(Newswire.net — March 3, 2016) —At least 21 Americans have committed suicide after appearing on popular reality television series The Bachelor, Kitchen Nightmares and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Two weeks ago, Alexa McAllister, 31 years old, took her own life several years after appearing in the reality show The Bachelor, the series about one man looking for love. Alexa McAllister is the third person who has committed suicide after appearing on the reality series The Bachelor, according to the New York Post.
Creator of the television reality show Kitchen Nightmares, Chef Gordon Ramsay, told beginner chef Joseph Cerniglia in 2007 that he should go and drown himself in the Hudson river. Three years later, Cerniglia committed suicide.
According to Dr. Richard Levak, who has worked as a psychology expert and consultant for several reality shows, the question is whether appearing in that kind of show attracts people who are more unstable, or events during these shows drives people to suicide.
Joseph Cerniglia’s mother, Patricia Hansen, does not blame the show. She said that work in the restaurant business is the worst job that anyone can imagine but they were satisfied with the reality show Kitchen Nightmares. She explained that for her and her son the experience on the show was entertaining and Gordon Ramsay was excellent.
However, Dr. Hopper told the New York Post that television producers often choose people who are unstable because it makes the program more amusing. He was not pleased with the selection of participants for the shows, stating the reason was their psychological profiles.
Jesse Csincsak, the winner of the fourth season of the Bachelorette, said that the selection of participants was not sufficiently strict. Before appearing on the show he had to answer 1,200 multiple-choice questions such as “Do you feel sad?” and “Do you ever think about killing your mother?”
He has expressed that people do not realize the consequences when they apply for reality TV and explained that it was very difficult for him to get a job later.
Millions watch reality TV shows, and participants are judged even after they leave the show.