The producer who proposed this concept to DHS envisions it as a “positive love letter to America,” countering criticisms that it might exploit or demean the participants involved.

Rob Worsoff, a Canadian immigrant and producer with experience on shows like The Millionaire Matchmaker, Duck Dynasty, and The Biggest Loser, mentioned that he has been forwarding the proposal for his show since the era of the Obama Administration.

He provided CNN with portions of a pitch deck for the show with a working title The American.

A description of the pitch for a show reads: “Contestants will represent a wide demographic of ages, ethnicities, and talents. We’ll join in the laughter, tears, frustration and joy — hearing their backstories — as we are reminded of how amazing it is to be American, through the eyes of 12 wonderful people who want nothing more than to have what we have — and what we often take for granted: the freedom, opportunity and honor of what it means to be American.”

Each episode would include a heritage challenge, an elimination challenge, a town-hall meeting and a final vote, according to the deck. Worsoff said the heritage challenge will be tailored to specific locations — a “gold rush” challenge in San Francisco, for example, or a “pizza” challenge in New York or a “NASA” challenge in Florida — to showcase “how cool America is”.

Worsoff told Collins on The Source that he envisions each episode ending with a town-hall meeting, “just like in a presidential election”.

“The people of Tennessee, let’s say, will get to vote on which one of our future Americans they would most like to represent the state of Tennessee,” Worsoff said.

He previously acknowledged the stakes would be high for the contestants but said that’s not a bad thing.

“I would hope that any competition reality show has stakes,” Worsoff told CNN.

“Yeah, I’m not going to apologise for that fact that there are real stakes on the show. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, I think that’s a good thing.”