Has reality TV gone too far?

Injuries in Strictly Come Dancing and 'bullying' in I'm A Celebrity - are reality shows pushing contestants to the extreme? Gino D'Acampo is crowned 2009's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! winner and then his victory turns sour. The chef will face animal cruelty charges for inhumanely killing (and eating) a rat on the show. Meanwhile on X Factor, Danyl Johnson, who has been called an unlikeable, big-headed and cocky by judges and tabloids over the past few weeks, was in fact dignified and lovely as he was booted off the show. So as contestants (and rats) everywhere scream "get me out of here!" we have to ask, has reality TV gone too far? Is too much being asked of the people under the spotlight? Are we, the viewing audience, the noughties equivalent of Roman spectators in the Coliseum who'd give a thumbs up as lions killed Christians? OK, maybe a slight exaggeration, but you get my gist. Rat's life-- So how did a happy-go-lucky TV chef end up being turned into a cold-blooded rat murderer? Well, according to a video message in the show's bush telegraph, Gino D'Acampo and partner-in-crime Stuart Manning (from Hollyoaks) were very hungry after being "exiled" and reduced to rations of rice and beans. Having spotted the rodents running around, hunger drove him to whip up a no-frills rat-ratatouille. But the way in which the rat was killed has prompted the charges. Court attendance notices have been issued for February 3, 2010. So just to clarify - a daytime TV chef and a hunk from Hollyoaks will face animal cruelty charges after being left with no choice but to attack a rat; all in the name of prime-time ITV reality entertainment. 'Ratgate' aside, Gino was also forced to eat rotten egg, cockroaches, a crocodile's tongue and rhino beetles in his quest to become king of the jungle and win a dinner for his fellow campers. Creepy crawlie time-- Runner-up Kim Woodburn, the 'queen of clean' who fronted defunct Channel 4 show How Clean Is Your House?, was bathed in thousands of ants, grasshoppers, giant spiders, cockroaches and yabbies during her time down under. "I've got a cockroach on my nipple," she remarked after the trial. To which presenter Ant sympathetically replied: "Lucky fella". Also worth a mention is TV presenter and design guru Justin Ryan, who appeared psychologically scarred after being bitten by a crocodile during his Bushtucker Trial (he was also left covered in blood after banging his nose on the Perspex tube in a desperate panic to get away). "That was absolutely terrifying," said the tearful Scotsman, before being placed under medical supervision. The Price is right-- But the biggest talking point of this year's I'm A Celebrity was Katie Price's return to the jungle. Reports that she had been paid 10 times more than her fellow contestants, coupled with her behaviour since her acrimonious split with Peter Andre, meant that she was never going to get an easy ride. And easy it certainly wasn't as the Great British Public spent their hard-earned 25ps voting Katie to do every single Bushtucker Trial going - six to be precise. The glamour model was doused in 60,000 cockroaches, made to crawl through rat-infested tunnels, eat deep fried bug burgers and drink a crocodile milkshake during her week in camp; and that was just for starters. She pleaded with the public to give her a break: "Please don't vote me tomorrow, please, I've had enough," Katie yelped. "Everyone else - give them something to do. You've seen me struggle, you've seen me cry, shake, want to die. There's only certain things I can do. I really don't want to be doing this." But it didn't work. After hearing that she had been voted to do a seventh trial, Katie packed her bags - reportedly forfeiting £100,000 of her £350,000 appearance fee in the process. "Do you know it's mentally torturing?" she moaned, before asking to be taken back to her normal life. The stress Factor--- This year, Simon Cowell decided to give the X Factor format a spring clean by making the audition stage twice as frightening. Not only did the warbling hopefuls have to sing in front of the scary judges; they also had to impress thousands of X Factor fans crammed into an enormous arena. This was daunting enough for the ones that can sing but for some of the tone-deaf howlers (who, let's face it, are the reason most of us tune in!), being booed off stage at a venue big enough for Lady GaGa must have been a deeply unpleasant and terrifying experience. And the booing didn't stop there. John and Edward - the most talked-about group the show has ever seen - divided the nation with their playful (and mostly tuneless) interpretations of classic songs. Yes, they were rubbish. And yes, they stayed in longer than much better singers (such as Lucie Jones). But did the young Irish twins really deserve to be booed by the live studio audience just for doing what they were told? No, they didn't. Finally, it turned out to be a really bumpy ride for Danyl Johnson. He went from being the early favourite to win (after a storming audition which made international headlines) to a pariah. In addition to harsh critiques from the judges, he was slated in the tabloids, the gossip magazines and on social media sites. No X Factor contestant has ever had to put up with the level of bad press that dogged Danyl; little wonder he was extremely upset by it all. Strictly painful-- Meanwhile, over on Strictly Come Dancing, it's not so much psychological damage that the contestants have to watch out for; it's broken bones. Because of the nature of the show, it's no surprise that there are injuries. A couple of weeks ago, Footballers' Wives actress Laila Rouass was strapped up around the ankle and finished her routine in tears due to dancing through the pain. More serious is the fate of long-jumper Jade Johnson. She has to face the possibility that her Olympic ambitions could be in jeopardy after tearing a ligament in her leg. All this in a bid to master a punishing routine - and escape the judges' wrath. "If you can imagine the worst toothache and headache you have ever had, joined together and multiplied by ten, that is how bad it was," said Jade of the injury. Bad Brother-- Like X Factor, Big Brother upped the evil stakes this year - devising new methods of humiliating the fame-hungry housemates. BB's handling of Beinazir - the "non-housemate" that was kicked-out of the house after three days of sleeping on the floor and eating slop - was simply horrible. After being ejected from the house (with no shoes on), the sliding doors opened to reveal nobody waiting outside for her, not even family or friends - just Davina clapping and shouting "yay" sarcastically. An upset and confused Beinazir was then shoved onto a bus, given a quick unpleasant exit interview (with no best bits!) and sent on her way. Ouch. And then of course there were the two housemates that won their right to be, erm, real housemates by legally changing their names to Dog-Face and Half-Wit. "We no longer want to watch people sitting around knitting or making cups of tea," said psychologist Dr Cynthia McVey, senior lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University. "We have become desensitised to reality shows, so programme makers must devise new ways to keep our attention. We want to see contestants tried and tested, and a bit frustrated. People now entering these shows should realise that absolutely anything could happen." Britain's got breakdowns-- Susan Boyle became world famous overnight. She walked on to the Britain's Got Talent stage to sneers and laughter from the cynical audience, who had made the cruel mistake of judging a book by its cover. To their surprise, SuBo opened her gob to reveal the voice of an angel. Cue a standing ovation and a new YouTube sensation. But the instant transformation from obscurity to hanging out with Oprah was too much for the Scot (who has learning difficulties); she had to be checked into a rehabilitation centre after suffering a breakdown. Let's not forget 10-year-old singer/ballerina Hollie Steel. She sufferered an attack of nerves live on air. Hollie pleaded to start again but after being told that there was no time left by Ant and Dec, she burst into hysterical tears. It was extremely uncomfortable to watch. Her mum went on stage to comfort her and Simon Cowell insisted that time would be found from somewhere to allow Hollie to finish. Time for a reality check?-- In a recent online poll asking readers whether they thought reality TV has gone too far, 77% out of 6,080 responses said: "Yes. Somebody is going to get hurt and the show producers will be responsible." It's no surprise that we enjoy watching D-list twits and fame-hungry wannabes being ridiculed for our entertainment - that's what they're there for! And they should know by now what to expect. But be that as it may, it's time for reality telly producers to ask themselves if it's necessary to push contestants quite so far. Let them entertain us by all means, but do we really need to place them with snakes and crocodiles, reduce them to tears, break their bones, push them into breakdowns and starve them into becoming rat killers? And besides, rodent knife crime puts me off my sausages... (my view)-I 100% agree on this besides......the producers ect of the shows sicken me as they get all these"Celebs" who's passed their sell by dates and fell off the ladder years and years ago! in the vain attempt to reignite their"Status"of the past to the present....its really sick and the public watch this shit-HAY PEOPLE!OPEN UP YOUR WINDOWS AND DOORS....THEIRS A WHOLE WORLD OUT THERE......GET LIVES WITH YEA!