As much as I love Bob’s Burgers, New Girl, and Sleepy Hollow, I miss the days when Fox was best known for its trashy entertainment. Their current-day reality/non-scripted shows — American Idol, Hell’s Kitchen, and even tonight’s I Wanna Marry “Harry,” about a bunch of women who think they’re competing for the affections of Prince Harry when in fact they’re speaking to Matthew Hicks, a Prince Harry look-alike — have nothing on Joe Millionaire, The Swan, and Playing It Straight (“in which one woman spent time on a ranch with a group of men in an attempt to discern which were gay and which were straight”).
These were garbage shows made by garbage people FOR garbage people, which is why I’m still shocked that it was CBS, not Fox, that broadcast Kid Nation, one of the most fascinating one-season experiments in TV history. In case you don’t remember where you were on September 19, 2007 (it’s my 9/11), Kid Nation dropped a bunch of kids into a ranch in New Mexico, and told them to survive without parental supervision. It was ridiculous, harmful, and hilarious, which is also how I’d describe the show’s breakout star, Taylor, a then-10-year-old girl from Georgia. Her Wiki page is wonderful:
A former beauty pageant contestant…she was one of 40 children who were supposed to build a functioning society among themselves, with little adult supervision. DuPriest became known for her infamous line, “Deal with it!” and her extreme laziness on the show. She claims the producers told her to say “Ugly chickens deserve to die,” among other things on the show, and complained about how they made her look. (Via)
Or in GIF form:
She was Honey Boo Boo meets Al Swearengen, and I need to know what happened to her.
That’s from her Twitter account, which is unfortunately locked, minus this photo.
Her IMDb is remarkably unhelpful, although I love these message board comments:
Taylor is an 11 year old CHILD. And IMHO CBS did her wrong. This kid has more love in her heart than most of the adults out there. Leave her alone. She’s a child for God sake. And if she WAS a bratt, why was EVERY TIME another child cried on Kid Nation, or left, she cried with them??? That little girl has more heart in her little finger than most adults now adays.
She has a heart in her little finger? OMGWTF
Well said. Our search continues to a Reddit AMA with Kid Nation contestant, Michael.
Was Taylor really as reprehensible as she seemed?
Even more so than the camera captured.
Jesus Christ. Any stories?
She said fat people should belong in zoos. “Make-up can fix your face but not your weight.”
You be you, girl. Anyway, Taylor has an ask.fm page, which she routinely updates.
Damn you have a nice body do you workout alot
Thanks.. And yup I workout several times through the week
How did you get a role in KN ? :)
My modeling agentcy looked for shows that would be good for me but also a show where I was myself not a stripted character. So when they heard about kid nation my sister and I both auditioned and I made it:)
Where are you going to college next year?
I’m going to university at UGA
What’s the deal with black people? They are not black, and they are not people
That’s a horrible thing to say, and quite honestly you need a long lesson about life. God bless you.
Why were you such a brat on kid nation?
Baby I was born this way.
So there you go. Reality TV’s greatest villain turned into a high school senior, soon-to-be University of Georgia freshman who shares Tim Tebow photos on her Instagram. Sounds about right.
