Trigger warning: Article mentions death threats.
When reality shows air, stories of the show’s stars receiving threats of any kind have become a common theme and TLC’s Toddlers & Tiaras is no exception. Enterprise alumni spoke about the harassing threats and food-related problems they received after the show aired.
On Tuesday’s episode of reality TV, Vice, several of the show’s stars appeared on the dark side and talked about their experiences. Kelly Lyerly, a pageant mother who appeared on the show in 2012 and 2013 with her two daughters, the “Tayra Twins” Alisondra and Giavanna Lyerly, has spoken out about receiving death threats over a long period of time.
Lyerly said people told her that her children would hate her, that she was a “terrible mother” and that she “exploited” her children.
The series ran from 2009 to 2013 and was revived for one season in 2016, which again garnered attention.
She said she recently received death threats again and this time a person called her phone and told her they were going to “kill” her.
Darcey McHenry shared that social media was a real problem, even when she was on the show with her daughter Devin. The cheetah look painted on Devin’s body in the series reportedly gained popularity online.
McHenry revealed about receiving private messages on Devin’s fan pages. She talked about receiving things like videos and that it led to her receiving some “pretty creepy correspondence.”
He added, “The comments were getting more and more weird and crazy. Comments from adult men and things like ‘Oh my God, look at that sexy thing!'” McHenry shared that she blocks them.
She said she wasn’t going to watch a video of a man enjoying her daughter’s photo, she didn’t need to witness it.
Everrose Sims, who was a regular on the TLC show, said that the show had an impact on her when she was a little girl, causing her to gain weight.
Her mother, Kayla Sims, said that while they were shooting, he followed her daughter and grabbed anything she put in her mouth. Averroes being on a diet became a storyline and had adverse effects on her.
Averroes shared learning that she had a good relationship with food. She said she tried to hide it so that no one would know what she was eating.
As an adult, she said she is unable to eat in front of people because she is self-conscious when it comes to the whole world watching her eat. He said that to this day, he suffers from a conflicted relationship with food.
Wendy Dickey, who was a pageant mom, felt that TLC used her and her family to promote the show. He added, “Toddlers and tiaras pushed the agenda, and they were really behind some of the negative media.” Many other alumni also reportedly expressed the same sentiment.
Disclaimer: If you know someone who is struggling with abuse, please reach out and report it. There are many helplines available for this.
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