Dark Side of Reality TV Episode 9 - Toddlers & Tiaras
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00:00In 2009, TLC adds a new gem to their reality TV crown, toddlers and Tierras.
00:18Little kids with wigs and eyelashes and makeup and spray tans, you know, dripping in rhinestones.
00:26It's outrageous.
00:27It had humor.
00:28A little bit of drama, kind of that whole recipe for a successful reality show.
00:34We were very excited that there was going to be a major show featuring pageants and
00:39showing the pageant world.
00:41In TLC's altered reality, it's pageants on steroids.
00:45Oh my gosh.
00:46It ain't all about this turd.
00:47Yes, it is, Unmovable Child.
00:48Oh no, it's not.
00:52Toddlers and Tierras really amped up the pageant world.
00:57Here comes pretty woman, Paisley.
01:01The parents seem to really go out big trying to get the attention of producers.
01:06You don't know anything.
01:07Oh no, I know anything.
01:08But you're about to know.
01:09She told me I had a fat ass and I told her to turn around, she'd find hers too.
01:13You'd watch another episode and you'd think, holy cow, these people are insane.
01:18Don't forget to smoke.
01:20But there's more to the show than moms in Meltdown.
01:23It felt like they just, you know, was following her and just videoing everything that she
01:30would put in her mouth.
01:31Do you know how many calories is in them things?
01:34The comments were getting crazier and crazier, comments from grown men.
01:40I really started to step back.
01:43You're going to tell me that pageantry normalizes the sexualization of children.
01:47No, the world sexualizes children.
01:50Some executives sat in a room and thought this was a good idea.
01:55TLC used us.
01:56I would call it child objectification.
01:59For some, the long-term consequences are devastating.
02:03Even to this day, you know, I struggle with my relationship with food.
02:07The whole world watched me eat.
02:10Eating disorders, depression, anxiety disorders, that is a mental health nightmare.
02:16If TLC really had the best interest of children in mind, then they should take down this footage.
02:24Asking a viewer to regard them as nothing but a piece of meat, would you think that
02:30was funny?
02:31She's doing awful.
02:40Child pageants are a big deal.
02:42Every weekend, thousands of little girls and their moms descend in hotel conference
02:47rooms across America to compete on a pageant circuit worth $5 billion.
02:52The world of pageants, it's visual, it's out there, it's seeing these little kids all dolled
02:59up, made to look like they're older than what they appear.
03:03Her future plans is to do whatever God has planned for her.
03:08Here, we give you the old Hollywood glam, the elaborate outfits, sequins, rhinestones,
03:16the makeup, the whole bit.
03:18Shakey, shakey.
03:20In 2009, all that glam comes to the attention of TLC.
03:24Formerly the Learning Channel, the network is now hard-focused on reality and decides
03:29to give child pageants their very own show.
03:32I'm Jack Tarantino.
03:33I was the former vice president of production at TLC from 2014 to 2018.
03:41Toddlers and Tiaras really spotlights that subculture of the pageant world.
03:48These families that put it all on the line.
03:52Unlike other reality shows that are entirely manufactured, Toddlers and Tiaras takes more
03:57of an old school documentary approach.
04:00The cameras follow the kids at real world pageants as they doll up and perform for a
04:05panel of judges who rank them on physical appearance, talent, and stage presence.
04:12The judges are looking for gorgeous gowns, beautiful hair, classy updos, real sophisticated
04:20and elegance.
04:21And there would be winners, and there would also be losers.
04:25Everybody does not go home a winner, but you do try to soften the blow for them a little
04:29bit by making sure that we give every single contestant a trophy.
04:33The most special title is the Ultimate Grand Supreme.
04:40You definitely want to win that title.
04:42It's the second highest title in the entire pageant.
04:45In the entire pageant.
04:47They get a six foot trophy, huge teddy bear, lots of money.
04:52Can I buy a cow?
04:53Yeah, you can buy a cow.
04:54I get a cow, I get a cow, I get a cow.
04:56I get a cow, I get a cow, I get a cow.
05:00It had humor, it had a little bit of drama, kind of that whole recipe for a successful
05:06reality show.
05:07I look good.
05:08You give it all you've got.
05:09Are y'all going to have fun?
05:10Yeah!
05:11Who's going to win this pageant?
05:12Me!
05:13That's right.
05:14Toddlers in Tiaras premieres Tuesday at 10, part of the all new Tuesdays on TLC.
05:24Premiere one is a smashing success.
05:26Over a million viewers are drawn in by the unfiltered drama of these precocious toddlers
05:31and their doting moms.
05:33And TLC has no trouble finding new families that are keen to take part.
05:40I guess it's almost like a 15 minutes of fame, especially to someone who lives in a small
05:47community and I'd seen some of the shows and I really felt like that it would be a fun
05:54thing to try.
05:55My name's Kayla Sims and my daughter Everose was a contestant on one of the Toddlers in
06:00Tiaras episodes.
06:01I thought I was going to be famous.
06:03I thought I was fixing to be the Miley Cyrus.
06:07Meeting all the people that came to my house, they were following me around, I felt like
06:11that girl.
06:14My name is Everose Minor and when I was seven I was a beauty contestant on Toddlers in Tiaras.
06:20It was the talk of the town.
06:22You don't every day have people come into Little Bitty Cross at Arkansas to film your
06:29family so we were excited about getting to go on.
06:35My pageant is very competitive this weekend, we've got some great girls coming.
06:40I don't know much about Everose, she's an adorable little girl and we can't wait to
06:43see her compete this weekend.
06:45Every episode features three girls just like Everose who can't wait to show off their pageant
06:50skills for the camera.
06:52I remember on my episode we started at like five or six in the morning.
06:56Touch it, we don't touch our face, you know that.
07:00My mom would wake me up and she would roll my hair.
07:03Well then I'd go to my makeup artist, it's just the longest process.
07:07Everose likes to get her hair done, she likes to get the makeup on.
07:11It makes her have confidence in herself.
07:13Your makeup looks fabulous, let me see.
07:15It was just mainly I get to look pretty this weekend, I can't wait.
07:19Now please welcome contestant 113, Everose.
07:23Everose has dark brown hair, brown eyes and her hobbies include singing, cheerleading
07:30and doing pageants.
07:32Pretty smile.
07:34I think every little girl likes to dress up and look like a princess so it was always
07:40exciting for me.
07:41Ladies and gentlemen, that is contestant 113, Everose.
07:46While it's all smiles, glitz and glamour for the judges, backstage the cameras are
07:50capturing a different vibe.
07:52Well you would sit up like a big girl and quit being such a bratty little baby.
07:59I guess it's like dress up.
08:01I didn't play with dolls when I was a little girl so now I have my own, like real life
08:05baby dolls.
08:06They loved getting dressed up, they loved to go to the pageant, they would say I want
08:09to go to the pageant mommy.
08:12You probably like your job but on that day that you have something really exciting to
08:15do and you have to get up at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning, you don't like that part
08:19of it.
08:20I would play with them and try to make it fun but at the end of the day I'm the boss.
08:23My name is Kelly Lyerly.
08:24My daughters, the Tiara twins, were featured on Toddlers and Tears.
08:28The girls are both celebrities.
08:30We have spent a ton of money on pageant stuff.
08:32They have a tour bus, they have Carl the bodyguard.
08:36My name is Carl.
08:38Four year olds have a little less ability to regulate emotions.
08:43Sometimes it was an off day.
08:45Kelly and her Tiara twins are exactly what TLC is looking for.
08:50At one of the shows that they film, Alessandra is going on stage with a sheep and Giovanna
08:55is going on stage with a turkey.
08:59You know when you're four you get to change your mind but we signed up for this so you're
09:02going to get up there and the good, the bad and the ugly, whatever it is, is what it is
09:06but we're going to do it.
09:07First you cross and then you do a rabbit and then you do both.
09:13The thing about TLC is it was all about authenticity.
09:17Why kids work on television, they're unfiltered, they're unaware, they are who they are, they
09:36act the way they act, good, bad or ugly.
09:56I don't think pageants are for everybody.
09:58There are some ugly children here.
10:00Those parents should spare those children and have those children doing things like
10:03plan checkers because that child is not cute.
10:08Excuse me.
10:09Oh we're in her way.
10:16Very soon the producers realized the stars of the show aren't the kids, it's also the
10:21moms and their mama drama.
10:24Their whole lives were about putting their child in these pageants, right?
10:28I think it was all through the mother's eyes.
10:31Those were the moms that made the show interesting.
10:36You know a lot of these moms, Giovanna, they believe that their daughter should be crowned
10:41the winner.
10:44The environment backstage before competition is always going to be competitive because
10:48it is a competition.
10:49There's poop.
10:50There's poop.
10:51Be careful.
10:52The moms seem ready to explode at any moment and Toddlers and Tiaras is there to capture
10:58it.
10:59Poop or something.
11:01In the back I'm dealing with like a whole slew of psycho pageant moms.
11:07You know there was a mom back there that was trying to get her kid on TV.
11:10Kelly and her husband have these goats and they pooped all over the dressy room.
11:17It was kind of tense because at this point Toddlers and Tiaras was trying to pitch this
11:22as a team against team.
11:23Come on.
11:24I mean it's pellets.
11:26Somebody can sweep that up.
11:30They can keep their circus on the other side of the ballroom because I don't give two
11:33sh** about those crazy pageant moms.
11:36This lady that has this goat will not clean up her poop.
11:41She told us to deal with it.
11:43I'm not scared of anybody or anything.
11:46Y'all don't know me.
11:48Ma'am.
11:49Ma'am.
11:50You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
11:51For what?
11:52The animal did this on the floor.
11:53The hotel staff is cleaning it up.
11:54I don't know that my animal did that on the floor.
11:59Are you kidding me right now?
12:00I don't like for people to raise their voice in front of my children and I like I puff
12:04up and get all six shades of crazy when people act like that in front of my kids.
12:10You should be very ashamed of yourself and teaching your kids that because that is not
12:14how you clean.
12:15You're not my mama, ma'am.
12:16That is not my mama.
12:17You want me and you to go outside right now?
12:18Should we go outside?
12:19And I'll tell you about what I teach my daughter.
12:22If y'all want to go outside, we can handle this like gentlemen and I'll be fine with
12:26that.
12:29You don't know anything.
12:30Okay.
12:31I know I say that.
12:32But you're about to know.
12:33I'll tell you one thing, ma'am.
12:34You need to back off.
12:35No, you guys need to back off.
12:36You need to back off.
12:37Stop.
12:38Let's stop.
12:39We're all in our 40s.
12:40Fighting outside is going to solve anything except for someone going to jail.
12:41The conflict and vitriol between the parents is fast making Toddlers and Tiaras one of
12:42TLC's most popular shows.
12:43I'm going to mask her some anger at her since I met her.
12:44That's why you're standing where you're standing.
12:45You're standing where you're standing.
12:46I'm going to mask her some anger at her since I met her.
12:47That's why you're standing where you're standing.
12:48By season three, an estimated 1.3 million viewers are tuning in every week.
13:16Let's put child pageants on the map and the attention is starting to affect the pageant
13:21world itself.
13:23Everybody wanted to put their child in a pageant.
13:25Everybody.
13:26Everything would be big.
13:27You know, big props, big rhinestones, beautiful dresses, so the parents seemed to really go
13:34out big trying to get the attention of the TV producers.
13:38Don't forget to smoke.
13:42Toddlers and Tiaras absolutely made pageants much more popular.
13:46I absolutely think that when a TV camera is involved, it, you know, exaggerates everything.
13:56And they don't come any more over the top than the show's breakout star, Honey Boo Boo.
14:05Honey Boo Boo's a, you know, she was interesting to watch.
14:08She had funny things to say and, you know, she's just doing real extraordinary or outrageous
14:13kind of things, I guess.
14:15People just loved the dynamic between her and her mom and her sister and they were real
14:20and they were authentic.
14:21There was no artifice at all.
14:24But bless her heart, she is for real, they're not acting.
14:27And I didn't want people to, you know, think that we were like that.
14:31Tickle, tickle, tickle.
14:34I was raised to be very respectful of people and, you know, not to flaunt everything.
14:41It snowballed pageantry on a level that is unexplainable.
14:46A lot of pageant moms and people know what this special juice is.
14:51Honey Boo Boo made Go Go Juice popular, which was Red Bull and Mountain Dew.
14:55She just drinks it for pageants to give her that extra oomph.
14:58And I would have never given Paisley a Red Bull or Mountain Dew, but did give her the
15:03pageant crack, which is the Pixie Stix.
15:05We have tried the Pixie Stix, as they call it, pageant crack.
15:08We went through 15 bags on one pageant, and I just don't do anything for her.
15:13So whatever works for your child, use it.
15:16Well, the bottom line is straight sugar just gives you instant energy, whereas candy is
15:22a lot of other things that, you know, it's going to take time to digest.
15:25So straight sugar to get straight energy.
15:27Toddlers and Taras is, in my mind, a sad expose of what parents are willing to do
15:37to their children for their gratification.
15:41I mean, it was a train wreck.
15:42You couldn't stop watching.
15:44It's this one.
15:47Go.
15:48Go.
15:49Go.
15:50Just go.
15:51Sorry.
15:53Oh, hold on.
15:56It was one of those things where you kept thinking, OK, this is the pinnacle.
16:01It cannot get any worse than this.
16:03And then you'd watch another episode, and you'd think, holy cow.
16:06Faith McKayen.
16:07What?
16:08Stop.
16:09What?
16:10It's time to practice.
16:11These people are insane.
16:12The biggest challenge is the undiagnosed ADHD.
16:15She is a nasty little brat a lot of the times.
16:19Oh, she's doing awful.
16:24The show is attracting hundreds of hopefuls, all looking for their moment in the spotlight.
16:31So we had applied to be on the show, and we really wanted to be one of the featured families that were filming.
16:38And there wasn't a lot of interest.
16:41So when you are at a pageant that Toddlers and Tiaras is filming,
16:45and you're not one of the featured children,
16:48you're hoping that you'll somehow get a few minutes of, or a few seconds of, camera time just to be on television.
16:56My name is Wendy Dickey, and my daughter Paisley was a beauty pageant contestant on Toddlers and Tiaras.
17:01So we found out Toddlers and Tiaras was going to be filming in Georgia,
17:05and the pageant was a themed pageant, and it was your favorite celebrity.
17:10And I thought, you know what I'm going to do?
17:12Paisley's going to be Joya Roberts, and I'm going to put her in this cute little costume,
17:17and it's going to be so funny, they'll have to show her on TV.
17:20Here comes pretty woman.
17:23Paisley.
17:25It was the funniest thing you had ever seen, and they actually filmed one of the judges laughing.
17:32Paisley's barely stepped off stage before she becomes a media sensation,
17:37but not for the reason her mom had hoped.
17:41Someone called me and said, girl, have you seen Facebook?
17:44And I'm like, no, what are you talking about?
17:46So I pulled my vehicle over, and I'm shocked.
17:51There was someone saying something hurtful,
17:54and she was one of the three families that were filmed that day.
18:00They dressed Paisley up like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman as a prostitute,
18:06and I would never, ever do that to my little girl, ever.
18:11TMZ came out with an article before the episode ever aired.
18:15They're putting Paisley's picture up there,
18:17and then all of these other media outlets start picking up on it,
18:21and before I know it, it's all over the world.
18:24How long have things been for you since that whole thing kind of blew up?
18:29It's actually been really crazy.
18:32I had no idea that it would go that far, that it would be blown that far out of proportion.
18:37It was comical. It meant to be comical.
18:39The outfit was not sexy. It was tacky and hideous. It was comical.
18:44My phone was blowing up with everyone wanting to interview the lady
18:49who dressed her three-year-old daughter as a prostitute.
18:51It was crazy the amount of backlash that came out of that.
18:55People were trashing me for dressing my daughter as a hooker.
18:59They were saying things that should happen to me.
19:02People have not been in my home. They don't know how I raise my children.
19:06They don't know the values that I instill with my children.
19:08They want to base my entire parenthood on the show.
19:13I knew what kind of mom I was. I knew what kind of person I was.
19:16And to be put in the media in this limelight was beyond devastating.
19:21I think the risk-reward ratio here is really bad.
19:25The risk balanced against the reward for putting your children in this television environment,
19:32I think it is very risky.
19:35I want to be sexy and annoying when I grow up.
19:40Is this it?
19:42And I've heard a lot of folks say, and isn't that cute,
19:45we're going to put false teeth and a spray tan and a wig
19:49and maybe even pad you so that you look like you're 21.
19:54There's something in my eye that burns, mommy.
19:58A four-year-old doesn't know what this means.
20:01Does she look six or does she look 16?
20:04I personally find it offensive when people say they look like adults.
20:08I don't think that you can make a four-year-old look like an adult.
20:11You're going to tell me that pageantry normalizes the sexualization of children.
20:16No, the world sexualizes children.
20:20Perverts sexualize children.
20:23That is the equivalent of me saying that because you wore a skirt, you ask for it.
20:28You deserve to be raped because you had a skirt on.
20:30Since you had a ponytail, you asked for that.
20:32That's the equivalent of that.
20:34It is sexualized.
20:37I don't care if people say, well, if you think that way, you're the one with the problem.
20:43You have a parent there who saw the opportunity to be on television,
20:50and that was the motivating factor, not the well-being of her child.
20:56If we make it okay as a society to see young girls in a way that they are made into sexual beings,
21:10then we are, as a society, opening ourselves up to something pretty dangerous.
21:21Can you show me how you're going to take your skirt off?
21:25It does have some sheer in the midriff, but hopefully people will not be calling her prostatotic yet.
21:31Show her how you're going to throw it.
21:35Treating young girls as nothing but a piece of meat?
21:40Would you think that was funny?
21:43Oh, God.
21:45For toddlers and tiaras, the parents signed off on participation in the show,
21:52but those children did not.
21:55Bottom line.
22:06You don't think the pictures that they just showed of your children in hair and makeup for pageants
22:11are just as provocative, age difference-wise, that could be put on his website by a man?
22:16Yeah, that looks like a little girl with her toe popped and her leg outside.
22:19That there?
22:20Sure.
22:21Since 2012, Toddlers and Tiaras is getting panned at every turn,
22:25but the flag isn't just coming from media outlets.
22:28There are definitely some parents that, you know, I think maybe made a poor choice.
22:34I can understand the theatrics of it, portraying a movie character,
22:40because you want that wow factor on stage.
22:44Devin, you've got to move your belly more than your hips.
22:47There you go, Devin, good!
22:49My name is Darcy McHenry.
22:51I'm a pageant mom, and my daughter Devin was a contestant on Toddlers and Tiaras.
22:55Devin has always been a firecracker.
22:57Devin likes attention. Devin likes to be seen.
23:00She's very outgoing. She'll talk to anybody.
23:03And she just has that performer spirit, and she's just had that since she was itty-bitty.
23:10Seeing what parents would, you know, do to make their kids be perfect
23:18was not our world.
23:20You've got to bribe them. We have to do beauty.
23:23Okay, well, then I'm taking the sunglasses back.
23:26I'm a pageant mom, and I don't care what anyone thinks of me. I'm a pageant mom.
23:30That was not a bridge I was willing to cross.
23:33First and foremost, I wanted my child to be a child.
23:35You need a smock first, so can we please put a smock on you?
23:38The way that we feel as a family about pageants is that it's really all just a performing art.
23:43I made sure I never put her in anything that was not what I considered age-appropriate.
23:50I never put her in an adult costume.
23:54Yeah, I mean, I think we did it the healthy way.
23:57But for Devin's episode, A Hip Hop Pageant, producers aren't interested in girly glitz anyway.
24:03They're going for shock value.
24:05And to get what they want, they set an ultimatum.
24:08I want you to stay super still for me.
24:10I am a face and body artist, and Devin will be body painted as a cheetah.
24:15We had an entire hip hop routine that was prepared for that pageant.
24:19Can you stop wiggling? Chin up.
24:23So the body painting cheetah routine was actually a jungle wear routine we had from a completely different pageant.
24:33But the producers told us, we want the body painting, we want the cheetah routine.
24:39You're going to have to make it work with the hip hop theme any way you can.
24:44If you can't make it work, then you're going to be off the show.
24:47It was just absolutely mind-blowing. I was shocked.
24:50I mean, here we were invested.
24:52My child was counting on it, and we really had to scramble and think hard.
24:57She definitely looks like a bit of an Oompa Loompa now.
24:59Now let's get ready for the next contestant, number 58, Devin.
25:03Normally when you're body painting, you're body painting an adult.
25:06You're dealing with G-strings and pasties and the most basic, modest coverings.
25:13But when you're body painting on a child, especially my own child that's going to be seen by millions of people,
25:18we needed to find some sort of covering, which we went with a nude leotard.
25:25It was tough, I'm not going to lie.
25:28And it was just to satisfy the producers and allow my child to do what she was counting on doing,
25:35and that was being on the show.
25:39The cheetah routine isn't just a hit on TV, it's blowing up online.
25:44Every Toddlers and Tiaras Kid had those YouTube clips, no big deal.
25:48But this particular cheetah routine really went viral.
25:53So we would notice that the YouTube views were exponentially getting higher and higher.
26:02We actually have the highest rated Toddlers and Tiaras video clip of all time still.
26:11We used to have to tune in to TLC to watch an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras.
26:16Now this is 24-7, just everywhere.
26:21This is insane. Now you've got several million people who saw it and who can now replay it over and over and over.
26:31Their images are now there for perpetuity.
26:35And people can view them and use them for whatever.
26:43Producers aren't just pressuring families with their costume choices, they're also actively pushing storylines.
26:49No matter if the families agree or not.
26:52I told the producers of the Toddlers and Tiaras show that Everose,
26:58a couple weeks beforehand we might start watching a little more of what we eat.
27:04Just to prepare yourself to be even more ready to, as we say, rock the stage.
27:14My mom would count my calories.
27:16So everything I ate she would know about it and she would know how many calories.
27:20And I was in a calorie deficit so I think I would only have like 1,200 calories or whatever it was a day.
27:26I think I was eating too much junk food.
27:29Like candy bars.
27:31I used to eat pizza and macaroni and cheese.
27:34Why aren't you drinking back? Don't you need something to fill you up?
27:37Hey, that is our fix.
27:39Do you want Miss Kim to go get you an energy drink?
27:41Do you know how many calories is in them things?
27:43You do really, really want to win.
27:45And so I need to watch what I eat but sometimes I do get hungry.
27:51During the filming, I mean, I just noticed that they were following her and just videoing everything that she would put in her mouth.
28:00Look, I want everybody to see this good luck cake we all made for you.
28:03Everose had made a cake to carry out to the camp.
28:07When Everose asked for cake or pie, you know, I always say, okay, well, let's look at what we've eaten today.
28:13You don't want to just be mean and say you can't have it.
28:16But we don't eat the whole pie.
28:18We get a piece of pie.
28:22Now Everose, remember, this is your treat for doing good.
28:27I mean, she was seven.
28:28She was stuffing her mouth, you know.
28:30And I really, at that point, I knew that it was going to be heavily about her weight.
28:46I really felt like that TLC was trying to stir the drama to make more money off of the show.
28:55It's like they were searching for things that, you know, little cues that would make it, you know, I guess, have more views.
29:05I'm pretty sure the only reason they picked me was because they knew, wow, she's seven and she's on a diet.
29:10Let me follow her.
29:11And I didn't like that.
29:13I didn't.
29:25Bolstered by outrageous storylines and astronomical viewing numbers, Toddlers & Tiaras is now more popular than ever.
29:33I feel like TLC used us and they used our family to promote the show.
29:39Toddlers & Tiaras pushed the agenda and they were really behind some of the negative media.
29:46And I even had one of the producers tell me after all of the publicity that they were renewed for another two seasons.
29:53Riding high in the ratings, TLC remained steadfastly silent about the controversy raging in the show's wake, leaving the moms to defend themselves.
30:04We filmed Dr. Phil. We were on Anderson Cooper three times. It was worldwide. It was global.
30:10What's the line you won't cross? Because this is sort of not acceptable.
30:16Well, first of all, let me explain how this happened.
30:18I would defend what I did. I tried to show the whole picture, tried to tell.
30:23Some of the outlets were fair and they kind of told my story, but for the most part, it only made it worse.
30:30These certain things you just don't put out there for people to make judgments on her.
30:34And it's not fair that the judgment is on her when it's her mother that's doing it.
30:38Let her be the little girl for a little while.
30:41Let her make that decision when she gets older.
30:44You're feeding her to piranhas showing that that's what she's willing to do.
30:47I got death threats for a long time. Your children are going to hate you.
30:51You're a terrible mother. You've exploited your children.
30:54It's like a little girl with some makeup on.
30:56You have a great on the bus. Just answer the question. You have two.
30:59You have your daughter's pictures all across the whole bus.
31:03It's about exposing children to the public.
31:06You go down the highway going to Patton's with GM out.
31:11The rerun will air and then the Dr. Phil reruns will air.
31:14And then it's, you know, when it starts playing back where they are now or whatever, it'll come back again.
31:18I recently had death threats again.
31:21And this time the person was calling my phone and telling me that they were going to kill me.
31:25Freeing themselves from the aftermath is now close to impossible.
31:29As between TLC reruns and the Internet, there's no escaping it.
31:34So we started getting private messages on Devin's fan pages.
31:39We started getting things like videos sent to us.
31:45And that opened us up to getting some pretty creepy correspondences.
31:53The comments were getting crazier and crazier.
31:58Things like comments from grown men.
32:01And, oh my God, look at that sexy thing.
32:05And, you know, I can see right through the bodysuit.
32:10You know, grown men are going to look at these images and, you know, pleasure themselves.
32:16And really horrible things to think about.
32:19And the best thing I can do is block these creeps from social media.
32:24No, I'm not going to look at your video of you enjoying yourself to the picture of my daughter.
32:30I don't need to see that.
32:33There were definitely some senses at certain times.
32:39Like, hey, that car drove awfully slow past our house.
32:45Or, gee, is that car in the driveway turning around?
32:49Are they lost or are they watching us?
32:52I really started to step back and be like, oh no.
32:58Like, gee, maybe I did misstep here.
33:02Maybe this is going to haunt us a little bit.
33:05Violence had struck the pageant community before.
33:08Shortly after Christmas in 1996, JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old beauty queen, was brutally murdered,
33:15a crime that remains unsolved to this day.
33:18While some believe Ramsey's death was connected to her being a child pageant star, not everyone agrees.
33:25Well, I actually knew JonBenét two weeks before she—it might have been a little more than two weeks,
33:30maybe a month before she died—I saw her at a pageant.
33:33And, I mean, she was the prettiest little thing that I mean I'd ever seen.
33:37Like, here comes this little blonde-haired, big, beautiful hair and gigantic blue eyes.
33:42It was just terribly sad.
33:44I do think that that's where some of people's weird thoughts on pageantry and predators come from, though.
33:52I do think it absolutely comes from JonBenét.
33:56For Kayla Sims, the fallout hits different, as she's made to see her decisions through the eyes of her daughter.
34:03Everose and I were real excited about the show airing.
34:07She had a mat, her gymnastic mat, always has it drug out.
34:12And she was sitting on that watching it.
34:15I mean, right after the shoot, you know, the director of the pageant is, you know, talking about what makes, you know, the perfect queen.
34:26You've got to have total package to win this pageant this weekend.
34:29When they are a little bit overweight, that's not going to cut it.
34:34You don't want to see a chubby child on stage. You have to have the Barbie one.
34:39I didn't finish the episode. I just ran to my room and I cried and I cried and I cried.
34:46Them making it look like I ate a whole piece of cake or pie by myself, I mean, that really messed with me, you know what I mean?
34:54I wish that I could go back and redo the toddlers and Tierra's because I wouldn't let them, you know, make it look like Everose, you know, is overweight.
35:06I wish I would have just said something to the film crew about, you know, let's not concentrate so hard on what my seven-year-old is eating.
35:16I mean, should an eight-year-old be so body conscious and being thinking about losing 10 pounds to get into a dress?
35:24Well, that really wasn't our issue or our goal. It does appear that way.
35:29At one point in my life, I weighed almost 300 pounds and I don't tell that to very many people, so I'm telling it to the world right now.
35:37I remember being little and I read the hate comments, everyone hating on my mom.
35:42And even at like, I think 13, I was replying back like, she's not, she's not terrible.
35:47I think she was just trying to look out for me because she struggled with weight too.
35:53I don't regret putting Everose on the diet at seven.
35:56I don't regret teaching her how to handle that in life.
36:03I feel like I have given her a tool because I just, I mean, who wouldn't want to make sure their kids are healthy?
36:14Yes, I did feel pressured to look the part of the winners, which usually was being skinny.
36:22And that I was on diets because I knew I had to look a certain way, basically.
36:27If you're taught that your worth comes from your appearance and your beauty,
36:34and if you're taught that you have to do things in order to garner praise and their approval,
36:43then that's what you go through life doing.
36:46I knew I had a bad relationship with food.
36:48It got really bad, just trying to hide it to where no one knew what I was eating.
36:55As an adult, I can't eat in front of people because I'm self-conscious about it
36:59because the whole world watched me eat, even to this day.
37:02And I struggle with my relationship with food.
37:08The controversy rumbles on but never reaches TLC.
37:12The network never publicly responds to the allegations of producer manipulation and the damage done to the kids.
37:19Treating a person like a consumable object, that is a mental health nightmare.
37:27TLC, whether they want to admit it or not, had an obligation to do what's best for those people who participated.
37:39And yet, they preyed upon a population that they knew would jump at the chance to be a part.
37:48In 2024, TLC's YouTube channel still features a selection of memorable moments.
37:55Pretty Woman, The Cheetah, and Everose Dieting are only a click away.
38:02If TLC really had the best interest of children in mind, then they should take down this footage.
38:10Will they? Probably not, because they've made and are still making a great amount of money.
38:19Hello again, and welcome back to the Darling Divas crowning show.
38:35I am very nervous for crowning. The competition was extremely fierce.
38:39Despite being put through the media ringer, moms and daughters continue going to pageants,
38:44keeping their eyes on the crown. And ultimately, their commitment pays off.
38:49So Paisley won Ultimate Grand Supreme several times over her pageant career, and it felt like winning the lottery.
38:58I'm a superstar. I won today. This is my 50th crown.
39:06When you get into the Supreme titles, that is above and beyond.
39:11Devin. Go Devin. All right, Devin.
39:19You're the Supreme winner for the Hip Hop Hollywood Stars.
39:23Do you know what you won that for? Your cheetah routine.
39:29It's a little rush for mom, too. You know, she's just going up there to have a good time.
39:36And I mean, she enjoys this. This is fun for her.
39:39Contested number 43. That's Miss Giovanna.
39:44This is supposed to be for fun. If it's not fun, we don't do it.
39:47So don't worry about winning or losing. That's somebody else's opinion.
39:50And I don't care what they think. These are scores.
39:54You took my kid out of the competition before she ever got started.
39:57Wow. Wow. You know what? I refuse to even listen and be taught to that way.
40:02Listen, you gave me your opinion, baby. I'm just giving it right back to you.
40:07You can keep that. I got to get out of here before I punch somebody in the face.
40:14In 2012, trying to capitalize on the success of Toddlers and Tierra's TLC begins airing a number of spinoffs.
40:23The most popular one being Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.
40:27She's the toddler that took the TV world by storm.
40:30A dollar makes me holler, honey boo boo.
40:32If you thought she was crazy, I guess I made one.
40:36Wait till you meet the rest of her family.
40:38Only on TLC.
40:41But they don't last long. And in September 2013, after six seasons and more than 100 episodes, Toddlers and Tierra's is canceled without any fanfare.
40:52While it's briefly revived in 2016, it flounders and is finally laid to rest for good.
40:59The reason TLC canceled the show was because people weren't tuning in to the numbers that they normally did.
41:07So the audience lost interest in the pageant world.
41:10But there's no question that the show has left an indelible mark on pageant culture and beyond.
41:16When it started, you know, these little girls had big hair, yes.
41:20But it was realistic. Like, they look like baby dolls.
41:23And like Glitz pageantry now, it kind of looks like a drag show.
41:28You walk in and you find that little four-year-old on stage dropping it like it's hot in her booty shorts and her hooters outfit.
41:33That's not what pageantry has ever been to me.
41:37It's a lot different. Like, Toddlers and Tierra's morphed that.
41:43I mean, it's kind of a voyeuristic child maltreatment circus, you know, that I'm sure a lot of viewers are watching.
41:56So they can feel personally like they're morally superior and they would never behave this way.
42:01So I think, yeah, as viewers, we're all culpable, too. I mean, we're all part of this system.
42:10I'm trying to walk away from the situation. Like, ten times I walk away from this and ten times one of those assholes comes back.
42:17I'm like, don't you all bitches have something else to do?
42:19Paisley!
42:22Hadn't seen that in a while.
42:25And despite the intense criticism, the moms look back proudly.
42:29I'm still proud of what we did. I'm proud of Devin for holding it together, standing there, being painted on,
42:35and then still having the energy to run out on stage and do her thing.
42:39No, I will never regret that routine.
42:41I know what kind of mom I am. I know what kind of person I am.
42:44And I just stopped defending and embraced it and said, this is what I did. This is why I did it. And that was that.
42:52So Giovanna and Alessandra both still do pageants. Giovanna has a hair care line. She's very successful with that.
42:57She wants to be a dermatologist.
42:59Alessandra is very smart and already has a letter from Harvard.
43:05The mothers and fathers who do this with their kids absolutely love their children.
43:11They choose to love them differently, and that doesn't make it wrong.
43:15Maybe I'm way off base, and you all think I'm the worst mom in the whole world, but my kids think I'm pretty amazing.
43:21You know, just because you don't like it or don't understand it doesn't make it bad.
43:25I am proud of the young lady that Everose has come.
43:30I'm proud of her confidence, and I'm proud that she always has kept a sweet heart.
43:37And I think she's a beautiful, wonderful young lady.
43:43My mom and I, I would say we're still close.
43:47I'm dealing with stuff that happened to me when I was seven.
43:51It has a lasting impact, and you should definitely choose your words wisely when talking to a child.