Original subtitles

[♪ low-key piano music playing]

[machine beeping]

[nurse] Kari?

Kari? Can you hear me?

[Kari coughing]

Kari?

Squeeze my hand. Squeeze my hand.

Kari.

[Kari] They saw my oxygen just go lower and lower

until everyone was kicked out.

I couldn't wake up.

Like, I almost died for reality television.

[announcer] A group of ordinary women

hand over their lives to a team of cosmetic and plastic surgeons,

put through a brutal three-month makeover

in the most unique competition ever.

[host] One of these lucky women will be crowned The Swan.

[Rosanna Scotto] Are you sick of depending on your inner beauty?

The Fox series The Swan is looking for new contestants.

-[presenter] You're going to be a Swan. -No!

[presenter] You're going to be a Swan.

Oh, I'm so excited!

The Swan did feel like a golden opportunity.

We're gonna get, you know, free plastic surgery.

Who wouldn't want that?

[reporter 1] It is America's number one reality makeover show.

[reporter 2] More than half a million women

with less-than-stunning looks apply to be on The Swan.

[Beth] They had to have been able to spot,

"You're really pretty,

"but you don't feel good about yourself.

We can work with that."

[Dr. Randal Haworth] Woo! These are big.

[Cindy] I had eyebrow surgery.

[Kristy] Laser skin resurfacing.

Tummy tuck. Mid-face lift.

Fat pad removal in my cheeks.

Breast augmentation.

Veneers.

Oh, my God. The dentistry.

[Rob Anderson] There was an extreme amount of surgeries.

It is just so diabolical.

[Dr. Haworth] A lot of cheeseburgers in the tubes.

Beauty is power, period.

[Carl] Plastic surgery is barbaric.

With the women, you're putting a cold scalpel onto flesh.

And certain things fail.

We were like broken women.

I told you you were gonna be depressed, didn't I?

[Kelly A] We had self-esteem issues and we had body issues.

I'm gonna be in a string bikini before this is over.

[Kelly B] It came down to,

are you trying hard enough for the pageant?

The shows are clearly over the line.

[newscaster] How far will TV producers go before someone says enough?

I haven't talked about it to anyone for 22 years now.

[Kari] All these years later, definitely a trip down memory lane.

I'm hopping on that plane to maybe put this baby to bed.

♪♪

Los Angeles, here I come.

Good morning.

[Kelly B] I actually thought about not doing the documentary.

I did not want to open up this can of worms.

[Kristy] It's a hard thing to talk about.

[Amy] It could have been a beautiful story.

But it turned into a reality nightmare.

[assistant] Kelly interview, take two. AB common mark.

[producer] We're gonna take a big, deep breath.

[inhaling]

We're gonna get rid of any nervousness. You're born to do this.

Ready?

[inhaling]

In for three, out for five.

Twenty years later, here I am.

[producer] For those who don't know, what is The Swan?

Do you want how it was sold to us?

-[producer] Sure. -Or do you want the truth?

♪ California ♪

[radio announcer] Have you ever looked in the mirror

and wondered what it would feel like

to finally become the person you've always imagined?

[Kelly A] I was driving one day,

and I hear this advertisement over the country radio station.

[radio announcer] Have you dreamed about plastic surgery,

but never thought you could afford it?

Self-esteem, plastic surgery, and I remember turning up the volume.

Like, what did they just say?

[radio announcer] One life-changing opportunity

could transform everything.

And they were like, oh, there's a, a life makeover show.

On the thing, they were talking about a career coach, a personal trainer.

Have you ever wanted your own nutritionist?

Have you ever wanted plastic surgery?

My first thought was like, "Oh, free boobs.

I want free boobs."

[radio announcer] Casting is happening now for The Swan.

[Kristy] I wanted some big-ass cans.

That was the Pamela Anderson. That was Maxim.

That was like the, you know, I wanted to be that bitch.

[Kelly A] When I was growing up, it was the time of, like,

Cindy Crawford, Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell.

They all had long legs. They were all tall.

They were all skinny. Their arms were skinny.

[reporter] Pin-thin Lindsay to Nicole Richie's super-skinny trim-down.

That's who you were supposed to look like, so I never felt like I measured up.

Every time someone asks me about the aughts,

I feel like I have like a flashback

of me, like, catching the last helicopter out of 'Nam.

[reporter] Hollywood's extreme dieting craze.

There is really an epidemic in Hollywood right now.

Starving myself. I was fainting.

Like... [laughs]... like not...

We were braver than the troops.

It's-- it's crazy.

You take six pills a day,

and what it does is it shrinks your stomach to where you're not hungry.

Is that good, shrinking your stomach?

Yeah, look at mine.

The ideology of 25 years ago was if you lose a little weight,

oh, my God, your life is going to open up.

And so here's this show that says,

"I am going to take all of the anxieties you had as a kid and as a teenager,

"and I'm gonna take them away,

and you're gonna have a great second act."

[♪ bright music playing]

[announcer] Come in person to our open casting call

and tell us why you deserve the chance to become The Swan.

It was very intimidating because it was a big, long board table,

and I've sat at many board tables and presented facts

on financial firms and stuff,

but never about, "Well, I think I'm too fat here."

[Cindy] They ask us, "What is it that you want to change?"

I was like, "Well, it would probably be faster if I told you

what I don't want changed."

I said, "From my ankles down."

[Beth] And they made us put together a wish list.

So in my mind, I'm thinking, let's shoot for the stars.

Like, this is every insecurity I've ever had.

I'm writing everything down that I could possibly think of

that I would change about my body at that time.

I've always wanted to look wonderful on the outside

and to feel like I'm my own person and know who I am on the inside.

I was juggling it all,

taking care of my family financially,

having that burden.

I was responsible.

I did everything that you're supposed to do.

I was dealing with a lot of emotional baggage at the time,

and I needed...

a change.

[Kelly A] I go to this casting call.

The line was filled with all of these girls.

I had been in a shitty relationship,

with someone that really messed up my self-esteem.

I would never think anyone would

be looking at me and think that I'm pretty.

I don't like my legs, my boobs.

I don't like to show my body at all.

I felt like shit about myself at the time.

Like, I had never thought I was pretty.

Always compared myself to my friends.

Was not happy with my body.

I never felt like I measured up.

They're like, "Tell us your story. Why do you want to be on The Swan?"

And so I just told them.

I came from a broken home.

Dad wasn't around.

It did have an effect on me,

you know, being raised in that home with a single mom.

I left home when I was 17.

And next thing I know, I was joining the Army.

After I had my daughter, my mammaries just didn't make it.

Rest in peace to them.

They kind of look like cow teats.

And at 23, that really affects, you know, the way you see yourself.

And then they were like, "Well, would you mind showing us?"

I just put it all out there, you know.

I got two gears: high and no.

That's it. I don't know any other way.

So I'm pretty sure they were like, oh yeah, she's going to make for good TV.

[Julee] The original concept for The Swan, as it was told to me,

was transforming women's lives.

Women who were struggling,

who felt that they weren't enough, that they needed something,

whether it's changing their nose or losing weight

or fixing their teeth.

Like, these women all had something they felt was holding them back.

And Nely had this dream that she was going to be the person

who would make that happen for them.

-Nely Galán. -[audience applauding]

I'm doing a chili cook-off at a nudist colony.

-You should come along. -I'll be there.

-Let's see how brave you are, Ricardo. -[laughs]

[Carl] Nely Galán created The Swan.

She was already a very successful television executive,

had run Telemundo.

Her original pitch was very much based around these programs

that she had experienced in Latin America.

Making 16 women who were sort of plain Janes

into exceptional women.

The transformation that we are encouraging women to have

is inside out.

I mean, these women get a therapist,

a trainer, yes, a plastic surgeon, a dentist.

The Swans were given 90 days to complete everything.

Go through their surgeries,

go to the gym,

get on their diet,

therapy.

Had to live in LA inside an apartment complex.

[Carl] If we could take them out of their element

and be in control of them for this 90-day period,

you start thinking about if you have the right professionals,

you could substantially change people's lives.

[Dr. Sherri Worth] This is the most unique experience of our careers.

[Dr. Haworth] Our goal is to transform average women

into confident beauties.

[Greg Comeaux] It's a brutal regimen over three months.

[Nely Galán] Only some will make it.

[Dr. Terry Dubrow] But all will be changed forever.

[Julee] On the show, we had a team of experts.

Dr. Dubrow and Dr. Haworth.

Both plastic surgeons.

Dr. Worth, the dentist.

Greg, the trainer.

Dr. Ianni, their therapist,

and the life coach was Nely.

[producer] And Amanda Byram.

Hosted by Amanda Byram.

Good evening, dream team.

Now it's time to hear your strategy.

Plastic surgery is surgical psychiatry.

I have to make patients happy.

I don't consider myself an artist.

I'm more of an interior designer.

So I work with the chairs.

I work with the dressers and the drapes and so on.

So you have to find the commonality

and have them blend and sing together.

And Nely says, "Oh, I want you to be part of it."

Here's a bunch of videotapes.

They would want to know who would make good TV.

Not in terms of their backstory.

I'm just looking at their face.

And my goal was, as a plumber,

can I perform early hyper aesthetic surgery on these people?

[producer] But "plumber" is weird because you're literally

talking about toilets.

-Well... -[producer] And women.

That was unintended.

We're hired as the plumber or electrician.

We're here to do a job.

Our role was to decide who would make good transformation for TV,

visually impactful.

And if it's just like, "Ooh, it's very subtle. Look at this.

Oh, it's so little. It's improved."

It's not interesting.

You want to see drama.

[Julee] There was an extensive casting process.

And then they sent the producers out to the hometowns

of these women that they chose.

[Kelly A] I'm like peeking out the upstairs window.

I'm like, "Oh shit, they got the camera."

[presenter] Kelly, I have a surprise for you.

Congratulations. You're gonna be a Swan.

[crying]

Not bad, honey.

It was like Ed McMahon bringing the check to the door like you're a millionaire.

I just can't believe-- I heard it on the radio,

and I just never thought in a million years

it would happen to me.

I beat out 250,000 girls.

Like, oh, my God, my life's about to change.

[presenter] You're gonna be a Swan.

Are you serious? No.

[laughs]

Oh, my God! No, you're kidding!

Oh, I'm so excited!

Oh, I waited for that for so long.

I really did think, like, "Oh wow."

You know, like, this could be something huge.

I used to have these grandiose ideas that I was funny enough to be on SNL

and all this crazy stuff.

Like, I was young. I didn't know any better.

[Beth] This is what I want.

To walk in a room and just have heads turning.

This will change my life forever.

I did feel very special.

This was like, wow.

Out of this room of, I don't even know

how many hundreds of women came to this thing,

and I got picked.

Like, whew! Like, I felt lucky.

We anticipated a three-month filming period.

And explaining it to my family...

Thank you, baby.

...was difficult.

[Kelly A] We weren't allowed to really tell anybody I was going anywhere,

but we had to tell them something.

And so my uncle is, like, this colonel in the military, retired,

so he, like, knows all this top-secret stuff.

He thought for sure I was being trafficked.

He looked it up.

He couldn't find anything on Fox, anything on The Swan.

So he had my mother convinced that it was like some trafficking thing.

I guess we were trafficked to The Swan.

We were trafficked to the Bird Palace. Yeah.

I mean, you know... [laughs]

[♪ synth pop music playing]

[presenter] It's the first day of the extensive

three-month Swan program.

[Kristy] I remember getting to Marina Del Rey,

and I had all this stuff, all these bags and boxes and stuff.

And we were looking around. I was like, "Oh, this is nice," you know.

[Kelly A] The first day that I got to LA,

I got the experience of, like, being in "Hollywood."

It's something I'll remember forever.

[producer] So we have your luggage.

It's like Christmas!

All the goodies.

My calendar.

It's literally the map to The Swan, honestly.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

This is our binder that we had to do.

So when we got there, they brought in all these magazines,

and we had to basically build this binder.

[Julee] The women were asked to keep journals,

calendars, vision boards.

They were asked to document every moment

of their participation in The Swan program.

I literally wrote January 19, 2004.

"The day my life began, my new one."

[producer] Can you tell me about The Swan rules?

My gosh. [laughing]

This is... Okay.

The Swan program rules.

"I will be solely responsible for ensuring my time here is a success."

"I will not see my family or friends."

"I will follow the plan provided by The Swan team of experts."

"I will go to therapy once a week."

"I will stick to a strict diet."

"I will work out six days a week, sometimes twice a day."

"I will work with The Swan coach to stay motivated."

"I agree that I will not see myself in a mirror,

so I can focus on my internal transformation."

[laughing] Oh, no! There's no mirrors.

There's no mirror.

I was like, no mirrors? Like, what are you talking about?

Definitely a shock. It was a surprise.

And then them having to go through everything I brought.

Anything with a reflective surface like CDs,

you know, too bad, you don't get 'em.

[Jenna] With reality TV,

you are put in this sort of bubble that's not, like, real.

And the only information you're getting is from the crew,

the production, because you have really no access

to the outside world other than that.

So you sort of just go along with the flow.

I think for us as producers,

we are naturally going to be people that are control freaks

because we need to control the story.

What the show started out as and what it ended up as

were completely different because of Mike Darnell and Fox.

I'm certainly the edgiest guy at Fox, I think.

So I've always been about pushing the envelope,

and thank God I work at a company that allows me to do that.

It's been a really good pairing for my entire career,

so it's been terrific.

Mike Darnell was responsible for the success

of reality TV and how the genre evolved.

I mean, he brought American Idol to Fox.

Like, he had hit after hit.

Fox was a network that was loud.

Shots fired, shots fired!

[announcer] On Cops: Armed and Dangerous.

Do not trust anybody.

[announcer] The most extreme competition ever.

[Carl] There's a lot of competition between networks

trying to be crazier and push limits.

That was always the mandate.

[Jenna] Mike came in and he was like,

"We got to make this like a big event.

We gotta have a beauty pageant in this."

[producer] What did Mike want?

He wanted, you know...

It's like we're going to take--

We're going to take ugly chicks and make 'em hot.

[Cindy] So we arrive.

They brought us into the production room.

You know, Nely's called court.

And we're all sitting around,

and we're talking about what's going to happen, what's going on.

And she kind of drops a bomb on us.

"You ladies are going to get to be in a pageant."

You get to walk on the stage in your bikini

in front of millions of people

because you're going to have so much confidence.

And we're all just sitting there pretty much speechless.

I'm like, okay, I could see everybody was a little overwhelmed with that,

but we're going to do this.

You know, we're all in it together.

I'm old school. I kept thinking a pageant.

What talent could I do?

I'm like, "Okay, I used to play the flute."

[Kelly A] The Swan promised us therapy, plastic surgery.

It did not promise us a pageant.

None of that was mentioned before.

None of that was mentioned before.

Yeah, we did sign up to be filmed.

Yes, we did sign up to share our stories.

We didn't sign up for a pageant.

[producer] What was it like to do that gray underwear shoot?

Oh, my gosh. Oh, the granny panties.

[laughs] The gray granny panties.

I never felt so uncomfortable in my life.

I had to slowly turn myself in a circle multiple times.

I-I didn't know what they were going to use it for.

[Kristy] They had us wearing gray wife beaters

that they turned into crop tops,

and then these giant baggy underwear.

You know, we're not wearing underwear three sizes too big.

[producer] I heard you brought a prop with you.

The fabulous green screen...

granny panties.

[producer] [laughing] Stop!

I could put these on over my clothes right now.

[producer] Let's see.

[exclaims]

[Carl] The rotating shots.

It was good for the doctors to be able to see that

because we need them to tell us what's possible here.

What do you want to do with that nose, Randal?

Well, I think the biggest problem with her is that she's got such long nostrils.

In her own words, she looked like a witch.

Loose skin with bad stretch marks.

[Dr. Haworth] We would show up, try to be quick-witted.

It's like Simon Cowell, America's Got Talent.

You know, you have to have the mean person.

Her lower lip almost so gawky, and I would like to do something

with her upper lip just to give balance.

So funny and charming, she charms her way out of doing work a lot.

She doesn't have the greatest genetics.

You want to take some fat out of her face.

Take some fat out of her cheeks.

[Scaachi Koul] When I was 12, I would watch The Swan.

The way that this boardroom works is that it feels like

it's like seven against one.

It was like Mission: Impossible meets Weird Science

to construct this perfect woman.

It would zoom into parts of her body.

And they had like bull's-eyes.

It needs to be feminized. Feminize her face.

Bring back the femininity.

[Dr. Worth] I can totally change her smile

and take it from strong, masculine teeth

and make her a beautiful, feminine smile.

She has very masculine teeth.

And I was like, "What the fuck are masculine teeth?"

They got a dick and balls?

-Beth, how are you? -Good. How are you?

Good. I'm Dr. Dubrow. Nice to meet you.

You complained of some loose skin above the belly button

and some loose skin in this area, right?

All right, so we typically do a tummy tuck.

Your breasts have deflated. You've lost the upper fullness.

The best thing for that is just breast augmentation.

I grew up in an environment

that was very controlled in a religion that,

you know, you just follow the rules.

I saw The Swan as a way of maybe

taking for the first time ever a little...

part of the world for myself

to learn more about myself and become who I was without my family,

without my child,

without my religion.

Young Beth actually was so excited

to have this amazing opportunity.

I have a drawing for you that my friends made before I left

so each person can get dedicated to them.

-You want to look like this? -Yeah, just like that.

Dr. Dubrow is funny, warm, listened to me.

We hit it off right off the bat.

He would bounce things off of us and say, "Well, maybe not this or maybe this."

Now your nose, let's talk about your nose.

Because that's sort of the number one thing.

-Yes. -If you were just to do a simple,

what we call hump removal,

that would probably be 80% improvement in your nose.

Oh, definitely.

After the camera stopped rolling, I said, "I don't think so.

I think I want to leave it alone."

And he said, "Well, we'll just leave it until we decide later."

And I'm like, "I don't want to do it."

[♪ somber music playing]

Some of the girls had told me, "I didn't know you could say no."

I'm like, "It's your body."

[Dr. Haworth] Your nose is just too long and too droopy for your face.

This nose has got to go.

We've lost a lot of volume here from the nursing.

And you need improvement of your abdomen.

You've got stretch marks here and a little bit of overhang.

We're going to cut all this out.

I didn't feel like I could say, "No, I don't want that."

Or, "Not so much of that."

I just-- I trusted them and just let them do it.

[producer] How much say did the women have

over what procedures they received?

I'd say women had maybe 1% say

over what procedures they had.

Very, very little.

The hard part of this was whiteboarding it.

It was like a military campaign.

[Carl] It was a very aggressive plan.

[Julee] Well, the anesthesiologist told me

they only had 10 hours that they could actually

keep these women under anesthesia.

And so as many procedures as they could do within that 10 hours

is what they would have done.

[Kristy] I had rhinoplasty, brow lift.

[Dr. Haworth] Woo! These are big.

[Kristy] Breast augmentation.

I love it!

[Kristy] Liposuction.

I had the laser skin resurfacing,

which was by far the worst of all of it.

[Dr. Haworth] And sort of the challenge for the filming

was that I have to get the reveal.

They have to look good on this day.

So I wanted to get the face stuff done as quickly as possible.

So even to get a week to two weeks extra healing.

It was very intense filming.

You have to just trust your judgment.

You have to trust your training.

A rather grueling, challenging operation.

Cindy Ingle was great. I was particularly proud of her.

She had a really difficult nose job, and I think she came out fantastic.

[monitor beeping]

For me, it's like, okay, they're doing life coaching

and, oh yeah, they're doing the workout in there.

I'm more interested in, like, how am I gonna

make this woman look beautiful?

[Tawnya] After they told me everything that they wanted to do for me,

I went back to my apartment.

And one of the PAs came in,

and she said, "Well, did you know that they're going to tag-team you?"

And I'm like, "What do you mean?"

"Well, Dr. Dubrow wants to do all of your body surgery,

"and Dr. Haworth wants to do your face surgery

"because he's the artist.

"He wants to artistically redo your face.

"They want you to be the oldest person to win a pageant.

"But if you don't play by the rules,

"you don't have Dr. Haworth do this and Dr. Dubrow do that,

it's not going to happen."

I go, "No, I don't want to do that."

What makes me feel really bad is Beth had to take my place with them.

They tag-teamed her.

Tawnya didn't feel comfortable with what he wanted to do on her.

So because of that, she switched doctors.

And then my second surgery

was all of a sudden planned with Dr. Haworth.

[Tawnya] Dr. Haworth was really, like, into big boobs, big lips.

And so what he does, and he said this was his specialty surgery.

Nobody else in Beverly Hills did this.

They slice you a V right here, and they pull this part up.

And this part of your lip, your mouth, becomes your lip, your top lip.

And you never have to get injections again.

I was told that if I didn't get everything that was on my list,

I would be sent home.

None of this was my choice at all.

You're told, "This is what you're doing."

And no questions asked, really.

Some of the cases, Dr. Haworth's doing by himself.

Some cases, I'm doing by myself.

Other cases, we're doing as a combination

as part of a team approach.

I think it's really great. And plus, he needs my help.

[both laugh]

There are no victims in life. They are only volunteers.

And as long as people understand what they're getting into

and they're of sound mind, sound intent,

and there's no hidden agenda here,

then that's solely up to the individual

to make that decision, is it not?

I had not figured out for myself at that point yet.

Just because someone's telling you you have to do something

does not mean you do.

Look at the size of my wand.

That's not fair.

I went in trusting that these people

actually were going to do something really good and help make me better.

-Brow lift. -Rhinoplasty.

-Breast augmentation. -Skin-only tummy tuck.

Cankles. Done.

[Beth] I think they had to dehumanize us

because, ultimately, we were just a job.

The producers were told to not get involved with the Swans.

Don't get emotional with them.

They're not your friends.

I don't think that any of the Swans

anticipated what they were going to look like

or feel like after surgery.

I mean, it was horrific. It was intense.

[Kathy] After surgery,

I remember the handler had to keep propping me up

because I was so out of it from the anesthesia.

-Here we go, okay. -Oh...

Yeah, I know. Just hang on to me.

It was intense to film them waking up from the surgeries.

They were so out of it.

I'm ready to win.

Hi, Beth.

Did you have a little bit of pain today?

I had forgotten how bruised and swollen I was.

I was in such a drugged-up state

that I can't honestly remember how much pain I was in.

All right.

[Tawnya] I would see somebody after their surgery

and not really know who they were

because they were so bandaged up.

They would be walking through the parking garage,

getting to their apartment,

and like they might be taking us out to shoot a B-roll.

And I would be thinking, "Who the heck is that?"

[Dr. Haworth] I think The Swan did a pretty good job

at trying to show the "warts and all" of the process,

the bruising and so on and so forth.

And some of the Swans did struggle with aftercare.

We had, like, one day of aftercare, and then we were taken to our apartments.

This chinstrap is so uncomfortable.

It's like too big, I think.

All right. Watch. Watch this.

-Can you handle that? -Yes.

-Is that better? Okay. -Thank you.

[Kelly A] I knew I was swollen because I had that thing around my head.

I knew my boobs were humongous.

I knew that my ass and my legs were hurting

because they had done so much lipo.

And it was leaking. Like, lipo leaks.

So you, like, leak through your garments and your sheets,

and we didn't have anyone to help us change our bedding.

[Cindy] We basically took care of ourselves.

We did have two roaming nurses, and then that got cut down to one.

And she was having to go to 20-some-odd girls.

So we may see her twice a day.

We may only see her once.

Kathy Rickers and I were roommates,

and we helped each other.

[Kathy] I couldn't sit. I couldn't walk.

I remember Cindy was constantly hearing me, like, cry.

[Cindy] I helped nurse her when the nurses weren't around.

And then later, when I had my procedures done,

she's nursing me.

[Kathy] I think I was a little depressed while I was there.

I was homesick.

And I kind of wonder if she was, too, and just--

I know she hid in her room and I thought, well, maybe she was going through stuff.

My God, I can't even explain how much I miss them.

I probably shouldn't cry. I just had my eyes worked on.

[laughs]

[Cindy] It was very hard being away from the family.

And then my favorite uncle passed away.

And I couldn't go. I couldn't go to his funeral.

I couldn't see him. I couldn't see my family.

I mean, I could have. They did give me that option.

But I wasn't-- They wouldn't let me come back.

And so I talked to my mom.

She's like, "No, Cindy, complete your journey."

You know, that helped ease the pain,

the hurt from not being there.

But I still hate that I wasn't there.

[♪ somber music playing]

[Julee] Here they are alone for three months

in a foreign place without family or friends.

They had to recover in solitude.

[Tawnya] When they said that they had a therapist on staff,

that was a real motivation as well

because they said, you know,

"You'll be going to therapy two, three times a week."

[Julee] Tawnya's depressed and angry about her divorce.

That pissed me off. That made me-- You know, it hurt me.

They said Dr. Lynn will help you with all those issues that are plaguing you.

She was awesome. I really liked her.

It was basically someone to talk to,

and you could just really just let it all out

and then walk away and leave.

-You function like a single parent. -Yeah.

Dr. Ianni was really sweet,

but I have to say I was highly disappointed

in the quality of therapy.

You know what you just called your daughter?

-What? -"My daughter."

Oh.

Not "our daughter."

It says a lot right there.

I like to tell myself that when Nely had this idea,

she did want to help us get over our self-esteem issues.

She did want to help us overcome past traumas.

But she fucking sold us out, is what she did.

[audience cheering]

[Nely] You know, I'm an entrepreneur before anything else,

and I've had my own business for about 15 years.

I'm like Latina Tyler Perry.

Nely, she just had like this aura about her.

Like, she was absolutely fabulous.

She was like, we all thought of her as, like, J-Lo.

But, um, I don't think she knew anything about being a life coach.

I wanted to give women such a big motivator

that they would do the work.

What is a bigger motivator than being in front

of 30 million people in a beauty pageant,

in your bathing suit and in lingerie?

It's enough to kill yourself.

I think I was impressed with her at first,

and then I kind of started seeing the cracks.

Wow, this is pretty sexy. So, uh, can you fit into this yet?

It was just like, this isn't life coaching.

I have only lost 10 pounds.

-How much more do you have to go? -About 20 more pounds to lose.

And how about the diet? Have you been sticking to the diet?

Nely had put us on a 1,200-calorie-a-day diet.

♪ 94, Jenny ♪

Good old Jenny Craig.

What? I'm not cheating.

Jenny lets me have chicken fettuccine, even cakes.

And I've lost over 60 pounds.

[Cindy] We ended up having a sponsor, Jenny Craig.

Everything's already premade.

Pull it out of the freezer, you put it in the microwave.

Whatever it is, easy, easy.

It tasted like bad decisions and regret.

There were so many of us that didn't shit for a week.

[Nely] If you don't change your eating habits,

you're gonna be a tub when you get home.

Dawn has 15 pounds to lose if she wants to make it to the pageant.

I'm gonna let Greg know that she has to step it up in the gym.

[Kelly A] I was trying to figure out how long after my surgery

we started going back to the gym.

And on my calendar was the same time that said "pain, pain, pain, pain, pain."

We have the instructions that we give as plastic surgeons.

I know you got it.

[Dr. Haworth] What they can and can't do.

I knew that they had to do exercise,

but I can't control stupidity or stubbornness.

Three.

[Kristy] When they filmed, my face was burning.

Give me five more.

Felt like somebody had a blow dryer on your face really close.

And the whole time in my mind, I'm just like,

"I got to make the pageant. I got to lose this weight."

[Kelly A] I really wouldn't get to see the other girls

unless we were in the gym.

A lot of us just wanted to get out of the apartment

and interact with each other.

Step it up, y'all. Step it up.

[Tawnya] When I saw the girls in the gym,

I wanted to kind of know their story.

So I got to know a lot of them.

[Cindy] Tawnya and I found out

that we had a lot of stuff, you know, in common.

You know, we both had two kids.

We got close

because we were the two oldest contestants there.

Everyone else was in their 20s.

[no audio]

[Beth] We all got so close with each other.

And developed these really close friendships.

[Tawnya] But I think that part where we all got along

actually aggravated Nely.

[Kathy] At the end, something in my gut just didn't sit right.

Then Nely dropped the bomb.

You guys are going up against each other.

[producer] When did they let you know that you would be

competing against the other women?

It was about a day before I had seen myself,

um, in the mirror for the first time.

[producer] Wait a second.

They told you that you would be competing against somebody else.

Way later.

We didn't even know that that was a possibility

that half of us were going to be cut and be sent home.

[Carl] For the reveals,

the contingent of people from Fox

wanted to add competition between the Swans.

Let's stand them next to each other, and one of them is going to the pageant,

one of them is going home.

I'm thinking,

"Aren't you tearing down everything that we've done for them?"

[announcer] Two competitors experience

the most amazing transformations you'll ever see.

Who will move on to the pageant?

And who will go home?

These women were the ones

that were supporting you after you had surgery.

They were emotionally the ones available that were there for you.

And then all of a sudden, it's my competition?

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[Julee] For reveal day, I remember getting to the mansion

and all the Swans were like,

"Oh, my God, we're gonna have our reveal.

We're gonna be able to look in a mirror."

They were super excited.

This is the first time that you've seen yourself in three months.

Living without a mirror,

I think it just added to the excitement

of seeing my end results.

I was like a ball of nerves.

Like, I certainly hope I like what I see.

Tonight, two average-looking women will go head-to-head

in pursuit of their dream to become a beauty queen.

So they start curling my hair, and the house was hot.

Not being able to see, like, how they did your makeup was exciting.

When I was getting hair and makeup done before this,

sitting in that chair,

I had like a little flashback of that day.

I closed my eyes.

[Amanda Byram] Here she is. The brand-new Kristy Garza.

[Kristy] I'm going to be good enough.

[cheers and applause]

I grew up as a tomboy.

I just wanted to walk into a room and feel pretty.

I was like, "This is it."

"Oh, damn," you know. "I'm doing it."

That curtain conceals a mirror.

Okay.

And then when you're ready, we'll pull back the curtain.

You're gonna see a new Beth.

You forget what you look like.

You genuinely forget what you look like.

I was so excited to see myself.

[Amanda] Cindy, are you ready?

[Cindy] Yes. I'm ready.

[gasps]

[crying softly]

Oh, my God!

We were told to kind of make it big.

But my reaction was real.

[laughs] Wow.

That was just me.

Excitement.

Happiness.

-[applause] -I look great.

-[Amanda] Yes, you do. -[laughing]

Oh, my God.

[laughs]

It's me.

Got boobs.

[laughs]

Oh, my gosh.

Oh, my gosh, you guys!

[gasps]

-[applause] -Oh, my gosh, guys!

When I saw the reveal for the first time

and the curtains passed,

I was quite emotional. I said, "This is ridiculous."

I was like, "I don't want to cry."

You know, it's like, I'm from old school.

You know, I was like...

[laughing] You know what I'm saying?

And it was quite powerful.

Ah!

Oh, my God!

[screams and laughs]

I can hear the other girls' reactions when we were taping,

screaming and like all excited and, "Oh, my God!"

Kelly Alemi.

[Kelly A] I walked through the door not really sure what's going on.

And I see the big red curtain.

The curtain opens

and I was literally like, "What the hell?"

Like, what, what happened?

When I actually saw myself for the first time...

Is that me?

...they didn't air that shit.

I wish you had the raw footage of it, because I said nothing.

I look beautiful.

[cries]

I would never do my hair in ringlets.

I would never put that bright red lipstick on me.

I look like a stuffed sausage, literally.

-Yeah, baby. -[man] Yeah!

[laughs]

It was at least a 14-hour shoot.

I thought, "I can't do this anymore."

I love it.

[laughs]

Oh, my God!

I'm so glad you said that.

I was waiting on some reaction.

My first three tries weren't good enough for Nely.

So that was probably number four.

Oh!

She kept saying she wanted more crying, more screaming.

You've got to let the audience know

how happy and excited you are about this.

Oh, my gosh!

I wanted to be pretty my whole life.

Well, Kristy, you are. You so are.

[Kristy sobbing]

[gasps]

Why do I feel sorry for myself?

For that self.

Why do I feel sorry for her?

That was so important to me.

[cries softly]

That hair, though.

The fuck.

I've seen better ball gowns

at Billy Dale's and Bubba Earl's Used Car Lot Beauty Review

that they have twice a year.

You know what I mean?

[Amanda] Let's bring them out.

[Tawnya] When I heard that I was up against Cindy,

I knew that she would be moving on.

[Cindy] Tawnya would say, "I don't think I'm going on

because I didn't have the nose surgery."

And I didn't want to believe that.

[Amanda] The woman who has earned a place in the pageant tonight is...

Cindy Ingle.

[gasps, whispers]

[Tawnya] When I said no to all the facial procedures,

I kind of knew I'm not going on to the pageant.

I was disappointed.

But on the other hand, I was kind of proud of myself

for not letting them go in and just do whatever they wanted to do.

Ladies, the final spot in the pageant will be filled by...

Kelly Alemi.

[applause]

I don't know what fresh hell you live in

where you think it's okay

to bring these women into a program

under the guise that you're giving them the gift of a lifetime.

And then immediately pit them against the very women

that they bonded with this whole time

to go to your backwoods beauty pageant.

They didn't look at us and see us.

They saw dollar signs.

[Kelly A] When the show started airing,

we went to the grocery store because they took us there on an outing.

And we see all the magazines on the racks as you're checking out.

And I was like, "Oh, my God, we got to look at these magazines."

And we distract the handler

and we pull the magazine out.

We were like, "Oh, my God, we're in this!"

But we were all so excited

because it's like the first time you see yourself in a magazine.

And this is how we knew it was big.

-[reporter 1] The Swan... -[reporter 2] The Swan...

[reporter 3] The Swan on Fox, better than a shot of Botox.

Did you catch The Swan earlier tonight? It was great, wasn't it?

[reporter 4] The network is thrilled with the nearly 10 million viewers

who have flocked to watch.

The show is really like the classic fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling."

[Tawnya] My girls called me.

"Mom, turn on SNL right now. The Swan's on."

I'm like, "On Saturday Night Live?" And they're like, "Yeah, turn it on."

Good evening. I'm Amanda Byram.

I have an English accent.

And they go, "The flamingo is you."

Damn, I'm looking good.

Who needs a swan? I'm a flamingo.

[Tawnya] "Well, why do you think it's me?" And they're like,

"She just wants a tattoo,

and she doesn't care what happens to her."

Ooh!

This tattoo makes me horny.

Once you get spoofed by them, it's like, okay, you made it.

[reporter] It is America's number one reality makeover show.

[Rob] The show came out at this apex of makeover shows

where we wanted to see people transform,

and did it in the most extreme way possible.

The expectations for what they were going to do

versus what they made them do?

There's a certain level of evil there.

I think it is the most sadistic reality show ever made.

The backlash, it's sort of like any press is good press.

[Scaachi] The Swan was legislated torture.

It was an appropriate way to break a bunch of noses

for the sake of entertainment.

And we watched it.

[announcer] From Los Angeles, the most unusual competition ever devised.

It's The Swan Pageant.

[applause]

People have asked us, why end a makeover series with a pageant?

Well, we wanted to give the women in The Swan program

the ultimate motivation.

The competition part is like a really deeply held

female tradition to compete with another woman

over who do you think is hottest.

There has to be a winner.

I mean, The Swan can only exist in an American context

where women are looked at all the time and yet completely ignored.

[Rob] Everything is dramatic.

They get to meet their holograms,

and you stood up next to her and it's like,

this one, she wasn't hot.

The silhouettes at the beginning, they're posing in different ways.

-[Amanda] Cindy Ingle! -[audience cheers]

[Cindy] I had lots of fun doing the pageant.

I loved the beautiful gowns.

My only thing that I was not good at was choreography.

I'm really bad at that.

[laughs] And you could even see

on some of my shots I'm counting.

[mouthing]

[laughs]

[Dr. Haworth] The Swans had a competitive spirit.

This show, if anything-- don't shoot me--

it was empowering...

because it shows you that beauty is power.

It's a passport.

[Kelly A] My bathing suit was a damn tankini.

My stylist is like, "Girl, you have abs."

Right before I walked out in the curtain,

he cut that thing and sticky-taped it.

We cut it, or else you would never have seen me in a bikini.

[Beth] Being on stage was surreal.

The lights were blinding.

You're trying to pay attention to what you're doing

and strutting down, you know, the catwalk.

It was a very overwhelming experience.

[Tawnya] I thought they all looked so beautiful

and loved every bit of it

but the lingerie part.

No other pageant I've ever watched before has lingerie in it.

You know, it's...

It was just weird.

Being on stage in lingerie

was embarrassing.

[Kelly A] I didn't even want to be out in front of my friends

and family in lingerie,

so why the hell would I want to be on TV in front of millions of people?

[Jenna] If the goal is to build these women up

and give them self-confidence, and you give them therapy,

and you give them life coaching, and you change the way that they look,

and you're transforming their lives,

to then say,

"But your worth is really determined by how you look in a bikini

and if you know how to walk well on a stage."

It's ridiculous.

[announcer] Next, the exciting conclusion

of the world's most unique pageant.

What they didn't show on TV was I got to have my family on stage,

and I got to see my little boy.

And I was so worried that he wouldn't recognize me.

And he didn't at first,

but I remember very vividly...

squatting down and just saying his name,

and, like, he recognized my voice

and my eyes looking at him,

and he grabbed on and would not let go.

I was like, okay, I'm still Mom. He remembers me.

Like, this is-- This is where I need to be.

[Amanda] Okay.

Our second runner-up this evening is...

Cindy Ingle.

[audience cheers]

I was excited when I was announced as a second runner-up.

I still felt good about it.

But there was some visible disappointment on my face.

[Beth] I literally said,

over and over and over again in my head...

"Don't call my name. Don't let it be me.

Please don't let it be me."

I didn't want to forever be known as the winner of The Swan

because that would make me the ugly duckling to start with.

And...

I didn't want to have that stigma follow me for the rest of my life.

I just wanted to be done with it all.

[Amanda] Girls, one of you will be crowned The Swan.

Our first runner-up...

is Beth Lay,

which means Rachel Love-Fraser, you are our first-ever Swan!

[audience cheering and screaming]

[clears throat]

That's why I want to do shows like that.

If you can have an impact...

to help.

I mean, that's just human compassion.

Um...

And then in Beth's case,

like, holy moly,

what a transformation on...

[producer] It's so hard, and I want to be very thoughtful,

but she's one of the ones that feels really victimized by the show.

I... Wow.

Yeah, how and why?

[Beth] While it was being filmed,

any issues that we had,

I just feel like got brushed under the rug.

And after the pageant,

the next day, you're on a flight home.

And that was it.

Just crickets.

[♪ wistful piano music playing]

I went home feeling emotionally scarred from this situation.

Makes me feel so frustrated and ashamed...

that I participated in

and fed into the world's view of beauty.

I don't remember the timing of when they contacted us

for the, "Where Are They Now?"

I just knew I wasn't-- Wasn't where Nely would want me to be.

I'm disappointed in myself for gaining a little bit of weight.

I came home with a killer body,

and now it's a little bit bigger than I wanted it to be.

Going home, I wasn't in good shape.

I had put on weight,

got super sick, was in the hospital,

no health insurance.

When I came back to LA,

I was late to the dinner that Nely had planned.

And when I showed up, she was, like, in shock.

Like, "What happened to you?"

And it was just, like, mortifying, like...

that I let myself go.

[producer] She said that to you in front of people?

Yes.

Yes. In front of the entire table of women.

[Amanda] Welcome to The Swan: Where Are They Now?

We are reuniting the women who dared

to transform their lives on national television.

[cheering and applause]

[Beth] For filming, she had to hide me in the back row.

She was embarrassed of me.

Like, I just feel like I gave up so much

just to look like that.

And I don't know if it was worth it.

I was so obsessed with living up to the expectations

of Nely and her show

that I...

would try to make myself puke...

[sniffles]

...just to lose 10 more pounds for a show, for TV.

Why?

[audience applauding]

You look fantastic. You do.

Thank you so much.

I watched the whole show from start to finish.

-How do you feel? -I feel fabulous.

I'm really confident

and I'm really happy with how I turned out.

At first, we would hear from Nely because we were doing all this press.

I never had the means, and it was just giving me an opportunity

that, you know, I really wanted.

But it was never a phone call or a text message

or anything of that sort saying, "Hey, you guys all right?

"Do you need a therapist?

"Do you want me to help you find someone

that can keep up with your maintenance?"

You know, like the Botox and all that stuff.

We never heard from her.

And that's because she immediately started shooting season two.

[reporter] In its first season,

The Swan was not only the number one makeover show,

but the number one beauty pageant.

We beat all the beauty pageants!

And, of course, why would you want to go on Miss Universe?

You can't aspire to be Miss Universe. You can aspire to be a Swan.

[Carl] When we found out that we were going to get season two,

we got together down in Laguna and had, like, a think tank

where we really talked about

now that people have seen the show, the cat's out of the bag.

You can't surprise people with what it's going to be.

How could we do it better?

Loud and big and more Fox.

The Fox series The Swan is looking for new contestants.

The reality series is casting its second season.

[Carl] Ultimately, I was only on for the first season.

But for season two,

the casting department did a big nationwide search.

[Lorraine] I remember them taking them out one by one

and just knowing, oh, my God, I'm 25, I have no teeth.

The casting department was really pushing the envelope.

[Jennifer] My life was devastated by a house fire.

I'm not sure where my mom was.

If she hadn't left me, I wouldn't be this way.

For season two, they couldn't just do,

"Oh, I'll just do a nose job and then this person's perfect."

It needed to be more extreme.

[announcer] This October on Fox, The Swan returns

with an all-new season you'll have to see to believe.

[Gina] I had been watching the first season.

And they put out a little call thing for sisters.

And I was like, "Gotta be kidding me."

I called her right then.

I was like, "We're doing this. We're doing this right now."

[crew member] Kari and Gina, uh, interview.

-[all laugh] -Take one.

[Kari] When I think of my sister,

I, like, think of this picture I have of the two of us,

and I'm looking up at her because I just wanted to be her.

Like, I watched everything she did,

and I followed her and her friends, and I drove them nuts.

[Gina] We're three years apart, so we had like our own groups of friends.

But I don't ever remember her being like an annoying little sister ever.

Like, we were always close.

-Yeah. -Like always.

We have a kind of psychic connection.

-[laughs] -100%.

Some of the things I want done on my face, I'd like to get a eye lift.

I remember in my mind thinking, like, "Let's just have fun with it."

Like I'm going to wear a robe and I'm going to throw it off.

When I look at old videos of her, it's really shocking

because she looks so different.

And now I've gotten so used to her now, I forget.

Something that really causes me a lot of agony is my skin.

The other thing is my eye.

Other than that, I'd just like to have lipo done on my thighs.

I don't even remember that.

I just remember wearing Mom's underwear.

[both laugh]

[Kari] Within 48 hours, I got a call,

"We want to meet you in person.

Come down."

And it all happened within three, four weeks.

[presenter] You're going to be a Swan.

No!

The second they said, "You're going to be a Swan,"

I immediately knew, like, this isn't what we signed up for.

[Amanda] For the first time, we bring you two sisters,

and one of them doesn't know

that the other is a part of The Swan program.

The minute they took her, they told me what was happening.

[presenter] Your sister's going to be a Swan.

-Yeah. -[presenter] And so are you, Gina.

-What? -[presenter] You're gonna be a Swan.

-Does she know? -[presenter] No. It's a secret.

[laughs]

I think they saw an opportunity to fuck with a family and get it on film.

And we were the "twist" of the season.

[Gina] They let me know immediately

that I would be kept separated the whole time.

A legal team told me the cost they were spending

for this twist, and a second location and a second crew,

and that if anything were to be ruined,

not only would I be immediately sent home,

but that I would be liable for...

-I don't remember how much money it was. -Millions.

[Gina] But it was not something I would ever be capable of handling.

That was not what I had signed up for.

[Kari] "Please promise that no matter how hard things get,

"you'll remember that I'm here praying for you.

"And I'll always be your biggest fan.

You are the best sister a girl could ever have."

[Gina] Immediately, it didn't become about The Swan.

It became about protecting the secret.

That's really what my job for three months was.

I refer to the apartments that they put us in as pretty prison.

We were locked up.

I refer to it as prison with some freedom.

I was basically responsible for the day-to-day activities

of all the girls.

And I just wanted to set the stage

that I can be very nice,

but if they break any of the rules,

there will be consequences.

I felt like I was almost like a gestapo.

They were isolated. They couldn't go anywhere.

[Gina] There wasn't a lot going on, but

my roommate, DeLisa, and I played Scrabble all day long, every day.

So they put me in a room with Gina.

I didn't know that I was gonna be kept separate from everyone else

until I heard them using my code name.

We were referred to as Greg and Mark.

[producer] Uh, tell me about this Greg and Mark thing.

[DeLisa Perry] So I was Mark and Gina was Greg.

Just in case there was some chatter

that was overheard on the radios by the other Swans,

they wanted them to believe that two men were on the program.

I think partly because of my military background,

they thought I could keep a secret.

My name is DeLisa Styles,

and I'm a captain in the United States Army Reserve.

When I look at that tape, I just see,

you know, this girl who's going to drop down and do pushups.

I just see who I've always been.

[producer] It seems like there were quite a number of military women

or military wives.

Why do you think that was as a part of The Swan show?

We live according to a code.

Do what you're told.

Don't question the orders of the officers.

And that's similar to what I experienced on The Swan.

[Dore] The Swan was very reminiscent of the military.

I was gone for three months in basic training.

This is gonna be a piece of cake.

I was a model when I was younger.

And then I did join the military.

One day doing nails, and the next day digging dirt out of my nails.

When I got out of the Army, I went down to the local fertility clinic.

I did eventually, on the eighth try, get pregnant.

A few weeks later...

is when I miscarried.

I was extremely depressed,

having gone through years and years of fertility treatments.

And I think going on The Swan

was a really good fantasy in my head that I'd go back to my old self.

On the first day, they had given us a warning

that they're gonna search your suitcase.

And one of the things that they took was my disposable camera.

But I had asked if I could have the camera back,

because there was no way I was gonna be able to develop it.

And they were like, "Yeah, sure."

[Jennifer] Dore was like the perfect roommate for me.

She was like my caretaker, best friend.

Being in a house fire when I was 6 years old

and getting scars transformed me.

[Dr. Haworth] Good morning.

[Jennifer] Going on The Swan,

I wanted to start feeling good about myself.

[Dr. Haworth] Nose just really pointing to the side.

And we make every effort possible to straighten it.

You're a very beautiful girl.

You can only see it popping out at certain angles.

It's going to be great, okay?

-[tearfully] I'm looking forward to it. -Oh yeah.

Yeah.

And you know, I see it differently now

because I've become more empathetic

because I have a dog.

I-I know it sounds crazy,

but I never had animals when I was younger.

And that was the only good thing that came out of my second marriage.

I've always had that in me, and they've taught me a lot about humans

and how to be more empathetic.

And when I look at this now,

I'm thinking about Jennifer there.

And I can tell that it's all real reaction.

The part that I loved the most about the second season

was being able to create these tremendous changes.

I'm going to help polish some of these unsightly scars.

How do you think you're gonna place in The Swan?

Number one?

In season two, some of the surgeries were really rough.

I didn't know that I was gonna be the Swan that had the most work done.

[Amanda] Amy's biggest challenge will be at the dentist.

She'll have extensive tooth reconstruction,

10 root canals, laser bone and gum surgery,

DaVinci veneers.

I think everyone had to get veneers

because it was the fastest way to give them a perfect smile.

[Amanda] DaVinci veneers...

DaVinci veneers... DaVinci veneers...

I don't think everyone needed veneers.

I mean, that's a pretty extreme thing to do.

I definitely needed some dental work, but not as much as they gave me.

Oh, they took out all my fillings, took all the crowns and stuff out.

They ground my teeth down for the veneers.

They were ground down so tiny,

it's just this little white, like, piece of tooth that sticks out.

[Amy] The jaw implants were the worst pain I ever felt.

I couldn't drink anything from a straw,

so I had to puree it and pretty much pour it into my mouth.

It was brutal. It was brutal.

[Kari] The night before my surgery,

I don't think I had nerves at all.

It was like pure excitement.

This was the "moment" they're going to make all my ugly pretty.

I'm ready to go to sleep now.

I feel like I'm on Nip/Tuck.

I had medical clearance before we went.

I think what happened,

no one could have expected.

[nurse] Kari, can you hear me?

[Kari coughing]

Kari?

[Kari] It's very blurry.

When they went to wake me up, they pulled, like, the tube out

expecting me to wake up, and I didn't.

[Gina] They put us both under surgery at the same time.

So I was having surgery with Dr. Dubrow simultaneously

while she was at Haworth's.

I want to know about my sister.

I kept wanting to know how she was doing, and nobody would give me answers.

And then I wasn't really breathing,

and there was something about fluid in my lungs.

Squeeze my hand.

They saw my oxygen just go lower and lower

until everyone was kicked out.

Kari, can you hear me?

I had nurses with me for oxygen and stuff a lot for that next week or two.

And one of them told me that because of certain pain I was having,

that she thought I may have had chest compressions.

It's hard to swallow. Like, it doesn't sit right.

Like, I almost died for reality television.

The whole time we were there, I was in a state of delusion.

They made me go to the gym for several hours a day,

literally eating about 500 to 800 calories only.

Dore is working so hard.

She still has 15 pounds to lose.

The producers were like,

"They're not losing enough weight fast enough.

We need to get you to work them out twice a day."

And I just thought, that's impossible.

They're not on enough calories, and they're still healing.

They needed months and months of recovery.

That was the most nerve-racking part for me, for sure.

I just didn't want anybody to have a complication.

[Gina] I was, at one point, two hours in on an elliptical.

They had cameras in my face.

And they would flat-out tell me what a failure I was.

Saying, like, "Your sister's losing all this weight.

What is wrong with you?"

They were given a mission.

And then that's when all the manipulation started.

[Jenna] One of the mandates was we had to get the money shot,

which was getting a Swan to cry.

We needed that drama.

And for us, sometimes we had to ask really tough questions.

[Dore] One day, I remember they said,

"You know, hey, we're gonna come film you. We got your mail."

My friend's grandson. So cute.

My sister had just had a child.

She sent me baby pictures.

And at one point, the cameraman said...

He said, "So how does it feel that everybody else can have kids

and you can't have any?"

And I looked at him and I said,

"Why would you say that to me?

"I'm here trying to heal.

And that's what you're going to ask me?"

And I got so upset, I tore off my bandages

and I left,

and I went into the bathroom and I wouldn't come out.

And he tried to get my roommate to get me to come out

and continue filming.

And I said, "Absolutely not. I'm done."

Here I am trying to work so hard in my sessions

to try to heal from this,

and they're trying to open up wounds

and trying to make me cry for the camera.

I don't know.

I just thought it was just shady, some of the tactics that they used.

It was despicable.

[Jenna] I still remember the worst moment of my career.

We were shooting with a Swan.

Then she ended up having cancer in her nose.

They discovered that when they were doing her plastic surgery.

It's cancer.

Oh, no. Oh.

[inhales sharply]

The production team was giddy about the diagnosis

because of the storyline.

Her husband had died of cancer, and now she had cancer.

I had to interview her

and ask her was she worried that she was going to die

and leave her children with no parents?

I mean, that was...

that was horrible.

[Patti] I don't want my kids to know.

It would just devastate them.

That was when I started to think...

this feels kind of disgusting.

These women were treated like a storyline, not like people.

[Amanda] DeLisa is faced with a day she hoped would never come.

The arrival of her divorce papers.

[Nely] I've been there. I really know what it feels like.

It's very painful.

It's very, very, very painful.

My husband and I were headed toward divorce.

[crying]

When I spoke to him, he said,

"I've gone to see an attorney. Do you want me to wait?"

And I said, "No, go ahead and send me the papers."

I knew that if it did happen while I was on the show,

that that would make for good TV.

So I participated a little bit

in the manipulation of the viewer.

I thought I was more ready for this.

You're never ready.

I felt like I cracked the code

of what the production team wanted.

And so I felt like it was a little bit of me having some power

because they had all the power.

[Kari] I became kind of a problem at the end.

I did refuse to go out for my reveal

because a few days prior,

I did find out for sure that Gina was there.

I went to Bryce,

who was camera producer, whatever,

and I said, "I am not going to go do my reveal

"unless you tell me right now that she's going to the pageant.

"If you do this just to tell me I win and she didn't

and hurt her again, like I won't-- I'm not going."

And so I was told, um,

"Yes, you're being chosen for the pageant.

"Yes, she's the wild card. She's going to go with you.

Everything's going to be okay. Please just go film."

[laughing] Oh, my God!

Honestly, all I see when I look at this is fake hair,

loads of makeup...

This is so incredible.

...and a dress that would not zip all the way up in the back.

So it was like their last dig right before the reveal.

Ah!

[Gina] I couldn't stand the gloves.

I was told my arms were unacceptable and they couldn't be seen on television.

I had been there and working so hard for so long.

And after all that, was still not good enough to be revealed.

[Amanda] Okay, it's time to meet your competition.

Oh, my God!

That shock is real, though.

Wait, let me look at you.

You're so-- This big.

You didn't tell me you were here!

Let me see you. Turn around.

[laughing]

-Why are you crying? -Just...

-It's a lot. -Yeah.

[Gina] Your face was so different. It was weird.

I wasn't even sure if I liked it yet.

-And I knew you looked great. -Yeah.

But there was this, like, uncomfortableness of, like...

-it's not my sister, yeah. -It's so weird.

Once I got to go back and wash the makeup off

and pulled my hair in a ponytail and I said, "Okay, there I am."

[applause]

After the paint wears off, our bodies are going to do

what our bodies are supposed to do.

[gasps]

But on the show, we became what they wanted us to be.

[audience applauding]

[Jennifer] We were discussing not covering up my scars,

but they gave all the girls spray tans.

[gasps softly, sniffles]

You can't tell I have scars.

Like-- But that's not me, you know? That's-- That's not me.

I'm ready.

[Dore] What I had imagined

was that they were going to help me to transform my life.

Wow!

But it was more about getting shock value.

And to me, that's the sad part.

The brand-new DeLisa Styles.

[audience applauding]

[DeLisa] When I'm not wearing makeup, I just...

I look very plain Jane.

I think they kind of needed to see everything come together.

Nely walked around the corner. She gasped.

She started crying,

and she said, "You look so beautiful."

[Kari] That last month, we got to hang out.

-It was really fun. -It was fun.

[DeLisa] They told us to really enjoy it.

And I had a fun time.

When the producers saw everything come together,

they liked what they saw.

[producer] Big question.

Do you think the game was rigged for you to win?

This is a hard question for me to answer.

When you see me at the pageant, I was trying to take it all in.

That whole studio was filled. I mean, it was a lot of people.

[audience applauding]

I felt once I made it into the top five, I had a good chance of winning.

[Gina] DeLisa and I, we were the last two up there,

kind of like whispering to each other, "This is kind of cool.

We started this together and we're finishing."

Our first runner-up is...

Gina Bravato,

which means DeLisa Styles, you're our new Swan!

[DeLisa] They picked who they thought was going to be

the good spokesperson, the good foot soldier,

the good representative of the brand.

[producer gasps]

-[producer] Oh, my God! -[chuckles]

How does she look after all these years?

A bit tarnished.

A bit worse for wear.

But representative of something that I went through

and something that I don't want to forget.

[producer] What does it say on the side?

Yeah, uh, it says...

"Made in China."

[both laughing]

We all had such different experiences.

Some people really had a great experience and loved it.

And other people didn't feel the same.

[Amy] There was really nobody on set or on the team that protected us.

We might have all had different outcomes, but we've all been through the same thing.

[Amy] One day, the production team

brought us all into Dr. Haworth's office and said,

"We're going to take some pictures."

They brought us into the garage of his office,

and it was set up with a white backdrop and all these lights.

I was like, "Okay, this is just what he does."

You know, this is how he does it.

But why is there a photographer here,

and why is there rock and roll music playing?

We were totally nude.

So many lights on you.

And feeling the heat of the lights

and just feeling like at this point, any dignity that I did have,

totally gone.

[Jennifer] I was so nervous.

Like, there is a room, five or six guys.

I'm like, "I can't do this.

I'm gonna leave. I can't do this. No way."

You know, that is way out of my comfort zone.

I remember the photographer being on, like, a stool

and looking down,

and us saying, like, "I don't want to do this.

I can't do this. I don't want to do this."

And it was a, "If you don't do this, you'll go home."

[producer] Who said that?

Or that just was, like, implied?

I don't remember.

-But they were not in the room with us. -They were tasked a lot with...

No one that was part of production.

Our cameras were not there.

Like, see, that makes me question it.

[producer] One of the things that was talked to us about

that I haven't been able to get clarification on

is some of the girls told us that they were asked

to go to a garage with a man

to take naked pictures,

and somehow it was being asked for.

Do you remember this?

I do. Thank you for reminding me.

I was working with Dah Len,

who's a top photographer.

He worked with Madonna.

And we asked the girls if they would want to do before and afters.

And I spoke with Nely,

and for a big coffee table book that never saw the light of day.

I still have those pictures.

It was an art project.

I haven't... God, I forgot about that, but--

[producer] But everybody was asked for their consent

in order to get photographed by him.

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

But again, it never saw the light of day.

Art book, that makes me kind of go, "That's not what we were told.

That's not how it was-- how we were approached about that."

[producer] Does it make you feel differently about Dr. Haworth?

Yeah. I got to back up a little

because what's weird to me is I can sit here right now

knowing I did this photo shoot that didn't add up to me.

It didn't make sense.

And it's almost like I removed him

from that photo shoot

to focus on this doctor that had my back.

But if he needed nude photos of us,

why didn't we have the little underwear on?

Why were they not still shots in his office

like every other patient?

I remember it was going to be--

Dah Len was thinking we would do it sort of very Man Ray-ish.

So it was very like black photos and they were--

It was very against the green screen,

and it was very, um, super artsy.

Not even a question of--

Not even a question.

I would never do, like,

that.

Yeah.

I don't think I've thought about it.

I don't think I let myself ever really think about it

because it just feels disgusting.

♪♪

[reporter] Extreme makeovers are certainly

compelling television, no doubt about it.

But have these shows gone too far?

[Nely] This is not for everybody, and I'm not

somebody who's telling everybody, "Go have plastic surgery."

I really believe in prevention and maintenance.

But I think it is a choice for people who have certain issues in their life

and it has made a lot of their lives a lot better.

[reporter] The quest for physical perfection

is changing the face of reality TV but at what price?

[host] If it's really reality TV, Nely,

why not do a profile on someone

who had a bad outcome and talk about it?

-I never saw that-- -We did.

-If you did, you buried it. -Well, then you didn't watch the show.

Did you promote it? Did you make it a big deal?

We did. We did.

[DeLisa] The viewership dropped off sharply.

I think people started hearing the feedback.

The show is sadistic. The show is an ugly duckling.

You know, worst reality TV ever made.

[Rob] This isn't the streaming era.

This is where ratings need to be a certain level,

or else they're not gonna cut a check for another season.

So you had to be an American Idol

or a So You Think You Can Dance to stay on.

[Cindy] It was disappointing that it wasn't going to get picked up again

because I know from personal experience

it touched a lot of people.

[Kari] If you think about from season one to season two,

how much less human it got

and how morals went out the window,

I'm glad it ended.

I feel like I kind of went right back to normal life.

Back to living at my mom's,

back to my same old job.

And then shortly after that,

I dove headfirst into a marriage and babies.

So I guess Nely should be proud.

[both laugh]

[producer] Has Nely been texting you about this show?

[laughs]

Has Nely been texting me about this show?

[Kelly A] I was in my car

and a text message popped up, and it said "Nely."

I immediately was like, "Holy shit, Nely knows we're doing something."

So I called Kelly Becker. I'm like, "Kelly, did Nely call you?"

I actually have been in touch with Nely kind of all along, you know.

Sometimes it's once a year, sometimes it's twice a year.

She reaches out to me every now and then.

She's like, "Let me check my messages."

So then I was like, "Alright, let me call Cindy,"

because I know that we're, like, her go-tos.

I didn't give her any information.

[producer] Cindy is a vault.

-[laughs] -Cindy's a vault.

I'm a vault.

[producer] Alright, I'm not gonna ask any more.

Fort Knox!

She basically wanted us to keep her in the loop,

like, "be a little spy and Minion"

so she knows what's coming up.

I think Nely views the show

and us by extension as her intellectual property.

And so in order to use it, you have to get her permission.

We explained to the women that this show was a life plan.

They were actually given a life plan curriculum

so that when they go home, they know they have a list

of things they need to keep doing to maintain.

But it is difficult because it's just like human beings.

Sometimes we say we want to make changes, but we really don't.

We're not ready. We're not there yet.

[Beth] Nely didn't give us any of the tools

for how to take care of ourselves when we went back home.

My left breasts became encapsulated

and shifted all the way up here.

Dr. Dubrow fixed it, but then, like, it had dropped

and it still wasn't right.

And that was it.

Just had to kind of live with it.

[Cindy] My implant popped.

And I couldn't do anything for years.

Taking that money away from family, I couldn't do it.

The temporary teeth that we had fell out constantly.

I've had to have a bunch of teeth pulled.

My gum tissue is destroyed.

[Gina] We've all had extreme leftover problems

from what Dr. Worth did to our teeth.

And let's face it, she's no longer practicing for a reason.

[Kristy] Nobody's life was made over.

Where was the follow-up care?

After the show, I went off the rails.

I ended up getting evicted from my apartment.

I got divorced.

I was not a good mother at that time.

I was using alcohol, occasional drugs.

I was lost for most of my adult life.

You know, I had an epiphany like...

a couple months ago.

Maybe I'm not mad at them.

Maybe I'm mad at me

because I bought the dream they sold me.

Because I'm not big on blame.

I think blame is a waste of your energy, of your time, of your emotions.

But I am mad.

I am mad.

[♪ lighthearted music playing]

When we went home, I would have little conversations

with some of the girls from here or there.

Social media wasn't a big thing when we had our show.

So creating the Facebook page was us to come together,

catching up with people, sharing experiences.

[Amy] Our Swan group.

Our flock, as some call it.

We are a sisterhood.

[Tawnya] If a Swan was getting married or they were becoming a grandmother,

they could put it on there.

You know, we all kind of flocked together.

We were just able to be real

and talk about everything that's falling apart,

what it costs to get fixed.

I know a lot of these girls did have some trauma,

and I want them to feel comfortable

having us fellow Swans to talk about it.

[Kelly A] When I grew up and I was watching

all these little Disney princess movies,

I thought that that's what your life is going to be,

especially when I came from Hollywood, where my life changed.

But I left there

and I came home,

and I still was getting recognized.

I had gotten offered a job at TV Guide Network

to be a reporter,

but my ex talked me out of it.

My life looked perfect from the outside.

You know, we had this nice house.

I had the big diamond ring.

But no one ever really knew that it was literally like some horror movie.

The violence started after I started sticking up for myself

and wouldn't follow all his rules and keep my mouth shut.

One day, he had already done his belittling.

"You're fat, you're disgusting, you're a pig."

And I had to find a place to go cry and get myself together.

And he came out to the garage and he opened the door...

and he had a handgun.

And he said,

"You should really take this and blow your brains out

because no one will miss you."

And I remember thinking to myself...

"This will be easy out.

This will be a really easy out."

In that moment, it happened so fast,

it was like flashbacks.

I remember when we were there filming,

all those women being there leaving their children at home.

They never gave up.

I channeled it,

and for some reason

I could just hear the love and support

and knowing, like, I am worthy.

Like, my kids need me.

Even when we have hard times, you can literally just pick up the phone

and somebody out of the flock will answer.

It's literally like a sorority.

[producer] The most important question of today:

are you excited for The Swan reunion?

Oh gosh, I cannot wait!

Oh, my gosh. You guys are never going to guess.

2004 just called.

They want their Swans back.

I'm heading to LA to meet my Swan sisters.

Getting excited!

Say hi, Gina.

Hi!

Can't wait to see my girls.

[♪ uplifting music playing]

[DeLisa] I'm so excited to see everyone.

[knock on door]

Manager.

-Look what the cat-- -[Cindy laughing]

These women, they know you, they see you, and they love you.

[Kathy] Yeah, you know, that's why I left.

[indistinct chatter]

[giggling]

[excited chatter]

[Swan] Oh, my God!

Come in, come in, come in!

[Kristy] We have forged a bond that can't be touched.

[DeLisa] Stop it.

[Dore] Oh, you changed them. They were pink the other day.

You know, come hell or high water.

We really are like sisters.

Bring it in!

To tits, teeth, and trauma.

-[all whoop] -[Cindy] Tits, teeth and trauma!

[Kari] You know, we all have insecure moments,

but we get to do this together

and remind each other how amazing we all are.

Cheers to being enough.

-[all] Enough! -[Cindy] To being enough.

[Dore] I just wanted people to hear the real story.

We were just real women,

all out there working on ourselves.

And I think anybody at any time would do the same.

You would take that.

And I'd do this again, even...

Even knowing what they would produce.

[Kristy] The world will ask you who you are.

If you don't know, the world will tell you.

You have to look through that reflection.

You decide who you are.

[indistinct chatter]

[Beth] I'm hairy like a Sasquatch from my earlobes to my ankles.

[laughter]

I have all my teeth. I still have...

-I still have all my teeth. -[all laughing]

It's just been this huge weight on my shoulders

for two decades.

But I have the most amazing group of women.

[laughter continues]

I feel more comfortable in my skin.

Not a single person on this table was an ugly duckling

that they dubbed us to be on the show.

What was projected to the public

was what they wanted projected, not our real stories.

[Kari] I think plastic surgery's okay.

Then if that's what you want to do, do it.

I think that's what people expect us to regret the most is, like, the surgery.

Like, that was the taboo or bad part.

Mm-mm.

I don't regret the surgeries I did.

I just regret that the process of getting there...

-Yeah. -...tore us down quite a bit.

I've never told you this,

but I've kind of felt a little guilty because they chose me.

-Oh! -[Kelly A] So...

[Kristy] Kelly, they tried and they tried.

-But it didn't work. -[Kristy] And they didn't succeed. Yeah.

And to be honest, I'm glad that they chose you

to show your hoonany on the pageant.

[all laughing]

Because Large Marge could never, no.

[Kelly A] If I had to do it all over, I would compete on The Swan

because I would not have met the people

that have helped me survive in the last 22 years.

Thanks, girls.

We just needed to know that we could look in that mirror

and know that we're comfortable with everything

that we've gone through and the choices that we've made.

Because guess what? They're permanent.

[Kristy] We've been raised to think that there's a beauty standard.

Beauty is a pursuit,

and we don't have to play that game.

I feel like I'm batting a thousand

with, you know, anything that life can throw at me.

And that's what makes me fuckin' beautiful.

[all laughing]

Flock around and find out, bitch.

[producer] Okay, what's the last song, your walk-off song?

Oh, my walk-off song.

It's got to be "Fuckin' Perfect."

-[producer] By...? -Pink.

♪ Made a wrong turn ♪

♪ Once or twice ♪

I haven't heard it in so long.

♪ Dug my way out ♪

♪ Blood and fire ♪

♪ Bad decisions, that's all right ♪

♪ Welcome to my silly life ♪

[producer] And open.

[all] Aw!

So cute.

-[excited chatter] -You're gonna make me cry.

It really does feel good, though, I'm not going to lie.

-[Tawnya] It does. -[all laughing]

♪ Pretty, pretty please ♪

♪ Don't you ever, ever feel ♪

♪ Like you're less than ♪

♪ Fuckin' perfect ♪

♪ Pretty, pretty please ♪

♪ If you ever, ever feel ♪

♪ Like you're nothing ♪

♪ You're fuckin' perfect to me ♪

[♪ upbeat music playing]