Where are they now?

Reality television has taken over the airwaves and no one is a bigger fan than I am. I can hardly sleep sometimes wondering who will get the final rose! Reality t.v. shows are all the same in the sense that they take people from their anonymous everyday lives and turn them into household names overnight. What happens to these people when the season ends? For the lucky few there are five minutes of fame, but for most, they immediately return to their mundane lives as if their glimpse of hollywood life was nothing more than a weird dream. There are a few shows that in my opinion separate themselves from the pack by sending home "forever changed" contestants. There is The Biggest Loser which truly saves lives with the diet/exercise regimens contestants learn on the show. Then there are shows like The Swan and Extreme Makeover which document physical transformations through plastic surgery. People magazine has a "where are they now?" article in the current issue which catches up with some of these people years after their shows aired. My favorite is the couple from Extreme Makeover 2004, James & Kacie, who met on the show and fell in love during their makeovers, bandages and all! They have two children together and although their marriage ended, they are both very happy with new significant others and credit the show for giving them new lives that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. James says he is done with plastic surgery, but Kacie having had 3 kids since the show aired thinks a tummy tuck might still be in her future. Whether we are watching or not, we wish her the best and look forward to meeting new reality stars in the future who will provide us with entertainment, and themselves a chance at a new life.