Ugh. Aren't any reality shows real anymore? Not too long ago, the news broke that House Hunters is fake, and now it looks like A&E's hit show Storage Wars might be rigged too.
David Hester, the former star of the show, has filed a lawsuit because he believes he was dropped from Storage Wars when he went to producers and complained about aspects of the show being rigged.
Fans (like my husband) find it so exciting to watch the cast members bid on storage units and then make a ton of cash because there are all sorts of treasures hidden inside. Well, Hester claims that some of the more precious finds inside the units are actually planted there before the bidding starts, making the big reveal a whole lot more thrilling than it would be otherwise.
He says that one time, producers planted a bunch of newspapers from the day Elvis died in a unit, and on another occasion, they hid a BMW mini car by putting trash on top of it.
And it gets even worse, because David also claims that some of the cast members were given extra money to get plastic surgery because their appearance wasn't sexy enough. (That's just wrong.)
Whether his allegations are true or not remains to be seen, but would anybody really be shocked if certain episodes of Storage Wars are staged to make them more interesting to viewers? Um, there is a little thing called ratings, and watching people sift through mounds of junk can get pretty monotonous if nothing of any value is ever found.
Still, the news that Storage Wars is possibly not as real as it seems may not be shocking, but some fans will probably be pretty disappointed about it. (This news will certainly put a damper on my husband's weekend afternoons. Sorry to be the one to break it to you, honey.)
Although, for those who are really hooked on the show, I doubt it will be enough to make them stop watching. It's just way too exhilarating when one of the units winds up containing something amazing. Who cares if it was planted there or not?
Will you stop watching Storage Wars now that you know it might be rigged?
Image via A&E
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Comments 35
I hope not I like this show
I don't understand why people are so shocked, there is not a law against scripting entertainments shows even if they label them as "reality TV". This particular show was pretty easy to see from the start that it was rigged. The first thing is that if they were real, then you would have a lot of goofy bastards showing up for the filming following the "storage hunters" around. The auction and/or units were staged. Scenes were also reshot/edited. I have friend who owns a storage facility they came to him wanting to rent the entire place to do a shoot, he thought he was going to make some cash, the last minute they picked another spot. During the process he was going to have to sing a confidentiality waiver and also agree to editing, have to assist in arranging a "staged auction".
oh well ill stick with toy hunter
I'll still watch- I love Barry!
BTW- editing happens in all media, including interviews. If the sound was off or there was background noise, the will reshoot it. I have been to several interviews made for NPR where at the end they would re-record certain things because of the reasons I mentioned. It didn't make them less real for that. Planting items-yes; Editing-no.