Is 'Breaking Amish' Show Faked? TLC Responds to Accusations (VIDEO)
The Learning Channel (TLC) has introduced us to several different lifestyles over the years: there's the polygamist Brown Family on "Sister Wives" and "Extreme Couponing," which features people going to extremes to get bargains. Now the authenticity of the new show "Breaking Amish" has been called into question and TLC has responded and promises to prove its reality.
A Facebook page, "Breaking Amish the Truth" has revealed several "truths" about the people featured on the series that explores four Amish and one Mennonite leaving their religious communities to move to New York. For example, one claim is that Kate, an Amish bishop's daughter, sent photos to a modeling agency.
For the Amish, photography of any sort is deemed a sin, as it promotes vanity. If the claim were true, Kate would surely have been punished, possibly shunned, for her behavior. The press surrounding this incident and the show's claim that all cast members are leaving their communities "for the first time" has been proven false.
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Variety magazine as well as the New York Daily News reported that there have been "misrepresentations" by the show's participants, and possibly even by TLC. The company has now agreed to drop the phrase "leaving the community for the first time" and instead will state that they "have all chosen to leave before the show."
The show has created an immediate sensation, even though it has only aired two full episodes. There is somewhat of a national fascination with the Amish and Mennonite people who choose to keep to themselves and devote their entire lives to their strict religious beliefs. Their lives are reminders of a different era that has not changed with the times.
TLC has issued the following statement in response to all the claims about the show's authenticity.
"There is a lot of information floating around about the group on 'Breaking Amish.' Much of it is not true, but some of it is— and is addressed in upcoming episodes," TLC told CBS 21 News.
Watch a trailer for "Breaking Amish" HERE:
