The early 2000s era of reality TV was like no other.
VICE TV’s new series, Dark Side of Reality TV, is looking back at some of the most unhinged moments from that no-limits golden age—and all the infamous makeovers, romances, and outrageous eliminations that helped define an entire TV genre.
The debut episode dives deep into FOX’s The Swan, a controversial contest that ran for two seasons starting in 2004.
On The Swan, over a dozen women participated in a pageant after undergoing a three-month transformative process. Essentially, the producers recruited “ugly ducklings” from across the country to move to Los Angeles, where they got plastic surgery, personal training, and therapy sessions. Whoever was the most “transformed” woman at the end of the competition was crowned the winner.
While the show was a hit, averaging 9.1 million viewers a week, some critics condemned it, including USA Today, which at the time described the show as “hurtful and repellent.”
“I truly believe The Swan is the most sadistic of all the reality shows I’ve ever seen,” Jennifer Pozner, Author and Media critic, told VICE TV.
Terry Dubrow, a plastic surgeon on The Swan, had been working in the industry for more than a decade. He was known by many for fixing botched plastic surgeries on the hit reality series Botched. In a new interview, he spoke about his experience on The Swan and explained what first intrigued him about the hit reality TV show.
“This was the dawn of a new era both in reality TV and in plastic surgery,” Dubrow said. He worked on dozens of surgeries for the series. “Even though it was gloriously interesting and exciting and fun, it was exhausting,” he said.
Greg Comeaux, a professional trainer who served as a fitness coach on The Swan, said that he believes that the realities of multiple surgeries for several of the women posed a health risk.
“The biggest thing that would haunt me day in and day out was, ‘God, I don’t wanna be the one here that someone dies in my care.’” Comeaux remembered.
Some former contestants of the show say that the circumstances were a bit skewed, and what they endured behind the cameras was slightly different from what the viewers saw on television.
Tawnya Cooke, a contestant on Season 1 of The Swan, said that she was scolded by one of the plastic surgeons for not wanting a nose job. “I think I didn’t win because I questioned the doctors.”
Cindy Ingle, another contestant on Season 1, said that she believes there was mounting pressure from the show team to continue getting more work done to her body, saying, “I really didn’t know that I could say no to some of the procedures being done.”
Was the messaging behind this series completely warped?
Hear more details from the women themselves on the all-new series Dark Side of Reality TV, premiering September 3 at 9PM ET on VICE TV.
Other reality TV shows featured on the Dark Side of Reality include Survivor, America’s Next Top Model, and The Surreal Life.
The post ‘The Swan’ Was a Plastic Surgery Reality TV Nightmare, Say Former Contestants and Coaches appeared first on VICE.
The post ‘The Swan’ Was a Plastic Surgery Reality TV Nightmare, Say Former Contestants and Coaches appeared first on VICE.
