Think Our Reality's Bad? Check Out Britain's
Fabia Cerra's flub proves again that their reality TV is wackier than ours.
April 17, 2009 — -- You think our reality shows are wacky?
When it comes to real-life, on-camera hijinks, Britain has the United States beat. Case in point: last Saturday, on "Britain's Got Talent," bulky, burlesque dancer Fabia Cerra, the anti-Susan Boyle, took the stage in little more than thigh-high red fishnets and proceeded to shake her thing so vigorously that one of her nipple tassels fell off.
Although the network that airs the reality show covered up her breasts with Union Jack flags, dozens of viewers have contacted ITV and British broadcasting watchdog OfCom to complain about the mess-up of the so-called family program.
OfCom is deciding whether to launch an investigation into whether the incident broke taste and decency rules. Meanwhile, video of the slip-up has become a sensation on YouTube and Cerra's pegged to win the reality competition.
It's the latest outrageous moment on British reality TV to make U.S. offerings seem tame by comparison. And it makes sense that Britain pushes the envelope further, considering it came up with many of America's favorite reality competitions first: "American Idol" was spun off of Britian's "Pop Idol," "Dancing With the Stars" was born out of Britian's "Strictly Come Dancing."
That's not to say that this side of the pond doesn't air its own fair share of inane incidents. But to get a sense of the international bar for reality ridiculousness, check out three other examples of over-the-top British TV:
Sure, the switch Jason Mesnick pulled on the finale of "The Bachelor" this year was bad but, compared to the last-episode bombshell dropped on the contestants of Britain's "There's Something About Miriam," it was hardly earth shattering. "Miriam," which aired in 2004, featured six men competing for the heart of a 21-year-old Mexican model named Miriam.
The contestants jumped through the usual dating-show hoops to woo the statuesque brunette and score a $15,000 prize. But in the final episode, after announcing lifeguard Tom Rooke the winner of the competition, Miriam revealed she was born as a man and still had the parts to prove it.
