As this God-awful pandemic wears on, and I am stuck mostly indoors, besides being more active on this blog I have been watching television a lot more. Well truthfully, I am pretty much burnt out on reality shows, aren’t you?
I have started back watching some of my favorites from the past just to break up the monotony. Well, one of my favorite cancelled reality shows is “Bad Girls Club”, are you a fan? Well, you will enjoy this post, but who I am really trying to reach is all of the people who have negative things to say about the cast. Did you understand me? I said this post is not so much about the show; this post is about the girls that appeared on the show.
While the people who put out the show are somewhere living lavish off all of the money made off the show, most of the girls went back to the lives they were living before. So, if you have negative things to say about the show?
Cool.
But if you have negative things to say about the girls, like you don’t understand the fascination with the show and with them after all these years? Then keep reading because this is the truth about the Bad Girls and why so many women are still their fans…
Bad Girls Club is a reality show and the premise in the beginning was that problematic young women, all are put into a big lavish home, and are supposed to work to overcome the issues that they have with others. So, in essence “Bad” girls are supposed to be reformed or enlightened in some way. And I can honestly say over the 17 seasons that the show was on the air, we did see some women make progress with their attitudes and behaviors.
I did say that this post was about the girls’, right? I will have to give you some history and background of the show so that you will be able to put this post into context. And then I promise you, I will move on to the Bad Girls, just keep reading…
Jonathan Murray
A company run by a content creator named Jonathan Murray, who also had created several other popular shows, created Bad Girls Club which aired on Oxygen Network. But what is more interesting? His net worth is a whopping 30 million dollars. Now do I suggest he made his money all of Bad Girls Club? This man was actually inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame and has created some pretty awesome shows, so no; he didn’t make his money all off Bad Girls Club, but you better believe he got some money out of the deal, right?
Oxygen TV Network
Once Bad Girls Club became a phenomenon in America it began airing in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, and the Philippines through a variety of outlets…you can be sure that it wasn’t out of the kindness of their heart. Of course, they saw it as a profitable venture and wanted to get some of the money that was being generated in the United States. In addition, the show was so entertaining and popular, it spawned a series of spin offs, four to be exact.
Oxygen, which is owned by the company, NBCUniversal, which is a subsidiary of Comcast, aired the Bad Girls Club from 2007 to 2017. It was reported that NBCUniversal bought the company for $925 million, so Oxygen was an attractive acquisition for them, right? I mean to be willing to pay so much just to get the network. So, while we know they didn’t get all of their money from one show, it did air for ten years, and helped to propel the network to the status that made another company want to buy it, right?
Okay, now that I have given some background, let’s continue talking about the show, but let’s bring the girls into the discussion, shall we? Starting with me…and no I wasn’t on the show. But I was bad…
Bad Girls Club Starts…
I can admit, although I saw the Bad Girls Club before, maybe a episode here and there, season two was when I started officially began religiously watching Bad Girls Club. My oldest daughter was a teenager, and she began watching it too. And I must admit it was a hot mess! But what drew me in? The girls reminded me of me. Yeah, at the time I was a mom, with a husband, and fully employed, but I could literally had been on Bad Girl Club when I was in my twenties. I was always a person who garnered attention because I was quiet and withdrawn.
Sigh.
It’s the reason why I like to fade into the background sometimes. I could relate to so many of the girls and their personal struggles. I grew up with a single mother smack dab in the hood of Los Angeles. What part? Let’s just say, where we are taught to survive…
I grew up and started being a hot mess. I was pregnant at fifteen, hanging with gangbangers, running away only to sleep in crack houses…I was once on the honor roll, only to start ditching school and eventually dropping out. The only thing I can’t relate to is being a fighter despite being in numerous fights.
I mean thank God I wasn’t a fighter. I was just too humble of a person. I was always getting beat up. One day I came home with my blood on my new white shoes I begged my mother to buy me. She saw my shoes and went ballistic. She said she was tired of me getting jumped on. She went and got her 38 revolver and told me to keep it on me and next time someone jumped on me, “send them to meet Jesus”. Oh, hell no I thought!
Ever since then?
I was fighting anyone who took me there. I had no choice. Your mother would tell you to come on my street and whoop my behind…my mother was telling me, if she makes it to this block you better shoot her…
Whew!
My mama didn’t play with nobody who wanted to harm me. I have never been a killer, fighter or any of the sorts. But I will defend myself…no more blood on my shoes…until even my mother was scared of me. I was officially bad.
I was kicked out of every school I attended as a teen, real talk. Not because I was a fighter but because I would fight back or ditch so much I was dropped from too many classes not to be kicked out. My teachers would say how respectful I was, just incompliant. And if you were a stupid bully who mistook my humbleness for me being some kind of punk, I would destroy the classroom putting my fist upside your head…they were so confused.
It got so bad, I went to one school all of three hours before I was kicked out. My mother refused to enroll me in school at some point. I would walk my records into the office because she just refused to. And after I had a baby, I just dropped out.
I had rage like you wouldn’t believe. I’m not proud of anything in my past but that I survive it and am wiser. Am I perfect, no.? Can I still be bad? Less and less until the point if you met me today, you would not see that person who no matter what was determined not to get blood on my shoes again.
So, when I saw Bad Girls Club there was so many things I could relate to, but from the point of someone who had been there and done that. But in my heyday as the old people call it? Yeah, I could have been on a few of the seasons with no problem. Not because I can fight, but because I know what it means to be bad!
So that is my reason for becoming a fan of the show but let’s dive deeper…
Bad Girls Club Becomes A Hit But The Show Is Problematic
Like I said, I didn’t really start watching the show until season two, but it was actually season 4 that put BGC on the map, with a surge of viewership increasing that season. It was crazy, averaging over a million viewers each episode of season 4. Despite all the success and popularity, Bad Girls Club was full of issues.
Did you notice when the show started, they were in L.A filming in a beautiful home…but there were issues. The fighting was so intense and prevalent it is alleged that no one wanted them to film in the house, or any other house in L.A that they could find. So that’s why the show moved around to other cities. The houses got less lavish, and by season 17 they were supposedly in a warehouse. You be the judge…
Producers were also problematic according to some of the girls. They supposedly kept quitting the show. Law enforcement was called more than once to handle the girls, but what was a real problem, according to the girls were the things production was doing. Now remember these next things I put in this post are allegations, rumors and hearsay. But if you go on YouTube you can find videos of many of these things being confirmed by past cast members. Supposedly and allegedly producers:
- Forcing girls not to take their medication to have them be more dramatic
- Setting up scenarios and opportunities for girls to be bullied and attacked
- Not allowing girls to call their family or law enforcement when they were being bullied or attacked
- Not allowing girls to leave without outside intervention
- Sleeping with the girls
- Showing favoritism
- Man handling the girls
Many of the ex-Bad Girls have numerous complaints about production, and production was sued by more than a few, allegedly. The lawsuits against the network got so numerous, Oxygen network almost got cancelled and shut its entirety, according to some. It was not only the girls suing, but they were getting lawsuits left and right from people outside of the show as well, allegedly.
A lack of any other networks being willing to promote the network and ANY of its shows, and the numerous lawsuits is supposedly the reason the show was ultimately cancelled but who knows. But it makes sense. The drama was so bad, eventually a major incident would have shut them down anyway in my opinion.
There were some extremely serious things that happened to these girls. With all the stress in the house some girls cracked under the pressure. Supposedly and allegedly:
- One of the girls was drugged at a bar and then went home and fought a girl because of it.
- Also, a girl is alleged to have gone through drug withdrawals while in the house on her season.
- The fights were edited according to some of the girls, they were way longer and more serious than we were allowed to see on television.
- A girl got slashed to the face
- Girls were routinely jumped.
- Were bribed to stay or asked not to reveal things to people outside of the show
So that leads me to the girls…
So, the truth is, the show purposely picked problematic girls in the hopes that the drama they created would make them money. Most of them were like me, a product of my upbringing and my environment. Instead of being moved into a big mansion and getting a new lease on life their problems were sometimes amplified. Some of the girls talk of being suicidal and depressed. They claim there was no aftercare to help them deal with any of the issues the show brought them.
A while a select tiny minority make a living off their time on the show, most girls went back to their lives and will say they are not better because of this. The stigma of being on the show has lasted for years…and to this day there are millions of people who question us fans and wonder why we like the show…
THE BAD GIRLS!!!!
Despite being exploited, according to some, the Bad Girls gave us some of the best television and it was real. Yeah, it was a mess, because we were a mess, and we most definitely could relate. And that is why to this day BGC still has a following. So, I understand why people are not a fan of such a problematic show but will never understand why people are not fans of the girls.
Most of the girls, who appeared on the show, have slid into obscurity. But there are certain women who took their fifteen minutes of fame, ad have pushed the limits. Like I said before, most of them went back to the lives they had before. But there are some that made a career of being on such a show.
Tanisha Thomas
One of the breakout stars of the show was Tanisha Thomas who appeared on season two. Tanisha has gone on to continue making money off her fame that is associated with Bad Girls Club and is one of the best known to this day. She has even executively produced a new show called, “Baddies”.
Natalie Nunn
Another star of the show was Natalie Nunn of season four. Remember I already said the episodes from that season got massive amounts of views and that was due in part to her being cast on the show. She went on to appear on some of the spin-offs of the show as well. Love her or hate her Natalie has gone on to do several projects and make several television appearances after her stint on the show. You cannot deny that she is one of the most well-known Bad Girls. She is also an executive producer of the show, “Baddies”.
So, if any of the Bad Girls should happen to read this post…thank you. Since you gave me your real life on screen? I am a fan for life, ya dig?
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References:
Jonathan Murray Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth
Oxygen (TV network) – Wikipedia
When This Woman Speaks 