Dark Side of Reality TV Episode 4
Dark Side of Reality TV Episode 4
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00:00Hello.
00:01Hello.
00:02Hello.
00:03Well.
00:04Hello.
00:05In 2003, a bold new TV experiment hit our screens, welcoming us to the surreal life.
00:16Hi, guys.
00:17I'm Dave.
00:18You're going to be in a house with people you don't know, you've never met them, and
00:22cameras are always rolling.
00:24This was going to be a walk in the park.
00:26Seven famous people are made to live together in a Hollywood mansion set up just for them
00:31to find out who they really are.
00:34Our boobs are hanging up.
00:36It's really showing the world that celebrities are real people, and it gives the person watching
00:42like, oh, they're just like me.
00:45Tapping into the rapidly growing concept of celeb reality, the surreal life captures some
00:50of the most outrageous celebrity moments of all time.
00:55It was the first time anyone's ever done that before.
00:57It was just lightning in a bottle.
00:59But in the relentless chase for higher ratings, the show goes from surreal to really disturbing.
01:05The producers wanted to create a shit show, and they accomplished that.
01:10Uh-oh.
01:11What happened?
01:12Breathe.
01:13Fall down.
01:14Come here.
01:15Producers can be devils, and they set these competition matches up.
01:16Hey, Jose.
01:17Par this.
01:18They need to call the police.
01:21I believe that she was high.
01:24You're making a mountain out of a molehill.
01:27Oh, go smoke some crack, you crack bitch.
01:29Her calling me a crackhead, she did that to get my nerves up, and it worked.
01:35Producers do what they have to do to generate ratings.
01:38You're a horrible mother.
01:39Right.
01:40And your children are so damaged because of you.
01:42Eat a bag of royal, bitch.
01:44I get it.
01:45But at what cost?
01:47I mean, if you ever do that again, I was like, what?
01:55You're going to hit me?
01:56What?
01:57Just, what?
01:58He's like, I'm going to break every one of your fingers.
01:59He said that to you?
02:02For the most part, reality TV relies on regular, ordinary people for its drama.
02:07No.
02:08You guys want to yell at me the whole time, or are you going to yell at me the whole time?
02:11When you look at the template set by The Real World and Bad Girls Club, or Survivor.
02:16Jerry, the tribe has spoken.
02:18You put people from very different walks of life and very different backgrounds together,
02:23they'll, you know, butt heads and have misunderstandings, and drama will ensue.
02:30But the lives of ordinary people you've never met aren't nearly as interesting as the celebrities
02:35you think you know, thanks to glossy magazines and the internet.
02:39Take Ozzy, for example.
02:41Rock and roll!
02:44Ozzy Osbourne's was, you know, a pretty pioneering show.
02:48I love you more than life itself.
02:50You don't f***ing matter.
02:52Just being able to kind of like peer into that little world of Ozzy Osbourne and his
02:56family was pretty different for the time.
03:00It was the start of this thing called celeb reality.
03:03All of this reality TV programming that was centered around the lives of famous people.
03:10In 2003, former Howard Stern producer Mark Cronin hits up the WB network with a groundbreaking idea.
03:19What if you stage a Hollywood mansion, stack it full of famous people, and film what happens next?
03:27You know, it's a classic setup is roommates.
03:31Let's fill a house with giant personalities.
03:35They all have their different problems and big egos.
03:39Put them all in a house together.
03:41Can they all figure out, you know, what to buy at the grocery store for dinner?
03:46Celebrities living like normal people for 10 days.
03:49No publicists, no entourage, just them in the raw.
03:54It is Valentine in the morning.
03:55This is 102.7 Kiss FM.
03:57There's a new show.
03:58It's called The Surreal Life.
03:59This is kind of interesting.
04:00I heard about this.
04:01Yeah, do you like this one?
04:02The Surreal Life is the ultimate voyeuristic experience.
04:06What's going to happen when they don't have an agent or a manager or an assistant who
04:11normally guides them through the day?
04:13These are the rules that I saw in the newspaper.
04:14No smoking in the house.
04:15There's no access to personal vehicles, no computers, no internet.
04:19It's going to be a train wreck.
04:21They're not on total lockdown.
04:24They're allowed to make calls.
04:25They can have friends over.
04:27And they go on producer planned field trips.
04:30But the cameras will be running all the time.
04:34I like setting up the room full of TNT, packing in as much potential disaster as possible.
04:42But I'm not going to pick the disaster.
04:44I'm not going to dictate the disaster.
04:46It's up to you guys to figure out what you're going to do with this situation you're in.
04:50What a great idea for a show.
04:55Cronin isn't leaving everything to chance.
04:58Where producers can really influence things is in which celebrities they add to the mix.
05:04The casting directors are definitely like mad scientists.
05:07Emphasis on the word mad.
05:09You get the right cast.
05:10That's when the magic happens.
05:12That's when you capture lightning in a bottle.
05:15You've got to have the loose cannon, the voice of reason.
05:20Obviously you have to have a villain.
05:22You have to have the innocent, the bombshell.
05:29When I did The Surreal Life, it was probably the hottest time in my career.
05:35I had just finished Baywatch and just had gotten Playmate of the Year.
05:41It was just kind of like a whirlwind to have all this stuff happening at once.
05:45I am Brandi Roderick and I was a celebrity on season one of The Surreal Life.
05:51Hey, hey.
05:52Welcome to our home.
05:53How are you?
05:54Good, how are you?
05:55Good to see you.
05:56You too.
05:57The thing that got me to say yes to the show was the people that were going to be in the
06:00show.
06:01They told me that MC Hammer would be in the house and I was like, yes.
06:07Hell yeah, I'm going to go.
06:10Oh my god.
06:11I've been waiting to meet you.
06:14I was excited to be in the house with Vince Neil because I was a huge Motley Crue fan.
06:18I love girls, girls, girls.
06:20Plus Corey Feldman, I had known for years and I'm a huge fan of Emanuel Lewis and then
06:26Gabrielle Carteris.
06:28She was a 90210, right?
06:29So I was, of course, very excited to be a part of the house with her.
06:36A surreal start for sure, but there's one roommate still missing and she's the one who's
06:42supposed to shake things up.
06:43Who's the seventh person?
06:44What's her name?
06:45The seventh person is from Survivor.
06:48She likes to do reality shows.
06:51I didn't know anything of Jerry.
06:53All I knew is that Hammer actually had said that he had heard that she was a bitch.
06:59Survivor was just on full speed ahead.
07:04I got a few other tricks to pull out of my sleeve.
07:06It was still, I think, the most watched TV show in America at the time.
07:11Who knew about me because I was on the covers of magazines and tabloids just everywhere.
07:20I'm Jerry Manthe and I was on season one of The Surreal Life.
07:25I didn't realize until the day that I was getting picked up and taken to the set that
07:30what they had in mind for me was for me to be the villain of the house.
07:35There's nothing fair about this.
07:39Jerry's famous as Survivor's supervillain, but that means she enters the house with extra
07:45baggage.
07:46To me, you know, Jerry Manthe was, you know, a reality star.
07:50And if you were in a reality show, you weren't considered a celebrity.
07:53You weren't an actress.
07:54None of us know who she is and she's not part of our society as we know it.
08:00I don't understand why she would be part of this group.
08:05And producers do everything they can to drive that wedge deeper.
08:09We're here.
08:12I get there and I go to the front door and I knock and there's no answer.
08:17Is anybody home?
08:20Let me in.
08:25And then Brandi opens the door and she's, doesn't seem very happy to see me.
08:32Everybody's just eating.
08:34Then she walks me into the kitchen and they're all sitting at the dinner table, just having
08:39finished dinner.
08:40And I was just like, what is going on?
08:42Like I missed dinner?
08:43You didn't wait for me?
08:44Like it was so confusing.
08:45Oh, she's coming.
08:48Somebody's coming.
08:49Hello.
08:50Our guest is here.
08:51It was very clear that I was being set up.
08:56And the first thing I thought was like, oh my God, this is horrible.
08:59I almost dropped my dog.
09:01Oh, really?
09:02Yeah.
09:03That would have been a treat.
09:05Everyone wanted to see me blow up and be explosive so they could all sit there and go, see, we
09:09told you she was like that.
09:11And the Surreal Life was just another opportunity by the producers to try to push me into being
09:16that villain person, but that's not who I am.
09:25I adapted to the situation and turned it in my favor.
09:28I sat down and I opened the conversation.
09:31I said, go ahead, everyone.
09:33Ask whatever it is you need to ask.
09:35Let's just get it out of the way.
09:37You know what?
09:38It was important for me to come in here and not expect anything.
09:41And you know, I heard all the rumors and stuff the same way you guys, she did the research
09:46heard too.
09:47Right.
09:48Right.
09:49Right.
09:50Go ahead.
09:51Just say it.
09:52I've heard it all.
09:53I'm serious.
09:54No, I promise you that we can fix this.
09:55And then I think that kind of helped break the walls down.
09:57Related.
09:58Related.
09:59That was an eye opener for me to see myself being snooty about, you know, Jerry Manthe
10:07coming in and like, she's not an actor.
10:09She's not a celebrity.
10:10But of course, as soon as she came in, instant friends.
10:14She's adorable.
10:15I love her.
10:17And I was young and dumb at the time, you know, that was a good lesson for me.
10:24The tension around Jerry's casting never quite reaches boiling point.
10:29Instead, season one's entertainment comes from the cast being dropped into the real
10:34world.
10:35Praise the Lord, church.
10:37For surreal effect.
10:38You can tell who's never been camping before.
10:43Watching just kind of the first season of The Surreal Life, it's almost like watching
10:46a nature show.
10:47You can see Hammers here and they're all buying food.
10:51It's really funny.
10:53It's almost just watching people who've kind of like stumbled in front of the camera or
10:56just kind of living their lives and oftentimes just having fun because they're like meeting
11:00new people.
11:01And there's this sort of like naturalistic element to it that it's really hard to find
11:06nowadays.
11:07Don't forget there's tax, you guys.
11:08And that's where taxes.
11:10On food?
11:11Yes.
11:12We probably did get off easy because the producers did not know yet how to manipulate the situation.
11:21Viewers might be disappointed about the lack of conflict, but they do manage to catch
11:26here some authentic human moments from cast members you'd least expect.
11:30We had just gotten done with dinner and we were told to go into the living room and there
11:36were these fortune cookies.
11:38And Vince opened up his and his was to open up about hardship in his life.
11:45Sometimes life hits you with a feather.
11:48Sometimes it hits you with a brick.
11:50What was a brick in your life?
11:54Uh, I mean, the biggest, I mean, the brick was death of my daughter.
12:01She was four years old, a daughter of cancer.
12:05He's perceived as like this rock star, you know, partier, but never judge a book by its
12:12cover.
12:13Fathers are there to protect their children.
12:17And when you're not there to protect your kid and you have no way to protect them, that's
12:23the worst thing in the world.
12:25It really was disarming.
12:27And I, I was very impressed by his bravery because at the end of the day, we're on TV.
12:34I think season one gave everyone in that house the opportunity to be their true authentic
12:41selves and to be better understood so that some of those negative things that had happened
12:46in their past, they could let go of and move on from it was season one.
12:52I think to me was kind of, to me, it was the best season.
12:58Season one does enough to get renewed, but to satisfy a drama hungry audience, they must
13:04find a way to raise the stakes.
13:07How do we keep this momentum going?
13:09Got to give them, you know, crazier challenges.
13:11We got to cast crazier celebrities.
13:13We got to have bigger, shocking things happen.
13:16I'd never met a porn star in my life.
13:18Thanks to Ron Jeremy, Tammy Faye, Eric Estrada, and Vanilla Ice, season two delivers with
13:25higher ratings and more shock factor.
13:28Danny Bonaduce was supposed to do the show.
13:30Now, would you do the show if you know he was doing it?
13:32And then why not?
13:33No, actually like to whip his fat punk ass mouth, he's a pussy.
13:37From that point, there's no going back.
13:40The difference between the first season and the seasons to come was that the producers
13:47wanted to create a shit show, and they accomplished that.
13:51You guys have to be calm, I promise you.
13:53Anybody need a haircut?
13:55They need to call the police.
13:57Stupid, cracked outfit.
14:10When season three rolls around in 2004, the surreal life has changed networks.
14:16It's now on VH1, a cable music channel dipping its toe into the highly competitive celebrality
14:22market.
14:23Hi, I'm Nicole.
14:24I'm Chris.
14:25Nice to meet you.
14:26Do you get used to the smell?
14:27Oh, yes.
14:28I hate this.
14:31In order to cut through the noise, producers are looking for the right mix of cast members
14:36who can ignite their celebrity experiment into a ratings winner.
14:40My manager pitched it to me this way.
14:43Okay, here's the setup.
14:45You're going to be in a house with people you don't know.
14:47You've never met them, and cameras are always rolling.
14:50Sounds good.
14:51Yeah, that'd be a real challenge.
14:54That's where I was.
14:55Game on.
14:56I'm Dave Coulier.
14:58You may know me from Full House or Fuller House or someday Fullest House, who knows?
15:03I was a cast member on season three of Surreal Life.
15:09Psychologically, it's a little bit of a mind bender, just knowing that you're being watched.
15:14I've been watched since the early parts of my career, but this was all points of your
15:21day, from breakfast, lunch, to dinner, so this was a little bit of a different animal.
15:27Dave enters the house alongside musicians Ryan Starr, Jordan Knight, and Charo.
15:33But building on what they've learned, casting producers make sure to add some guaranteed
15:38friction, and in Flavor Flav, that's exactly what they get.
15:44My name is Flavor Flav.
15:47I'm with the rap group Public Enemy.
15:49I love being the center of attention, G.
15:53I just like stealing the show.
15:55I was a Public Enemy fan.
15:57When I saw Flav, I kind of had to contain myself, like, dude, you are really cool.
16:04Flavor Flav's done hard time more than once, and he's happy to play to type.
16:09Rapper Flavor Flav was arrested today for multiple parole violations.
16:13Flav is driving back, Pete.
16:15When I saw Flav wearing his jail clothing, I thought, I don't think he's taking this
16:20all that seriously.
16:23But Flav isn't the only potential showstopper.
16:26Hi, everybody, it's Richard Nielsen.
16:31I'm ready to boogie and destroy your town.
16:33Brigitte, she was married to Sly Stallone, I mean, it doesn't get much bigger than that
16:37in Hollywood.
16:38You a big one, lady.
16:39You tall.
16:40Yeah, exactly.
16:41Yeah, man.
16:42Hey, help me out with the bus.
16:43Damn.
16:44Yeah, me.
16:45The short guy.
16:46The short guy.
16:49It's clear where season three's drama will come from.
16:52As even before episode one is over, Brigitte and Flav are pushing each other's buttons.
16:57The ones with the teeth.
16:58You know why I come across sharp?
16:59Let me see.
17:00That is ridiculous.
17:01Flav can light it up.
17:05I mean, he can definitely ratchet up the energy, and so can Brigitte.
17:10When I talk, when I speak, when I speak, when I speak, you have to shut up.
17:17Brigitte could start a fire in a desert.
17:20And just hearing a couple of their exchanges, I thought, oh, man, this is water and oil.
17:26This is fire and gasoline.
17:28This is a lot of things.
17:29Did I make a good spokesman with him?
17:32No.
17:33Me and this lady getting off to a rough start.
17:36Okay, I like that.
17:38Yeah, but I don't like that.
17:44The stage is set for an explosive 10 days.
17:47And with alcohol added to the mix, producers are pushing to capture the unfiltered, uninhibited
17:53version of these celebrities on camera.
17:58There's wine right over there.
17:59You want wine now?
18:00There's everything there.
18:01I'll have a Jack Daniels, please.
18:03No, it's so difficult to open.
18:05Let's do the body.
18:06That's good, too.
18:07So we'll do that.
18:14There's a reason why there's so much alcohol on reality shows.
18:19It makes people very uninhibited and entertaining to people who are sitting at home on their
18:25couch.
18:26I knew they were serving booze, so my main focus was don't drink.
18:33But as a producer, you want to produce the most eclectic, crazy show you can.
18:40Because that's what's going to bring viewers.
18:43And so that becomes part of the experiment.
18:46Rather than descending into conflict, though, the show takes a very different turn.
18:51I love to be naked all the time.
18:53It's the European way.
18:56When you realize those cameras are going to be on 24-7, you really have to kind of take
19:03stock in yourself and say, do I want to expose myself that much?
19:07Brigitte Nielsen with the big tits hanging around.
19:11I hope she don't think this is a surreal porno.
19:14I wasn't going to walk around the house naked.
19:16I wasn't even going to take my shoes off.
19:20It's a startling glimpse into a world-famous celebrity's true personality.
19:25And it's got everyone's attention, especially Flav's.
19:28Hey, you know what?
19:29I'm scared I could fall in love with you, G.
19:33For real.
19:34When I saw Brigitte and Flav get together, I thought, OK, well, that's cool.
19:39Good for them.
19:41But I also knew that it was two wildfires coming together.
19:46Mr. F., are we going to go swim today or not at all?
19:49If the weather permits it, my dear.
19:51It was definitely oddly paired, right?
19:53I mean, she's so tall and statuesque, you know, and he's a little bit shorter.
19:59But I thought it was a really sweet relationship.
20:01Oh, God, when is he going to...
20:03I didn't say that.
20:04That's called lying.
20:06This may not have been what producers intended, but they quickly become an on-camera item.
20:12And the closer they get, the more outrageous their behavior.
20:16So, you know what?
20:17When it comes down to you, baby, I got the present right here, baby.
20:22Well, I feel it.
20:23It is.
20:24Oh, you do?
20:25Oh, yeah.
20:26Oh, snap.
20:27One of the things that draws us to reality TV is this sort of ability to kind of gawk
20:32at the train wreck to remind ourselves that we are not part of the train wreck.
20:36Man, this lady is at it, boy, for real.
20:40She must really be jet lagging.
20:43I think it was more booze lag than jet lag.
20:46We do have this complicated relationship with the rich and famous where we love them, but
20:51we love to see them fall, and we love to feel this smug superiority to them.
20:56Uh-oh, what happened?
20:57What happened?
20:58Breathe.
20:59Fall down.
21:00Come here.
21:01Come on.
21:02And that's what's really happening in a show like The Surreal Life.
21:05How you feeling?
21:06You all right?
21:07Brigitte?
21:08Yeah, I'm okay.
21:11But just when the audience thinks they've seen everything, Brigitte and Flav take it
21:17what looks like all the way.
21:19We kind of got to pick our rooms and who we were rooming with, and so when it ended up
21:26being me and Flav, I thought, well, we might get some bonding time in here.
21:30Good night, John, boy.
21:32Good night, John, boy.
21:36So I'm getting along with my buddy Flav.
21:38We're talking.
21:39We're laying in bed.
21:40It's like two brothers telling stories at night before they go to sleep.
21:44And then Brigitte comes into our room.
21:52She climbs into my bed with me, and I'm like, whoa!
21:59You're crazy.
22:02Alas.
22:03It's all right.
22:04Okay.
22:06I love you, man.
22:09And they start to get busy, and I'm thinking, this is not happening with me.
22:17So I decided to move, and I did.
22:22I moved into the closet next to the bathroom.
22:26Nighty-night.
22:27Hmm.
22:28I remember Flav ripping into me, he's like, Dave, you've moved into the bathroom.
22:46My boy, Davey Dave.
22:50I just knew, okay, this is a safe haven from you and Brigitte and your shenanigans at night.
22:55So I was cool with it.
23:00I think the producers were really lucky that they got that.
23:04I mean, that's like, you know, gold for them.
23:07They struck gold with that one.
23:21Hey, this is the best way to go out.
23:25Brigitte and Flav's steamy season three escapades have helped put VH1 on the celeb reality map.
23:31I love you.
23:33The network moves to quickly capitalize on this success with a number of wacky spinoffs.
23:38Flav and Brigitte's strange love among them.
23:41Meanwhile, Surreal Life season four offers up yet more bizarre celeb behavior.
23:48Hi.
23:49What's up, baby?
23:51And another dash of romance.
23:53I'm in love with him, Brady.
23:57So for season five, producers look to spice it up even further.
24:01This time, the mission is major conflict.
24:04You know, with any good storytelling, you have conflict and resolution.
24:08And to start with conflict, you have to have disagreement or worlds in collision.
24:14They wanted it to be explosive.
24:18And there's two sides of the celeb reality coin.
24:22The celebrities who were famous for one thing and then became more famous for their reality TV second act.
24:29And then the people who started as just reality people and then became celebrities.
24:35Alongside baseball star Jose Canseco.
24:38Model Caprice Beret.
24:40Peppa from Salt-N-Pepa.
24:42And actor Bronson Pinchot.
24:45Producers bring in two of the biggest villains in the reality genre.
24:51I looked around myself and I saw who was in the house and I knew I needed to be the protagonist.
24:58You put me in a group of people you have no idea what's going to happen.
25:04Somebody has to be the protagonist to get more air time.
25:07The more air time you have, the bigger you're going to come off.
25:10You put me on a show.
25:12Honey, it's going to the top.
25:19I'm Janice Dickinson, the world's first supermodel.
25:24And I was a contestant on season five of The Surreal Life.
25:28My name is Omarosa and I was the star of season five of The Surreal Life.
25:33At the time, I was doing America's Next Top Model.
25:36Face is good, foot bad.
25:38I was the Simon Cowell of fashion.
25:40I went on The Apprentice and I rerouted that GPS to fame, honey.
25:45Yeah, you better think strategically, boo, because you're on the wrong side of Omarosa today.
25:49And I am the pioneer of a villainy on reality TV.
25:56It's a clash of the reality titans.
25:59The Apprentice's breakout star and the queen of the fashion meme.
26:03And they don't disappoint.
26:07Omarosa, what's been the most difficult thing about living in this house?
26:11I have two words for you. Janice Dickinson.
26:14What were your first impressions of Janice?
26:16Who's that?
26:17Who?
26:18You got a picture of her?
26:20My roommate was Omarosa and I thought, can they just get me another roommate, like right away?
26:25I knew it was going to be a disaster from the beginning.
26:28Omarosa is arguably the archetype for someone who is known for being a reality TV villain.
26:35That's her career.
26:36I don't know what Omarosa did for a living before she went on The Apprentice.
26:40She's a professional reality star, professional TV villain.
26:44Janice Dickinson became famous for being this kind of kooky persona
26:48and kind of the mean judge on America's Next Top Model.
26:51She is so brittle and nasty at times.
26:55Oh, Janice, shut the f*** up.
26:56I never speak that way to you, Miss Thing.
26:58You say it to me one more time.
26:59Okay, I mean, listen, shut the f*** up.
27:01The producers knew what they were doing.
27:03They wanted to have these women fight.
27:05They wanted to have these women at each other's throats.
27:08You know what? If I didn't get fired from Trump, I wouldn't have the pleasure of meeting you.
27:11Here you go. Another reality show winner.
27:16Oh, there was definitely a sense of competition for airtime between Omarosa and myself.
27:20What the hell happened?
27:21Oh, my, they went at it.
27:23It was awesome.
27:25Casting Omarosa was a stroke of genius on the producers' parts
27:29because she would be the bad guy to my bad guy.
27:32I didn't go in. I didn't go in as that.
27:36That does not capture what I bring to a show.
27:39Oh, no, honey. It's beyond villainy.
27:42Hi, sweetie.
27:44God, you guys rock.
27:45Good morning.
27:46Welcome to cocktail weirdo.
27:49The first major conflict comes thanks to Janice and her daily makeup routine.
27:54It's important for me to maintain a level of what I look like on television
27:59because that's my bread and butter.
28:01So I had that written into the contract that they were supposed to help me out with hair and makeup.
28:06It really disturbed a lot of people on the show.
28:10Omarosa was very jealous.
28:14Janice was the only person who was allowed to have hair and makeup come to the set in the morning.
28:19There's another shower. Just go to it.
28:21No, there is a line for that.
28:23Well, then go use a hose.
28:27It was worked into the show that my hair and makeup glam team
28:31was going to get underneath Omarosa's skin.
28:35I remember her sitting down in my seat.
28:38And she said, I'll be next.
28:40And I said, no, you're not going to be next.
28:41These hair and makeup here are for me.
28:43So get up.
28:44Janice has set up with her glam squad in our bathroom.
28:48So I had to go into the restroom with Caprice and Peppa and Jose
28:53because little Miss Janice, I'm a supermodel, I'm a supermodel, I'm a supermodel,
28:58is hogging up the bathroom.
29:01It's only the second episode, but the animosity between the two
29:05is fast becoming season five's main plot line.
29:10According to Omarosa, however, Janice's performance may have been enhanced.
29:17She was always going a little wacky around the same time every single day.
29:22What the hell is she doing?
29:26What is she doing?
29:27It's a little mess.
29:28It's a little mess.
29:29Hey, Jose, pour this.
29:32I believe that she was high.
29:36Where is she getting it from?
29:38Someone was giving her a consistent supply of these drugs.
29:46Let me tell you how I know.
29:47She was my roommate.
29:48So the first encounter I had where she went a little cuckoo,
29:51I'm like looking in drawers.
29:54And there's just a drawer full of things.
29:58Pills and, you know, a mirror with residue.
30:03Janice denies taking drugs on the show.
30:06She says if Omarosa did find anything, it had nothing to do with her.
30:11I was probably still drinking alcohol back in those days.
30:17But drug addiction was part of my past.
30:23I was over that.
30:28Omarosa goes public with her suspicions in dramatic fashion
30:32during a publicity shoot for the show,
30:34in which the producers are clearly looking to stoke the flames even further.
30:41I remember that day actually starting out as a pretty relatively normal day
30:46in this real life house.
30:48And then they wanted us to get dressed for a photo shoot.
30:52Perfection. Perfection. Guaranteed.
30:57You guys want some cake?
30:58Who's on a diet?
31:00I'm sure you are, Omarosa.
31:02Because you look so good in that gown.
31:04There was this big, big cake at the table
31:06that I was supposed to be probably Mama Janice
31:09dividing the pieces amongst the rest of my family on the show.
31:13Janice, can you go between Omarosa and Caprice?
31:17What would you like me to do here?
31:20I look in her eyes and I think to myself,
31:22this woman is high as a kite.
31:25And you can imagine what happened next.
31:27Anybody need a haircut?
31:30A little trim with my little butcher knife?
31:32That's actually sort of feeling out.
31:34Okay.
31:35She's facing me about this close
31:38and she's waving the knife in my face.
31:44I don't even like it.
31:45You're a good teacher.
31:46No, no, this isn't me.
31:47She needs to get away from me with the knife.
31:49I'm not kidding.
31:50I'm not kidding.
31:52She's got two seconds.
31:54Okay, we're going to get rid of her.
31:55Why would you hand a woman who's clearly
32:00under the influence of whatever,
32:03pick your poison,
32:05a very sharp, very real knife.
32:10Excuse me, I never said that word.
32:11You let a crackhead play with a knife.
32:13Excuse me.
32:14Try it.
32:15You know what?
32:16There's a crackhead here.
32:17Let's guess.
32:18Excuse me.
32:19Let's guess.
32:20Oh, it used to really make me upset
32:22her calling me a crackhead.
32:24Crackhead is like scraping the bottom of the barrel
32:27as far as drugs.
32:29I've never done crack in my life.
32:31Back.
32:32Guys.
32:33Dude, they asked me to hold the knife right here.
32:35I'm not backing up.
32:38For her to pick a name, crackhead,
32:41and keep needling me with this word,
32:44she did that to get my nerves up,
32:46and it worked.
32:47Plays on Marosa.
32:48It's just a joke.
32:49Careful.
32:50You know, like your wedding dress.
32:52Leave her alone.
32:53Stop it.
32:54It's a joke.
32:55Stop it.
32:56It's just a joke.
32:57Stop it.
32:58No, just put that down.
33:08The Surreal Life Season 5 photo shoot is falling apart
33:11as producers rush in to do damage control.
33:13We need to call the police.
33:15She is on drugs.
33:17No, I'm not.
33:18I am not on drugs.
33:19Hi, you silly bitch.
33:20You know, I'm on drugs.
33:21I resent that.
33:22I really resent that.
33:23Oh, my God.
33:24You know what?
33:25I really resent that.
33:26Mrs. Omarosa, I was just doing as I was asked.
33:29Yeah, I was just being me,
33:31and everyone was just, like, going off following Omarosa.
33:35That's not how it was intended to go.
33:38Or maybe it was, and maybe I'm the sucker.
33:41Stupid, cracked-out bitch.
33:44It's important to make it very clear that this was a prop.
33:48It wasn't your regular kitchen knife.
33:51You don't think you could go say you were sorry?
33:53Hell no.
33:54She's going to leave the show.
33:56Let her.
33:57What was going on through my mind was, this is unfair.
34:00You know, this was given to me to use.
34:02She had nothing to be afraid of.
34:04It was plastic.
34:05Okay.
34:06Look at it.
34:07Yeah, I'll take full responsibility.
34:09Go talk to her.
34:10Now.
34:11You go talk to them, man.
34:13I was just doing us proud.
34:15I don't play with knives.
34:16I don't play with guns.
34:17I don't play with things like that.
34:19You're making a mountain out of a molehill.
34:22Go smoke some crack, you cracked bitch.
34:25I suppose Omarosa is afraid of knives.
34:32There are situations in reality TV that can serve as triggers,
34:36and this was just one of those triggers for me.
34:41I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio.
34:44It's a steel mill town, or it was a steel mill town before it closed down.
34:48And our community was hit with a really big economic impact.
34:55And there was this dangerous cocktail of poverty and violence and despair.
35:03And my family, we've experienced some really difficult things.
35:11I've lost my father.
35:13I lost my brother.
35:14They both were murdered in Youngstown.
35:17I had a cousin that was shot outside of a park just a year and a half ago.
35:22It's a big part of who I am and where I'm from.
35:26And Janice waving the knife in my face was a trigger.
35:32And I'm so grateful that I didn't react the way I was feeling inside,
35:37because if I reacted the way I felt,
35:40then it might have been a whole different outcome,
35:43a much more dangerous outcome,
35:45than if I was just able to kind of pull myself together.
35:49Okay, I know how to clear a room.
35:53When the producer said, I think we got our shot,
35:56I think that sums up that scene.
36:00They ran that promo of Janice with that knife over and over again.
36:05The posters for the show was that scene.
36:08The billboards were that scene.
36:11You know, they got exactly what they wanted.
36:16Their argument provides season five with its showstopper moment.
36:20But the conflict doesn't end there.
36:22On the very last night, the cast are outside having a barbecue.
36:27Everyone is present except Omarosa.
36:30When out of nowhere, Janice reveals a dark secret.
36:35The sun set on the top of this mansion,
36:37and it was a beautiful moment.
36:39Then the subject somehow got onto my book.
36:42Have you read it?
36:43No.
36:44My father was a pedophile.
36:46It just happened when I started to open up.
36:49And once again, one sentence after another
36:52followed with unfiltered, brutal honesty.
36:55He was a dark, angry guy.
36:57That's awful.
36:58To be forced to have a pedophile for a father
37:01is probably the most horrific thing
37:03that could ever happen to a child on Earth, bar none.
37:06I decided to open up on the show
37:08because people don't know that side of me,
37:10and they don't know that it was difficult growing up,
37:14that it was abusive.
37:17I think they saw a side of me that was really real
37:21because my childhood shouldn't have happened to anyone,
37:25and it happened to me, and I survived it.
37:28Janice's revelation shocks everyone,
37:31except Omarosa, who isn't there to hear it.
37:35I was in our bedroom.
37:37Janice and I shared the same bedroom,
37:39and I was packing to leave
37:40because this is the end of the series.
37:42And so I was packing, and they were a little upset
37:46that I wasn't taking part of this group meal outside.
37:50And so a producer came and said,
37:52you've got to go and join the group.
37:54And the timing couldn't have been worse.
37:57So I walk out, and she says my name.
38:00I just heard, and that's something, something about Omarosa.
38:04That's about the extent of what I heard.
38:07And then I just let loose.
38:19Surreal Life Season 5 is continuing its downward spiral
38:23right down to the very last night of filming.
38:27You think I can't take on Omarosa?
38:29I grew up with a pedophile.
38:31Hello.
38:32Speaking of the devil.
38:33What is that?
38:34You know a lot about the devil, don't you?
38:36No, you're the devil.
38:37Your children hate you.
38:38They must hate you.
38:39I feel so bad for your kids.
38:41I really do.
38:42Whatever.
38:43You must be a horrible mother to them.
38:45Wow.
38:47Whew.
38:48I walked in in the worst.
38:51That's my first time watching that.
38:53Thank you for all that.
38:54I'll be over here.
38:55The salad was off the hook.
38:56You rock.
38:57Pedophilia, deep subject.
38:59And I am a great mom.
39:00You good night.
39:01No, you're a horrible mother.
39:02Right.
39:03Your children are so damaged because of you.
39:05Eat a bag of royal, bitch.
39:07Whew.
39:09I can be nasty, too.
39:12Shows that I can be nasty.
39:13That's a nasty side of me.
39:15She really did pull, pull that out of me.
39:19And that is just out of control,
39:22that she would have the nerve to say that I was a bad mom.
39:26I know in my heart of hearts that I am a great mom,
39:29and I'm considerate and loving, all loving towards my children,
39:33and they get the best of me.
39:34So she can kiss my ass for saying that I'm a bad mother,
39:38because I'm not.
39:42I mean, let's just all take a step back and take a look at it.
39:45Why was I sent out there at that moment?
39:49Why did they have me walk into the backyard at that exact moment?
39:54Just look how perfectly it was timed.
39:58You can't even make this up.
40:01I had no idea she was talking about what her father did to her
40:05or the harm that he inflicted on her.
40:07All I heard was her talking about me at that moment.
40:14My heart goes out to her, because she was sharing with them.
40:17And I don't think the producers wanted her to have a moment
40:20where she got to have an uninterrupted,
40:26just bonding moment with those guys.
40:29That's too bad.
40:32In the end, there's no clear winner or loser.
40:36Season 5's highly combustible celeb reality experiment
40:40has run its course.
40:41Here's the thing about Season 5.
40:43I think it was a kind of be careful what you wish for thing.
40:46It just became the Omarosa and Janice show.
40:49And it wasn't fun.
40:50It must have been so miserable to be in a house
40:53with these women who are at each other's throats,
40:56crossing lines with saying really nasty things for each other.
40:59It got dark, and I just thought that they went too far with it.
41:04The surreal life ends up running for one more season
41:07before being canceled in 2006.
41:11It's recently been renewed and has a new life on MTV.
41:15My teammate f***** my wife, and I had to go play a game that f***** night.
41:21But Janice and Omarosa's feud is still what it's best known for,
41:25setting the bar for all the conflict-driven shows that followed.
41:31I'm sure there are some people who really liked it.
41:34There's a lot of people who like to see bitches fighting.
41:37I'm using that term to say what other people would say.
41:40I don't like that.
41:41I don't like playing into this stereotype that strong women don't get along.
41:48It makes me feel like a used puppet.
41:51Producers can be devils, and they set these competition matches up.
41:55They script the whole thing for themselves,
41:57and then we just have to be these puppets
41:59to play into their master scheme of must-watched reality show.
42:04But I signed up for it.
42:05I knew what I was getting myself sort of into.
42:09I love reality TV,
42:11and I don't believe that I would have had such a long career
42:16if I did anything else but give my fans exactly what they want.
42:22And in today's world of celeb reality,
42:25giving the audience what they want, whether it's real or not,
42:29is the name of the game.
42:31How I sleep at night is that people come to these shows,
42:34they know what reality television is,
42:36they know the risk involved,
42:37and they have weighed that risk and benefit.
42:40I would say, in general, the people who do our shows,
42:43they end up getting what they came for.
42:45There is a lot of dishonesty from me to them,
42:48but in the end, I think it all comes out in the watch.
42:50It is pretty fascinating now, the turn, you know,
42:54and how much money these reality stars can make.
42:57And, you know, more power to them.
42:59However you can, you know, get your game on
43:01and make your money and do what you enjoy and what's fun,
43:05go for it. I think it's awesome.
43:08Gary, to the left.
43:10Gary, to your left.
43:12I know that actors will argue that there doesn't require
43:16any talent to be on a reality show, but that's not true.
43:20You still have cameras in your face constantly,
43:24and there is an art to just being yourself
43:27and not letting a camera change your behavior.
43:31And if you do change your behavior for the camera,
43:34you better be really good at it.
43:36I hate to point out that the biggest reality TV star
43:42in the world also occupies the Oval Office.
43:46I mean, there's no limit to what we can do.