'Toddlers & Tiaras' Fake 'Reality' Exposed: Pageant Mom Admits Daughter Had To Shoot Six Takes Of Her 'Spontaneously Singing A Song'
June 20 2013, Published 6:16 a.m. ET
The pageant mom of a Toddlers & Tiaras star has admitted staged scenes are the unreality of reality television -- and has detailed how scenes she participated in were shot out of sequence, often contrived and shot multiple times until the best take was in the can.
Darci Mchenry, whose daughter Devin is scheduled to appear on season six of the hit show that launched the careers of Honey Boo Boo and Eden Wood, spoke out to Breaking Celebrity News in the wake of the latest exposé about faked scenes.
As Breaking Celebrity News reported, Real Housewives of New York City stars Carole Radziwill and Heather Thompson were caught on camera in Southampton, N.Y., last weekend, taking instructions from show producers, shooting multiple takes and waiting for breaks in dialogue to ensure cameras were setup.
According to Mchenry, who blew the whistle on her experiences via a comment on the Breaking Celebrity News report about the RHONY, it's "just what the nature of the beast is."
"There is some 'setup' and scripting in a way and we were definitely 'told' what to do for certain scenes -- not that they weren't things we would have done anyway," she wrote.
"But they (producers) had to get camera angles correct and they had to accomadate for room tones and noise outdoors. We had to 're-shoot' things that started out spontaneously but they weren't expecting it. So yes, we were re-fed lines we spontaneously said to recreate a 'missed' moment."
Just like 'RHONY', Mchenry said reshoots are often done to create the most flattering lighting during their scene.
In one particular scene, the reality television mom said her young contestant daughter Devin had to do about six "takes" of her "spontaneously singing a song."
"It is still TV and they still have to 'produce and direct' even reality -- you're not filming wildlife - you're filming people and it's different," she added.
Reached via email, Mchenry said much of what viewers "see is real, but much is completely recreated."
"This can be anything from adjusting to reshoot because of lighting issues -- or even being 'fed' lines by the producing team," she said.
"I'm sure most reality shows work this way - I know our producer has been involved in a number of other reality shows and pretty much said as much...it's the nature of the limits of the technology.