Evictions Noticed: 19 Abrupt Reality TV Farewells

[caitlin1214]

Nudity! Fights! Ticks?! As we prepare to meet a new cast on MTV's ''Real World,'' we remember Frenchie Davis, Puck, and other unfortunates whose 15 minutes of reality show fame was cut short by fate or alleged bad behavior

By Kate Sullivan, Erin E. Stevenson
Apr 16, 2008

(EW.com)


JONATHAN PENNER
Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites (2008)
The New York City writer was the 14th castaway voted off Survivor: Cook Islands — after he'd mutinied to another tribe — and received a second chance to outwit, outplay, and outlast in the show's current season. But he fell during a race through the jungle, puncturing his knee. Days later, the medical team arrived to check up on the stitched wound and discovered a life-threatening infection had developed. Penner was air-lifted out, and he's now on the mend.




JACK MACKENROTH
Project Runway Season 4 (2007)
Guest judge and retired NFL star Tiki Barber chose Mackenroth as the winner of the season's third episode, picking the three-piece menswear outfit the swimmer/model/contestant designed for him to wear. But two episodes later, the Seattle native was out of the competition, announcing that he would need to leave to get medical treatment for a serious, multi-resistant staph infection that had developed in his face. (He recovered and is developing a line of men's dress shirts and pants.)



TRISHA CUMMINGS
The Real World: Sydney (2007)
What's a little shove between housemates? Quite a lot if you're constantly catfighting like Cummings and Parisa Montazaran, who often got into high-volume arguments over boy-stealing, house-cleaning, and Montazaran's bad singing, among other bones of contention. A fight over phone use turned physical when Cummings pushed Montazaran backwards over a step. Montazaran complained to producers, and though the castmates asked her to let an apologetic Cummings stay, Montazaran insisted she must go. And so she did.

 

[caitlin1214]

AARON SONG
Hell's Kitchen Season 3 (2007)
Red-hot tempered celebrity chef/host Gordon Ramsay isn't one to suffer fools — or highly emotional, unwell contestants — lightly. Breaking into tears in the first episode and complaining of cramps (and doing mediocre work) in the second, California retirement-home chef Song fainted and was hospitalized in the third episode with an undisclosed illness. Ramsay took time out of berating the other cooks to call Song and tell him his health and doctor's orders would prevent him from continuing on the show.



GARY STRITESKY
Survivor: Fiji (2007)
Affectionately dubbed ''Papa Smurf'' by his Moto tribemates for his bearded, husky appearance, adventuresome Minnesota school-bus driver Stritesky — reportedly the only contestant to apply for this season, as opposed to being recruited — could wrestle and scarf down hairy pig snouts with the best. But after experiencing difficulty breathing, dizziness, and two visits from the medical team within the first 10 days, Papa Smurf packed it in and left the show. He later said his symptoms were caused by an allergic reaction to his innumerable insect bites.



CLIFF CROOKS
Top Chef Season 2 (2006)
It's all fun and games until you try to physically drag a persnickety castmate into the frivolity. Celebrating the end of a brutal day in the kitchen with drinks and head-shaving, the remaining competitors woke up fellow competitor Marcel Vigneron and threatened to shave his head. Crooks grappled a visibly displeased Marcel to the floor, which head judge Tom Colicchio and the producers deemed an aggressive act, expressly forbidden by the rules. Crooks had to pack his knives and leave, leaving just four in the competition.



KEITH MICHAEL
Project Runway Season 3 (2006)
In the ingeniously titled fourth episode, ''Reap What You Sew,'' self-taught menswear designer Michael, an enviable front-runner from the beginning of the competition, was found in possession of pattern-making books, which the show's mentor Tim Gunn announced was verboten per the contracts each designer signs prior to production. Keith has said there was no disclaimer in the contract nor was his work aided by the books, but he was nevertheless told ''auf Wiedersehen'' by producers.

 

[caitlin1214]

GABRIEL IGLESIAS
Last Comic Standing (2006)
The rules on Last Comic Standing are no joke — just ask Iglesias, who, before his ouster, was considered a front-runner to win. Producers discovered he'd violated the ''house-phone only'' communication rule by e-mailing his girlfriend from his Blackberry and then sneaking off the comedian compound to call her from a pay phone once his Blackberry was confiscated. The big guy was put out on the street before the episode's elimination round.



BRUCE KANEGAI
Survivor: Panama (2006)
When you've been eating off the land for weeks in your Central American camp, perhaps a cheeseburger feast — while undeniably tempting — isn't the smartest way to go. Especially if you have an iffy stomach. Suffering increasing gut pain, popular tribemate Kanegai, a teacher from Simi Valley, Calif., was taken to a hospital where doctors discovered his entire digestive system was blocked. His quest for a million bucks was over after 27 days, but he later rejoined the production as a member of the jury.



JEFF CONAWAY
Celebrity Fit Club Season 3 (2006)
After Conaway (you know, Kenickie from Grease) blamed a loony outburst — ''You can take your f---in' show and shove it up your f---in' ass!'' — on taking two Benedryl, Chastity Bono told him that the group thought he was on something a bit stronger. His ''Benedryl'' turned out to be Norco, a prescription pain reliever. After a heart-to-heart with addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky, Conaway left the show to attend drug rehab. Conaway sought help again from Dr. Drew on VH1's Celebrity Rehab in 2007 but quit during the seventh episode.



JEFF FRAZA
The Contender (2005)
TKO by...chicken pox? Awwww. Jeff, a.k.a. ''Hell Raza,'' was DQ'ed in week 4 of the competition after contracting the contagious virus; the poor guy was the only boxer who never saw a match. But it was win-win in the end: His youthful ailment allowed Peter Manfredo Jr. to return to the show, and Fraza got a second chance on season 2 (but lost by a unanimous decision in the preliminary rounds).

 

[caitlin1214]

COREY CLARK
American Idol Season 2 (2003)
Apparently, a criminal record isn't a big deal on American Idol — Trenyce, Bo Bice, and Scott Savol all had one — but keeping it a secret from producers can get you canned. Season 2 finalist Clark learned this lesson after getting the boot for not divulging a 2002 arrest (he was accused of assaulting his sister and resisting arrest, though those charges were later dropped). He later went on Primetime Live, claiming that he'd had an affair with judge Paula Abdul.



JUSTIN SEBIK
Big Brother 2 (2001)
He made crude jokes, peed on a window, and threatened fellow houseguests Bucky and Kent — but when Justin held a knife to housemate Krista Stegall's neck during a makeout session and asked her if she would still love him if he killed her, producers finally took action, calling Justin into the Diary Room never to return. (Later, the New York Times found that he had a criminal record for assault and then some, prompting networks to look more closely into their reality-show contestants' pasts.)



MICHAEL SKUPIN
Survivor: The Australian Outback (2001)
Skupin, the alpha male who notoriously hunted down and cooked the little piggy on the second season of Survivor, ended up getting roasted himself as victim of a horrific freak accident: He fainted over a fire and fell into it. Skupin was air-lifted to the nearest hospital to be treated for second- and third-degree burns on his forearms. Later, he claimed he was ''miraculously healed'' in 10 days — some small comfort for losing out on a chance at $1 million.



TAHEED WATSON AND YTOSSIE PATTERSON
Temptation Island (2001)
Surprisingly, Fox's very skeevy Temptation Island — on which sexy singles attempted to seduce men and women struggling in their relationships — tried to prove it had some sort of morals by kicking off Watson and Patterson. The two were accused of lying on their show application by omitting that they had a child together. (Apparently, TI drew the line at breaking up families.) Later, in a defamation lawsuit against Fox, Watson and Patterson claimed show producers knew about their son all along and that they had difficulty finding acting work as a result of Fox making them out to be bad parents.

 

[caitlin1214]

IRENE McGEE
The Real World: Seattle (1998)
Nasal-toned New Yorker McGee's announcement that she was quitting the show due to a relapse of Lyme disease led to possibly the most dramatic departure in Real World history. Before leaving, she called housemate/nemesis Stephen Williams ''a homosexual.'' Williams (who came out of the closet years later) chased after her departing car, opened the door, and slapped her. (He was allowed to remain on the show.) She has since said she quit due to ethical issues with the production.



DAVID ''PUCK'' RAINEY
The Real World: San Francisco (1994)
We suffered through many a grueling show — wherein Puck (far left) blew snot, ate Pedro's peanut butter with his never-washed fingers, and ruined Pedro's Kleenex-worthy engagement by announcing that he was marrying a girl he'd known for a week — before the roommates began discussing his dismissal. When Pedro said he would walk if Puck wasn't kicked out, they finally took action. After asking him nicely to tone things down (Puck's response: ''I'm already on 7!''), the San Fran cast found an easy method to dismiss him: speakerphone. ICE!



DAVID EDWARDS
The Real World: Los Angeles (1993)
After a house meeting, the roommates decided they no longer felt comfortable with David (top row, far right) in the house after he aggressively pulled at a comforter wrapped around his nearly nude housemate, Tami (top row, second from left). Was it sexual harassment? Was it horseplay gone too far? Does it matter when David should have been booted out of the house as soon as he revealed that tragedy/comedy mask tattoo on his manboob?




FRENCHIE DAVIS
American Idol Season 2 (2003) An early favorite during Hollywood week (remember that duet with Kimberley Locke on ''Band of Gold''?), Frenchie got her pink slip from American Idol after it slipped out that she had posed topless on an adult website. The show didn't make much of her ouster — Frenchie just didn't appear on the next episode. Some fans petitioned to have her reinstated, but to no avail.

 

[elizat]

Oh, I remember that from the Real World w/ Irene... MTV re-played that bit over and over and over. I don't watch the other shows and haven't seen the Real World in years though. I remember Puck too. That guy is just a train wreck- he was just a very annoying and disrespectful person. I bet they'd keep him on now, though, for ratings!