Whether we like it or not, reality TV has a way of making people react.
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It is the scene of quarrels and incredible escapades that ignite the stands and shock sensitive souls. However, it is sometimes outside the camera lens that the most controversial acts are committed.
Here are stars who have done things that were beyond the screen and are still being talked about.
Mama June, from Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
Mandatory Credit: Michael Wright/WENN.com
In 2014, television network TLC canceled the controversial show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo after revelations surfaced about June Shannon – the show’s matriarch – that she was dating a man who allegedly molested young girls.
Even before this release, this reality show was already causing public unease. It featured the young Alana in beauty contests for girls. Several people questioned the subject of this reality show, pointing out that it placed children in toxic contexts. However, the colorful personality of Alana and that of her mother who was nicknamed “Mama June” had something to entertain the public.
After the revelations, Mama June tried to make several television comebacks. Mama June: Road to Redemption and Mama June: From Not to Hot were broadcast on the WE tv channel.
Josh Duggar, of 19 Kids and Counting
Reality TV 19 Kids and Counting showed the daily life of the fundamentalist Duggar family and their 19 children. Josh Duggar, the eldest of the family, was portrayed there as a perfect son and a devoted brother.
However, the Duggar family hid a dark side that was not brought to light by the cameras.
Josh Duggar’s descent into hell began in 2015 when court documents from 2006 were leaked to the media. they were members of his family.
That same year, two accounts associated with Josh Duggar were found by hackers on AshleyMadison.com, a dating site that allows married people to cheat on their partner. Josh Duggar reportedly paid US$986.76 for his subscriptions.
Controversies eventually sank the Duggars’ ‘Golden Boy’ when he was arrested for possession of child pornography in April 2021. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in May 2022.
Nikki Grahame, of Big Brother
The announcement of the tragic death on April 9, 2021 of British star Nikki Grahame, who died at the age of 38 from anorexia, sent a thunderclap to fans of the Canadian and British editions of Big Brother.
She was seen in 2006 and 2010 on the British edition of the show. We also saw her in 2016 in the Canadian version of Big Brother. Her passage was so significant that she even launched her own reality show, Princess Nikki.
Grahame has also been very transparent about her issues with food in her two autobiographies. Dying To Be Thin and Brittle. We learn that she has suffered from eating disorders since childhood. She even confessed to having attempted suicide when she was 12 years old.
However, the pandemic and confinement have led to a relapse. Nikki Grahame’s mother told the show in an interview The Morning that her daughter had to train immediately after her meals.
“I wanted to convince her to come home, but she told me that she needed to be at home,” she explained.
A few days before her death, Nikki Grahame was hospitalized in a private institution to treat her anorexia. His friends had managed to raise £65,500 to provide him with his treatment. She had a BMI of ten.
Luka Rocco Magnotta at the auditions for coverguy
Everyone knows Luka Rocco Magnotta, the Montreal skinner who filmed himself killing and dismembering a Chinese student. During his run in 2012, an old recording from 2007 came back into the public eye.
The killer had tried to participate in the show coverguya reality show broadcast on the Canadian channel OutTV, which focuses on content for the LGBTQ+ community.
coverguy was looking for the perfect man to sell underwear. Thirty models competed to win $1,000, a year’s gym membership, a photoshoot and the chance to make the headlines.ABOUTa magazine that catered to the LGBTQ+ community.
Luka Rocco Magnotta was convinced he had what it took to stand out.
“People tell me all the time that my beauty is devastating,” he told the judges at the time, taking off his sweater. However, his appearance had not impressed the team of the show. He was never able to participate in the adventure.
Magnotta is currently serving a life sentence in Port-Cartier Penitentiary, a maximum-security facility.