Temptation Island Lawsuit

Monday, April 2nd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A couple removed from the unscripted Fox series Temptation Island has reportedly filed a defamation lawsuit against the network and producers, saying the producers knew they had a child together but told them not to divulge that fact before taping began.

Ytossie Patterson and Taheed Watson, both aspiring actors, were one of four couples featured on the program but were dropped in the middle of production, when the News Corp.-owned network said it found out about their child.

In January, Fox issued a statement saying the network's policy was "that no couples with children together could participate in the show. ... As soon as the producers learned of the existence of the child, they notified the network and the decision was made to immediately remove them from further participation." However, a simple background check by the Los Angeles Times uncovered a paternity suit against Mr. Watson that would have revealed the child's existence.

Fox declined to comment regarding the lawsuit, which was first reported on Inside.com. The producer, Rocket Science Laboratories, didn't return phone calls.