The Grim Reality ; Set Up, Conned and Humiliated. The People Who Believed Reality Tv Would Improve Their Lives Now Claim They Were Sold False Hopes and Treated with Cynicism

Mail on Sunday › October 14, 2007

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Summary

The offer was too tempting for Lindsay McCurdy to refuse. A television show would fly her to Los Angeles for a Pounds 200,000 extreme makeover. She'd get the full Hollywood treatment: fashion styling, extensive cosmetic surgery to her tummy and face, plus dentistry by the man who fixed Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's teeth. Everything would be free; all she had to do was pose for the cameras.

The reality of reality television, however, proved somewhat different for Lindsay. Far from the glamour-laden, life-changing experience she had been promised, she ended up with a potentially life-threatening infection. Insults were added to her injury. Smoking and drinking, it was falsely alleged by the voiceover, had slowed her recovery.

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The Grim Reality ; Set Up, Conned and Humiliated. The People Who Believed Reality Tv Would Improve Their Lives Now Claim They Were Sold False Hopes and Treated with Cynicism

In fact, she hadn't had a cigarette or drink. Then came the final straw: her new teeth fell out.

Lindsay's experience is one of nine harrowing stories told in a major exhibition, The Return Of The Real, by the Turner Prize artist Phil Collins. Collins invited me to interview these victims of reality television with the resulting films played on giant screens. As a media lawyer who has represented celebrities including Anthea Turner and Julian Clary, I came to the project with an enquiring mind. Surely the subjects knew what they were letting themselves in for? The truth surprised me.

Far from being gullible, the people I interviewed were articulate and sensible. They had no reason to suspect they were being set up when they agreed to appear on television. The plans for the programmes sounded respectable and plausible. And they were being made for trusted broadcasters, including...

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