Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Reality TV sucide
The risks of putting people through the emotional strains of reality television were brutally underlined last night after a contestant in a new reality boxing series died.
Najai Turpin, a boxer from Philadelphia, shot himself in front of his girlfriend just three weeks before The Contender, a US reality series in which he featured, is due to start.
NBC, which is broadcasting The Contender, offered its condolences to Turpin's girlfriend and their two-year-old daughter, who also appear in the series, but said the show would go ahead as planned.
"Nothing changes. I'm not even going to make any edits because it's real," said the show's producer and US reality TV guru Mark Burnett.
Twelve of the scheduled 13 episodes have already been filmed, meaning that Turpin will appear in at least one episode posthumously. (more)
