The Dutch reality TV show at the centre of a media storm for purportedly pitting contestants against each other to win an organ donation is a hoax, producers behind the maligned program said on Friday.

The Big Donor Show made headlines around the world and drew condemnation from Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, the Royal Netherlands Medical Association and many others.

In the program, which aired its finale on Dutch TV network BNN on Friday, contestants vied for the favour of a woman who was said to have been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour and was to choose who would receive one of her kidneys.

The woman, who was known only as "Lisa," was revealed to be an actress in Friday's finale. However, the three finalists, who were also privy to the hoax, are indeed waiting for organ donations.

"We wanted to draw attention to their lives and their problems," host Patrick Lodiers said.

The show aired on the fifth anniversary of the death of BNN founder Bart de Graaff, who died after waiting seven years for an organ donation, reported Agence France-Presse.

Produced by Endemol — the same company behind the often controversial reality series Big Brother — The Big Donor Show was criticized as tasteless and unethical. Show organizers argued, however, that the program was intended to draw attention to the serious shortage of organ donations across the Netherlands.

Earlier this week, some politicians called for the program to be banned, but the Dutch government rejected the proposal. Also, all seven of the country's transplant centres said they would not co-operate with the program.

Earlier on Friday, the Royal Netherlands Medical Association urged its members to refrain from participating in The Big Donor Show.

The doctors group also expressed doubt whether an organ donation without careful screening to match the tissues of the donor and recipient was feasible and wondered whether the show was simply a publicity stunt.