time with these lovely women, three of whom immediately caught my eye.

What I didn't know at the time was that my adventure was going to change very soon. My father was on his way to "MILF Manor."

Competing in the challenges was mental warfare

Later on the first day, we did our first couples challenge. We were split into pairs and tasked with transferring maple syrup from a bottle to a big container on the other end of the garden.

But we could only transfer the syrup by pouring it on our bodies and then wiping it off into the container.

This challenge was a sticky mess. Having maple syrup dripping down your body is never fun, and I think I lost 30% of my body hair that day. The only part that made it worthwhile was the opportunity to show off my body since the men had to wear tiny Speedos.

I didn't want to disrespect any women in the house, so challenges like these were truly mental warfare because I never wanted to cross a line. I also didn't want to embarrass my family.

Jami, my partner in this challenge, was on the same page. She told me before the challenge that she didn't want to do anything too sexual because she had a son in a fraternity. So we tried to be practical about winning the challenge rather than looking sexy or rubbing our bodies together.

We didn't win, but we had the best partnership. Luckily, we were right next to the lake, so as soon as the challenge was over, I took off my mic and jumped in to remove the syrup.

The last major moment of day one was when Christina, one of the MILFs, pulled me aside to chat in the villa's hot tub. Our conversation eventually led to me admitting I liked biting butts and then proceeding to bite her butt, completely forgetting I was on a TV show.

I don't regret what I did, but I learned that I need to get better at controlling my impulsive thoughts. I don't want people to get the wrong idea of me.

I was shocked when my dad arrived on the show

The show's biggest twist came the next morning when a group of new arrivals entered the house. Within a second, the other young men and I realized that the new arrivals were our fathers.

This twist completely blindsided me. My father, Anthony, had told me he had been approached about appearing on another dating reality show at the same time I was being interviewed for "Milf Manor." But I thought it was a show for people in their 50s called "Empty Nesters."

Though my father's arrival was wild, it didn't dampen my mood. We have a great relationship, and any time I spend with him is a bonus.

The women were also happy to see men their age. One cried joyfully and said, "Thank you, God." While I understood the sentiment, it was pretty harsh for us young men because we were now competing with men who were the same age as the women and would have similar experiences.

Before we could process the new arrangement, we were given a second challenge — a fathers vs sons strip tease competition.

After hearing about this challenge, my dad and I nearly left the show because he owns a family-oriented restaurant, and stripping on national television would be really awkward.

But the producers calmed us down, and we stayed.

The biggest challenge for my father and I was ensuring that the show's competition format did not interfere with our relationship. We are very family-oriented, so we had to make sure everyone knew we wouldn't compete for the same women.

Despite this, I didn't want to lose in a stripping competition against my dad. I could never live that down.

Chris, another contestant, and I grouped together the other young men and choreographed a dance we hoped would help us win. But I was worried that we wouldn't be able to beat our fathers since they taught us all our moves.

Competing in this challenge was traumatizing and absolutely brutal because I could never get those images of my dad stripping out of my head.

In the end, the dads killed it. As soon as I saw their routine, I knew we had lost.

The dads won the prize, a date with the women, fair and square. I was fine with this arrangement because it allowed me to rest and process the crazy experience I had had so far.

I bit a butt, my father showed up, I stripped in front of him, and then we dated the same pool of women.

And this was only two days into the competition.

It was probably good that my father arrived when he did because it stopped me from acting out on this show. I'm just sorry for my mom, who had to witness both of us on this crazy show.

Read the original article on Business Insider