S08.E15: Ashley T.'s Story

[nytonc]

For once, Lola earned her paycheck. I was impressed with her for the very first time. 

[ethalfrida]

15 hours ago, Mary said:

She was in 2 different episodes of Catfish on MTV.  I believe that I read she was in a season 7 episode and a season 8 episode.  

 

I saw those and she was very mean and unapologetic.

[calpurnia99]

11 minutes ago, Tabbygirl521 said:

I envy that tan.

This reminds me, I’m planning to make some homemade pop tarts today. 

I have a grocery delivery order scheduled for next week. I'm gonna go in right now and add a few packages of Toaster Strudel! I love those, I used to get them for nearly free when I was extreme couponing. They are so damn fattening!

That creepy smile this chick has! She think she cute!

 

[Toaster Strudel]

My favorite educational moment was when she ordered two large, generously garnished Dr-Now-Diet-Approved large pizzas and started on the first with the second one stacked beneath it.

It's diet because you stop eating a couple of bites short of what you'd normally engulf, thus turning 4000 calories into 400, and carbs into protein.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Toaster Strudel

[Kenzie]

If PUGS could talk they would sound just like Ashley - Stuffed-up, adenoidal mouth-mumblers.

[babyhouseman]

I watched the Catfish videos. I've never seen that show so I didn't know she had already acted up on TV. She claimed to be married. And her sister was in the second video? I think she can join Steven Assanti in the crazy club. Are there any other reality shows she wants to be on? The Bachelorette?

[calpurnia99]

Plus her claiming all this "social anxiety". She hopped on 2 planes to go to LA to film the Catfish show. Someone with true social anxiety would never want to be on national TV. 

 

[Tabbygirl521]

I’m watching the Catfish/intervention episode right now! I haven’t watched anything on MTV in decades. LOL. 
 

Cammie is beautiful. If I were Ashley I would melt into a pile of embarrassed goo in her dignified presence. 

[AZChristian]

20 minutes ago, babyhouseman said:

I watched the Catfish videos. I've never seen that show so I didn't know she had already acted up on TV. She claimed to be married. And her sister was in the second video? I think she can join Steven Assanti in the crazy club. Are there any other reality shows she wants to be on? The Bachelorette?

After watching the Catfish videos, I got the feeling that "sister" was a euphemism for "friend."  

She should try out for "90-Day Fiance."  Folks there rarely seem to get what they think they're getting.  Can you imagine her getting off a plane in another country and thinking that attitude of hers is going to get her a handsome hunky guy?

[Tabbygirl521]

25 minutes ago, babyhouseman said:

I watched the Catfish videos. I've never seen that show so I didn't know she had already acted up on TV. She claimed to be married. And her sister was in the second video? I think she can join Steven Assanti in the crazy club. Are there any other reality shows she wants to be on? The Bachelorette?

America’s Next Super Model. She knows she’s cute. 

[dahling]

Remember when this show had people on it who wanted help?  Remember Melissa?  How she lost so much weight but then backslid into the 200's and got sad and mopey and didn't wear lipstick or fold laundry and was raked over the coals for it?  Awww.  What days those were. 

Everybody responsible for producing this show needs to have a heart-to-heart zoom meeting and figure out what the hell their collective problem is.  Not the least of whom is the sound editors who backdropped her abusive, threatening (seriously threatening), f-bomb laden rant in the waiting room/car with the the sad, soft, tinkly piano music of regret. As if it was a deeply emotional scene, instead of a borderline criminal act. 

I can't believe Dr. Now went back into a room with her.  I was scared for him. I hope there were security guards standing beside the camera crew. 

She lives 90 minutes from me, and I am terrified. 

This isn't the show I signed up to watch.

[Otter]

22 minutes ago, dahling said:

Remember when this show had people on it who wanted help?  Remember Melissa?  How she lost so much weight but then backslid into the 200's and got sad and mopey and didn't wear lipstick or fold laundry and was raked over the coals for it?  Awww.  What days those were. 

Everybody responsible for producing this show needs to have a heart-to-heart zoom meeting and figure out what the hell their collective problem is.  Not the least of whom is the sound editors who backdropped her abusive, threatening (seriously threatening), f-bomb laden rant in the waiting room/car with the the sad, soft, tinkly piano music of regret. As if it was a deeply emotional scene, instead of a borderline criminal act. 

I can't believe Dr. Now went back into a room with her.  I was scared for him. I hope there were security guards standing beside the camera crew. 

She lives 90 minutes from me, and I am terrified. 

This isn't the show I signed up to watch.

Amen!  I said the same thing on Live Chat.  Dr. Now's son is still listed on the credits, but read some seasons ago that he now longer is involved in it.  It shows.  

The first seasons taught us a lot about super morbidly folks.  You may not have liked them, but you got an understanding of how sad and painful their lives were.  You felt for them and wanted them to succeed.  

Dr. Now has been reduced into a caricature of how he was depicted.

Now everyone wants to be a reality "star"  Especially this one.  Maybe there is validity in these law suits.  

 

[Stiggs]

I made it maybe 90 minutes. This woman is evil AF and she’s always gonna be a piece of shit. I know that is super judgmental, but I’ve had my fill of appalling behavior as of late, and this sack of crap just about put me over the edge. Gonna have to turn to wine and Schitt’s Creek. 
 

If they drop the horrific shower scenes, maybe they’d get better candidates. I can watch some horrible crap, but I think I’ve only finished 2 episodes this season. 
 

If anyone ever talks to Dr. Now like that again, Imma have to fuel up on cheap pizza and donuts and kick some ass. And I will have to remember the grapes and sugar free jam. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

48 minutes ago, Stiggs said:

If anyone ever talks to Dr. Now like that again, Imma have to fuel up on cheap pizza and donuts and kick some ass. And I will have to remember the grapes and sugar free jam. 

Don't fuel up, there are a lot of buffets near Dr. Now's office.    

I watched the return to the office after dissing Dr. Now scene, when Ashley and her buddies went back into the office, and they were alone in the office, and everything was locked down tight except the door from the waiting room, and the exam room Dr. Now was in.   So the rest of the staff members were behind locked doors, or gone out the back door. 

[AZChristian]

3 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I watched the return to the office after dissing Dr. Now scene, when Ashley and her buddies went back into the office, and they were alone in the office, and everything was locked down tight except the door from the waiting room, and the exam room Dr. Now was in.   So the rest of the staff members were behind locked doors, or gone out the back door. 

Gotta wonder whether they brought in a couple of extra production assistants in case they needed to get between her, the doctor, and anyone else in the building.

She didn't deserve the courtesy she was shown by letting her go back into the office.

[Otter]

While Lola wasn't as useless as usual, don't cut her any slack.  She's not qualified to diagnose much beyond the hurt if you got a "D" on a spelling test.  That would be all the fault of the family.  Her go-to reason for being so obese.  

Her "diagnoses" of Ashley is waaaay above her pay grade.  For crying out loud, she's a "counselor" to be charitable.

If she has been the mental health provider, and if the poundicipants were promised help, they should sue.  She's no Dr. Paradise -- at least he's a doc and would have more insight into the likes of Ashely T and to involve a REAL doctor -- board certified psychiatrist.

Lolo, her depressing office and baby voice is creepy.

 

[ilovebeaarthur]

8 hours ago, calpurnia99 said:

I have a grocery delivery order scheduled for next week. I'm gonna go in right now and add a few packages of Toaster Strudel! I love those, I used to get them for nearly free when I was extreme couponing. They are so damn fattening!

That creepy smile this chick has! She think she cute!

 

Oh god, I ate so many of those when I was pregnant. I hadn’t eaten them in years, but I had such a strong craving that I couldn’t help myself. 

[pdlinda]

23 hours ago, swankie said:

If I was Dr. Now I wouldn't have taken her back.  She's a smartass to the nth degree.

They were contractually obligated to fill 2 hrs of airtime so I guess they stuck with what they were given with Ashley.

No doubt the production team knew about her MTV appearances and (probably because they're scraping the bottom of the bottom for participants this season) chose to stick with this very troublesome individual who had about as much possibility of succeeding on Dr. Now's program as night turning into day and day turning into night.  NOT GREAT ODDS!

I was genuinely curious regarding the seemingly upscale house she was occupying that seemed to have new, attractive furniture. Maybe in Texas something like this is more affordable than in many other parts of the Country.

[ClareWalks]

It's amazing to me how these people can eat half a piece of pizza or one mini-donut in one bite, without even opening their mouth too wide. Food just seems to VANISH into their maws.

[AZChristian]

11 hours ago, pdlinda said:

I was genuinely curious regarding the seemingly upscale house she was occupying that seemed to have new, attractive furniture. Maybe in Texas something like this is more affordable than in many other parts of the Country.

Many production teams put their subjects in Airbnb rentals for the filming.  Sometimes it's because the subject wants to keep their real home private.  Sometimes it's because the places are such a mess that they are not appropriate to show on any program other than "Hoarders."

When things are as tidy as we saw in this last episode, with NO personal items around, I assume it's an Airbnb rental.  

[Minivanessa]

46 minutes ago, ClareWalks said:

It's amazing to me how these people can eat half a piece of pizza or one mini-donut in one bite, without even opening their mouth too wide. Food just seems to VANISH into their maws.

Taking my comments over to the All Episode Discussion.

Edited April 10, 2020 by Jeeves
Got a little off topic

[calpurnia99]

10 minutes ago, Jeeves said:

I think of it as addiction in action. They may "love" food - but not in the way most people would think when they hear the phrase. 

Someone who loves food can rhapsodize about the variety of tastes that they experience from a single bite of a favorite dish. They understand eating slowly and savoring the food. I know about those foodies, bless their hearts, because I've been trapped in social conversations where people waxed poetic, at length, about some specific pasta dish at an Italian restaurant they went to last week, or some dessert they had in Italy last year, or whatever. (Full disclosure: I'm not a foodie and I hate being subjected to foodie conversations and I never watch the food/cooking channels.)

Likewise, some people enjoy beer, wine, or hard liquors. As in, savoring the taste as they sip it. These alcohol connoisseurs aren't glugging down bottles of Mad Dog 20/20 while sitting on a gritty curb, or spending lost weekends at home with their stashes of beer, wine, or vodka, waking up sick on Monday morning with no memory of the past two days. Or sucking down six bottles of beer in a couple of hours at a bar.

I know a little about addiction, being a recovering drunk. I have also done some mindless eating, although it never took over my life. Whether it's heroin, speed, alcohol, gambling, sex, or food, someone who's in active addiction is no longer doing the activity primarily to feel good, but instead is doing it to avoid feeling bad. The classic example is the heroin addict who is literally physically sick if they go too long between hits. The next hit may bring some pleasure but more importantly it relieves pain/illness. Yes, I'm overgeneralizing, and I'm not a professional or trained in this field.

But I truly believe a few things. First, this show includes staged eating scenes. Not that the subjects of the show don't really eat like that, but like the shower scenes, the eating scenes are set up, especially in the beginning of the episodes. OTOH I believe that there are usually some un-staged scenes later in the episodes involving pathological food consumption. Like James K's famous fried rice. 

I also believe that these folks say they love food and it makes them feel good and it's always there for them, but their "enjoyment" and "love" is more about relieving discomfort than the kind of joy that non-addicts experience from food. 

So when someone with good intentions says, "don't they understand that they can just blanch those  veggies with a little seasoning and they will be tasty and enjoyable?" - IMO it's like someone saying, "Why spend fifty bucks on all those bottles of cheap rotgut when you could buy a nice bourbon and sip some good-tasting drinks?" We all get the answer to that: the person buying all the cheap rotgut needs such a quantity of booze that they can't afford the quality bourbon in those quantities. I think there's a similar dynamic with the folks on this show. Who, sadly, can't just quit the stuff of their addictive behavior because we've all got to eat. They're eating the way a drunk drinks, IMO. And it's not pretty in either case.

What you say about addiction is so true. My brother is an alcoholic and he is not drunk on 6 beers, it only brings him to feeling normal. It has no other effect. He needs 3  six-packs to start acting drunk.  He usually drinks to feel normal and  to feel not sick, not to get high.

There is also something in sugar and fat that makes people feel good that steamed vegetables with seasonings just does not accomplish, brain chemistry-wise.

 

 

[Lillith]

22 hours ago, JJ1 said:

Even before the diagnosis, it seemed to me that Lola’s demeanor was not her typical friendly, chit-chat style. She seemed tense and very apprehensive. My bet is that she knew immediately that something was very “off” with Ashley. 

I noticed this right away and posted the same elsewhere. She's normally so friendly and "light" and her distaste for Ashley was very apparent. 

[AZChristian]

2 minutes ago, Lillith said:

I noticed this right away and posted the same elsewhere. She's normally so friendly and "light" and her distaste for Ashley was very apparent. 

Maybe Lola watches "Catfish."  Anyone with a grain of sense watching Ashley's episodes would have a tangible dislike for her.

[Lillith]

1 minute ago, AZChristian said:

Maybe Lola watches "Catfish."  Anyone with a grain of sense watching Ashley's episodes would have a tangible dislike for her.

I never watched the show, I'm well out of the current MTV show target age range. But I saw the clips posted here and elsewhere and Wow. It takes chutzpah to catfish to begin with but she's on a WHOLE other level. The red flag to me was that her family wanted nothing to do with her. We've seen many, many disfunctional families on this show (basically all of them) but she's one of the only people I can recall that had no family contact at all despite having living relatives. And she knew just what to say to sound sincere but her actions quickly said otherwise. 

[AZChristian]

2 minutes ago, Lillith said:

I never watched the show, I'm well out of the current MTV show target age range. But I saw the clips posted here and elsewhere and Wow. It takes chutzpah to catfish to begin with but she's on a WHOLE other level. The red flag to me was that her family wanted nothing to do with her. We've seen many, many disfunctional families on this show (basically all of them) but she's one of the only people I can recall that had no family contact at all despite having living relatives. And she knew just what to say to sound sincere but her actions quickly said otherwise. 

I'm also beyond Catfish target demographic age, but have watched a couple of episodes . . . until they got SO repetitive.

I was open-minded about no relationship with the family at first.  My birth family was trained by the female birth vessel to be negative, fault-finding and miserable.  Fortunately, I got away from them at 17 when I married the most accepting, loving, positive man on earth.  He's definitely made me a better person.

They - on the other hand - seem to have stayed in the pit of nastiness in which we were raised.

So I have no relationship with any of my siblings.  Their choice, not mine.  However, I am on good terms with several of my nieces and nephews who also distanced themselves from the family pit of negativity.

But in Ashley's case . . . not hard to see why no one wants anything to do with her.  She is an embarrassment to the entire human race, not just her family.

[Caoimhe]

1 hour ago, calpurnia99 said:

There is also something in sugar and fat that makes people feel good that steamed vegetables with seasonings just does not accomplish, brain chemistry-wise.

Dopamine.  Just finished watching an episode of Nova about fat and they had brain scans of obese people whose dopamine receptors were far reduced from a normal person’s so it takes a lot more junk food to get the levels they need to make the brain shut up.  The last case they showed was a woman who had gastric bypass and was doing extremely well, the discussion was about how the surgery changes the messages to the brain.  I found it all thoroughly depressing as someone who isn’t obese enough for surgery (and am not brave enough to pursue it anyway).

[Starlight925]

Re:  Ashley's house.  You know, none of these people ever seem to have plates.  She was eating out of styrofoam divider plates.  This is an indicator to me that they are living in rented homes.

When she said she had different online personas, I thought, well ok, at least she's admitting it.  But when Lola probed, she admitted to THREE THOUSAND.  THREE THOUSAND.  I just have to scream that again:  3000!!!!!!

So when Lola finally said that she believes there is more here at play, i.e. personality disorders, I was actually pleased.  No, Lola isn't technically qualified to diagnose, but she can say what she thinks it looks like, and refer (which I hope she did).  When Lola said "Borderline", I paused, re-wound, and thought.....ding ding ding....we have a winner.

[Roxie]

I'm curious about why people are saying that Lola isn't qualified to diagnose mental health conditions.  She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and as such, diagnosis is part of her job.  In Ohio, we have both Licensed Independent Social Workers, which I was, and Licensed Professional Counselors - both professionals that diagnose.  If you can't diagnose, how can you treat?

Also, writing a letter to someone (or to your younger self) to express your feelings, and then never sending it, is a long-standing, well-accepted therapeutic technique.

[Johnny Dollar]

I’m not as sure that she really suffers from any personality disorders as I am that she’s just a reality show fame whore.

It might be odd to say, but if this show needs to lower itself and rely on other show’s rejects, then maybe they need to take a break for a while.

And Dr Now was definitely in on the gag here. He could hardly keep a straight face when she went off on her “rants”. 

[calpurnia99]

Plus at 475 pounds she didn't have any of the problems that people 150 pounds more have. Usually they cannot move well at all without getting out of breath. They are mostly bed bound, They have massive issues. They can't take a 4 hour car trip easily. They didn't even show her trip to Houston because she was fine. She could walk fine. You really see the difference that an extra 150 pounds makes. She was just hoping that she could get on the show for fame, get the surgery when some other clinic turned her down, and scam the show and Dr. Now into thinking she was over 600 pounds. 

And she did the whole: I weighed 150 pounds at age 3 and I was happy. At 7 I was 250 pounds and my life was great, I ate with my dad. At 11 I was 300 pounds but then this horrible thing happened, my dad left,  so I turned to food. But THEN when I was 14 I was raped, so then I turned to food! And then my mom got sick and then I turned to food and I was 450 pounds at my high school graduation. But THEN my grandmother died, and that was so upsetting that I turned to food to cope and that;s when I got really fat

. Then she tells Dr. Now she lost 150 pounds when her grandmother died from depression? Such an obvious lie, from a known liar, to get on the show and get the surgery. HOW DID PRODUCTION NOW KNOW THIS? I  guess they did know all of this but thought she would be good for entertainment value.

[Starlight925]

1 hour ago, Roxie said:

I'm curious about why people are saying that Lola isn't qualified to diagnose mental health conditions.  She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and as such, diagnosis is part of her job.  In Ohio, we have both Licensed Independent Social Workers, which I was, and Licensed Professional Counselors - both professionals that diagnose.  If you can't diagnose, how can you treat?

Also, writing a letter to someone (or to your younger self) to express your feelings, and then never sending it, is a long-standing, well-accepted therapeutic technique.

In the state of Texas, an LPC is not allowed to diagnose.  

https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/licensed-professional-counselors-authority-to-diagnose-postcard.aspx

She can suggest a disorder, and hopefully refer, which is what I hope happened.

She can treat someone who has been diagnosed with a disorder (i.e. depression, BPD), but she cannot diagnose.  I'm going to assume (yes, assume) that a diagnosis was made by a qualified professional who did not want to be televised, and Lola is treating.  Otherwise, Lola could have/would have lost her license.

It's quite possible that throughout this ordeal with this lying, blame-shifting, deflecting, F-bomb throwing person, that Lola obtained a diagnosis and is now treating her, which is within Lola's scope.

Edited April 10, 2020 by Sterling

[Roxie]

Thanks, @Sterling - I stand corrected.  That being said, having seen what I saw (both here and on those Catfish clips), she certainly appears to fit the criteria for BPD.

[dahling]

7 hours ago, Lillith said:

I noticed this right away and posted the same elsewhere. She's normally so friendly and "light" and her distaste for Ashley was very apparent. 

I read it as fear. Or maybe that was me projecting my fear onto whichever poor unfortunate soul was trapped in a room with her.

[Starlight925]

4 hours ago, Roxie said:

Thanks, @Sterling - I stand corrected.  That being said, having seen what I saw (both here and on those Catfish clips), she certainly appears to fit the criteria for BPD.

I didn't see the Catfish clips, as I couldn't bear to spend another moment viewing this train wreck.  I'll take it from you, that she was awful.

This girl will always find someone else to blame, some way to make everything someone else's fault.

My favorite part of this episode was watching Dr. Now stand his ground, and continue to behave professionally, while not backing down to her in that throw-down.  For him not to have said, "screw the production contracts, I want this woman out of my office" and to continue, with such professionalism, speaks volumes about him.

[readheaded]

I could hardly understand anything she was saying.  I thought my ears were going to start bleeding.

[CrazyInAlabama]

My guess is that Lola, and the other therapists have access to the medical history, and the psychological screening that happens before the person is even accepted into the program (all bariatric programs do this).      I bet Lola knew exactly what type of person she was facing, and I'm very glad she had the film crew with her.   I think it took a great deal of courage to meet with Ashley more than once, especially after it was discovered what a liar she is.    

[Toaster Strudel]

Image how difficult it was to deal with her for the film crew, and the post production crew (recording the narrative).

Word got around.

 

[auntjess]

I was concerned about her friend/neighbor Quenten's wife, because Ashley seemed to be dependent on Quenten.
I wouldn't put much past her.

[Starlight925]

9 hours ago, auntjess said:

I was concerned about her friend/neighbor Quenten's wife, because Ashley seemed to be dependent on Quenten.
I wouldn't put much past her.

Oooh, I didn't even think about it.

Quenten seemed like such a good guy.  So was that female friend Quenten's wife?  I missed that.

Yeah, lyin' deflectin' blamin' Ashley....wouldn't put much past her.  

[Motor City]

Ashley T. looks like the Mucinex germ

[Carolina Girl]

She’s such a liar I wonder how much of that tragedy-laden backstory of hers is real as well.  She seemed to have hit every awful life experience expressed by the poundicipants.   

[JunkFoodTV]

32 minutes ago, Carolina Girl said:

She’s such a liar I wonder how much of that tragedy-laden backstory of hers is real as well.  She seemed to have hit every awful life experience expressed by the poundicipants.   

I will have watch this for real this time. 😟 I lose interest if I have to read the show. So I missed most of it. I did catch the ugliness in the office. I was ready to throw down! All 63 years, 125 lbs, 5'1" of me. Yes....I am feisty and fierce. 👵. 😆

[Miss Chevious]

After seeing Ashley in action on Catfish (didn’t know she was on there till I saw the video clips) and in front of Dr. Now it’s very clear she has deep rooted psychological problems.

One word to describe her immediately comes to mind - Diabolical with a capital D. 

She had no intention of losing weight, all she wanted was TV time. The production crew really should screen these limelight chasers a lot better. 

I

[auntjess]

13 hours ago, Sterling said:

Quenten seemed like such a good guy.  So was that female friend Quenten's wife?  I missed that.

Well they seemed to be a couple, not sure if they're married.  

[dreadfulLeigh]

On 4/10/2020 at 3:39 PM, Johnny Dollar said:

I’m not as sure that she really suffers from any personality disorders as I am that she’s just a reality show fame whore.

I think the Venn diagram of personality disorders and people who go on reality tv shows has a large overlap. 

[silverspoons]

On 4/8/2020 at 8:39 PM, Mary said:

She was in 2 different episodes of Catfish on MTV.  I believe that I read she was in a season 7 episode and a season 8 episode.  

 

Does anyone know what episodes? I pulled season 7 and 8 up on the MTV app and there are no Ashley names in the episode. I have not watched catfished for years, are the episodes listed under the fake names? 

[JunkFoodTV]

@silverspoons season 8 ep 1 red and jalissa and maybe season 8 ep 10 Gemini and myranda.

[Decider]

5 hours ago, silverspoons said:

Does anyone know what episodes? I pulled season 7 and 8 up on the MTV app and there are no Ashley names in the episode. I have not watched catfished for years, are the episodes listed under the fake names? 

 

4 hours ago, JunkFoodTV said:

@silverspoons season 8 ep 1 red and jalissa and maybe season 8 ep 10 Gemini and myranda.

The names of the episodes are the person being catfished and the online name of the person doing the catfishing -- that would be why you didn't see Ashley's name for that season.

[the-grey-lady]

Ashley: I'VE BEEN SO NICE TO YOU AND YOU'VE BEEN AN ASSHOLE TO ME.

[ten minutes later]

Ashley: I wouldn't lie to you, Dr. Now. We're like family now!

 

WTF.