S08.E15: Ashley T.'s Story

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

On 4/9/2020 at 2:00 PM, Otter said:

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. 

This is my guess (and I claim no inside information): TLC and Dr. Now do some horse-trading for each season's poundticipants. Dr. Now agrees to take on some raging dumpster fires and do his best, and TLC agrees to take on some legit cases who will benefit from his help but won't make for interesting TV. This season, the mix is a little off.

On 4/9/2020 at 4:04 PM, Stiggs said:

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.

IMHO, the shower scenes serve one important purpose: They prevent the people from later suing and saying "I wasn't really that fat, but TLC made me wear too-small clothes or whatever." When we've seen them naked, there's no disputing how big they really are.

On 4/10/2020 at 8:42 AM, 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. 

It's not from this franchise, but I remember an episode from the Robert Irvine restaurant renovation show Restaurant: Impossible that featured someone a lot like Ashley: she was a single mom who let her preschool-aged child (conceived via an anonymous sperm donor) run roughshod throughout the restaurant, disturbing customers and staff alike. Whenever the staff would ask her to reign in her child (who seemed to be an otherwise-normal kid who was just given no boundaries), she'd respond with "You're gonna be working for him one day." Like Ashley, her entire family (including several who owned restaurants in the same town) had cut her off completely because she was so toxic, and she argued with Robert throughout the episode, including flying off the handle at neutral observations Robert made about why the restaurant was failing. Naturally, she followed none of Robert's advice and was out of business within the year.

On 4/10/2020 at 12:49 PM, Sterling said:

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.

IIRC, all Lola did was suggest a disorder. She didn't tell Ashley "You have NPD," but rather "Some of the behaviors you've described are consistent with some of the listed behaviors in NPD." She was seriously parsing her words, likely to stay on the right side of the regs you linked to.

On 4/10/2020 at 9:08 PM, 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.

 

On 4/9/2020 at 6:32 AM, Tabbygirl521 said:

I kept wondering why those two perfectly normal people, who clearly found her behavior embarrassing, were with her at all. The woman especially did not seem engaged with her.  My friend thought maybe they were pastors doing a good deed, which could make sense. But I checked the beginning again; Ashley said they were her neighbors, and the man was shown saying he believes everyone deserves a chance. So Ashley apparently really has to rely on the kindness of (relative) strangers because she has alienated EVERYONE? She couldn’t even follow through on making amends because no one will speak to her.

My guess: The guy is a pastor or someone who believes in helping people, and the woman is his wife who's less enthusiastic than he. That would explain why he was doing the majority of the talking and why we didn't see her later: she'd had enough of the Ashley trainwreck.

[AZChristian]

49 minutes ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

My guess: The guy is a pastor or someone who believes in helping people, and the woman is his wife who's less enthusiastic than he. That would explain why he was doing the majority of the talking and why we didn't see her later: she'd had enough of the Ashley trainwreck.

I think the same thing.  That's why when they were in the room with Dr. Now, the guy saw that Ashley was about to "go off" and kept saying, "Don't do it, Ashley."  His (assumed) wife just sat there with a "Here we go again" expression on her face.  She's done with Ashley.

[Jeeves]

6 hours ago, the-grey-lady said:

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.

Yeah. If her mouth is moving, she's eating, lying, or raining down threats and abuse. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I am steamed that Ashley stormed out of Dr. Now's office, said all of those threats in the car on camera, and then was allowed to come back into the office.   They should have locked the office door behind her, and had the police 'trespass' her (where they tell her if she comes back, she's getting arrested).     

I hate that nasty smirk that Ashley has on her face, when she returns to the office, as if what she said is all a joke.     

I have this urge to rip those fake braids out of her head.    How dare she disrespect Dr. Now like that?    

I'm really surprised that Ashley hasn't signed up for the lawsuit yet.   She was only on here for publicity.  

I love how she totally ignores the fact that Dr. Now has found out she's been the same weight for about three years now, and never lost so much weight.     I hope the ducks in the park scene weren't too disappointed that Ashley didn't bring them treats, because she's never let an ounce of food escape her.  

Edited April 16, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[OoogleEyes]

I sometimes watch the end of last week's show before the new episode, but I just couldn't bear to look at that awful, horrible person one more time. 

See you in the live chat!

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

12 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I'm really surprised that Ashley hasn't signed up for the lawsuit yet.   She was only on here for publicity.

I doubt the attorneys and other plaintiffs would want her: she has a documented history of lying and fraud. Her presence as a plaintiff would reduce the credibility of their entire side.

[CringeWatcher]

I teach high school juniors. I’ve been teaching for 11 years now. My first 3 years I taught 7th grade inclusion classes. My second three years I taught at an alternative learning center, working with high school kids who, for various reasons, couldn’t be successful in a traditional classroom. Many years ago I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder, but - perhaps ironically - my symptoms were much improved when I started teaching, because I truly love being a teacher and I actually get energy from being in the classroom. I had quit taking medication. 
Until this year. 
This year I had a student with borderline personality disorder. By October, I was having anxiety attacks again and had many nights where I just could not sleep. I got back on my meds in November. 
It’s my understanding that a person can’t be diagnosed as a sociopath until age 18. But in my experience, BPD is only a one degree separation from SP. 

Just my experience, YMMV. 
Ashley is a raging asshole waste of space famewhore shitbag. Just my opinion 😷

[aliya]

On 4/15/2020 at 7:59 AM, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

It's not from this franchise, but I remember an episode from the Robert Irvine restaurant renovation show Restaurant: Impossible that featured someone a lot like Ashley: she was a single mom who let her preschool-aged child (conceived via an anonymous sperm donor) run roughshod throughout the restaurant, disturbing customers and staff alike. Whenever the staff would ask her to reign in her child (who seemed to be an otherwise-normal kid who was just given no boundaries), she'd respond with "You're gonna be working for him one day." Like Ashley, her entire family (including several who owned restaurants in the same town) had cut her off completely because she was so toxic, and she argued with Robert throughout the episode, including flying off the handle at neutral observations Robert made about why the restaurant was failing. Naturally, she followed none of Robert's advice and was out of business within the year.

I remember her! If she'd said that stuff about working for her son one day, I'd have walked off. I've met enough people and been around long enough to know that when someone tells you they have problems with the whole family, there's a reason. I used to think, "Aw, how sad." Now I know better.

[CrazyInAlabama]

On 4/20/2020 at 10:41 PM, aliya said:

I remember her! If she'd said that stuff about working for her son one day, I'd have walked off. I've met enough people and been around long enough to know that when someone tells you they have problems with the whole family, there's a reason. I used to think, "Aw, how sad." Now I know better.

I remember that episode.    No one in her family associated with her.  The restaurant went out of business not that long after the show aired, nothing changed with the little boy running loose in the restaurant either.    She listened to nothing Robert said either.     

Just like Ashley, ignoring everything Dr. Now said.     Honestly, when she pulled that stunt in Dr. Now's office, and she stomped out making threats, they should have locked the front door, called the police, and trespassed her.  The film crew should have played the threats she said against Dr. Now when she was out in the van.     Then when Dr. Now finds out she's been the same weight for years, she should have been told to leave his office, and never return. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[Anduril]

This has been the only episode that I haven’t been able to finish. I hated her on Catfish and I hated her even more on here. I’d love to see her lifeless body rolled off the deck of a ship in the middle of the ocean. Let her fat carcass feed some seagulls so something good can come from her waste of a life. 

[AZChristian]

17 hours ago, Anduril said:

This has been the only episode that I haven’t been able to finish. I hated her on Catfish and I hated her even more on here. I’d love to see her lifeless body rolled off the deck of a ship in the middle of the ocean. Let her fat carcass feed some seagulls so something good can come from her waste of a life. 

Sharks eat whales.  I watch NatGeo.

[El maestro]

On 4/9/2020 at 7:03 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

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. 

Not many buffets in that area, and I don’t think the Whole Foods across the street can be considered one.

[AZChristian]

11 hours ago, El maestro said:

Not many buffets in that area, and I don’t think the Whole Foods across the street can be considered one.

There's that Chinese Buffet no more than 100 feet across the parking lot, and multiple other take-outs and restaurants REAL close.

I agree that Whole Foods wouldn't be considered a buffet, which is why most of Dr. Now's patients are unaware of it.

🙂

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm betting Whole Foods doesn't have enough junk food to tempt Dr. Now's patients.   However, the fast food in the same block at Dr. Now's office is amazing.     I wouldn't be surprised if the same people who do the epic drive thru journey to his office, do a drive thru when leaving.   

I looked at the buffet's Google listing.    They have giant mounds of French Fries, and Tater Tots, just the think to make a poundticipant on a binge happy.     

I can really seeing Ashley T. doing that.   Of course, she would do the orders under one of her fake profile names.     After this show aired, I imagine she's working on her next attempt at fame.    

Edited May 12, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[JunkFoodTV]

Is anyone planning to watch her supersize episode? 

[PrincessPurrsALot]

On 5/12/2020 at 9:09 AM, JunkFoodTV said:

Is anyone planning to watch her supersize episode? 

I am trying to limit self harm so I will be skipping this one.  😃

[JunkFoodTV]

On 5/13/2020 at 2:52 PM, PrincessPurrsALot said:

I am trying to limit self harm so I will be skipping this one.  😃

Ugh....I can't help myself. 😩

Bonus 1 beast eating for her "nerves" on the way to appt. An ass ton of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese. I've never heard of having potatoes and macaroni at one meal until watching these shows. And my family says they're not educational. 🤔

Bonus 2 beast having extended therapy with Lola

Bonus 3 writes in diary (phone) to herself (?) maybe. 😴 Didn't really understand or care to. Was getting tired of reading her closed captions and the sound of her voice. 

Honestly, I just fast forwarded to the bonus scenes so don't know what the little gems of information were. But unless it was something like she rescues puppies, orphans and baby seals between meals I just don't give a f....She's still a waste.

[RealReality]

On 4/10/2020 at 10:20 AM, Sterling said:

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.

3000 personalities....0 jobs. 

[Twopper]

So tonight I  watched a story about Rick Kirkham  the guy who filmed Joe Exotic a few years ago, and I wasn't quite ready to go to bed so I surfed thru a bunch of channels and finally ended up watching S8 ep  1 of Catfish with Ashley T.    It was about half over before I realized that was who it was.     Between seeing her on that show and seeing a few scenes of Joe Exotic I fear I will have nightmares all night.

[Elizzikra]

On 5/5/2020 at 5:19 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I'm betting Whole Foods doesn't have enough junk food to tempt Dr. Now's patients.   However, the fast food in the same block at Dr. Now's office is amazing.     I wouldn't be surprised if the same people who do the epic drive thru journey to his office, do a drive thru when leaving.   

I looked at the buffet's Google listing.    They have giant mounds of French Fries, and Tater Tots, just the think to make a poundticipant on a binge happy.     

I can really seeing Ashley T. doing that.   Of course, she would do the orders under one of her fake profile names.     After this show aired, I imagine she's working on her next attempt at fame.    

Our Whole Foods has plenty of food the poundticipants would LOVE! Mac and cheese, Chinese food, mashed potatoes, meatloaf, fried chicken, a cookie bar - I could go on and on. But it’s expensive.

[Ralphster]

On 4/8/2020 at 8:24 PM, Ivylady said:

BPD yeah, but the narcissism is also shining through.

BPD is another form of narcissism. Some call it 'covert narcissism.' Instead of boasting about how wonderful they are, BPDs generally play the helpless victim and suddenly you're caught up in their web and if you try to back away from the enmeshment, you're an evil horrible person for not always putting the borderline's feelings first. They're definitely narcissists in their own right.

The prognosis for most borderlines is grim. They are a tangled psychological mess and their rage is unfathomable.

[Ralphster]

I had a different take on Dr. Now allowing Ashley back into the exam room and seeing her again. To me, that underscored the fact that he's out to make a TV show at any cost, the more drama therein the better. A self-respecting professional would refuse to see a patient who behaved so disrespectfully, and in fact most doctor's offices fire patients for lesser outbursts than that which Ashley displayed. Dr. Now is a media personality first, a doctor second. Maybe he began the other way around, but the worm sure has turned.

I'm irritated by Lola's use of "disclose." She isn't using it correctly. You usually use 'disclose' in conjunction with a direct object; i.e., correct usage would be, "When did you disclose the abuse?" instead of what she actually says, which is, "When did you disclose?" She also repeats back what patients say in more clinical terms without providing much insight. The best example of this is with "Mama Joyce" (what an unprofessional way to address her, by the way), when she repeated back Joyce's statement that she was raised with a lot of uproar: "That is how you were socialized." Well, yeah. Duh. That is what she just said. Using clinical terms is a poor substitute for providing actual insight and guidance toward self-knowledge. If I were sent to therapy and walked in and saw Lola, I would laugh at her and just turn around and walk back outside. No therapy is better than bad therapy, and Dr. Now should stop forcing patients to get bad therapy from Lola.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Ralphster

[Boo Boo]

Watching this episode now.  I hate this woman so much.    

[Twopper]

1 hour ago, Boo Boo said:

Watching this episode now.  I hate this woman so much.    

I watched most of it again today while I was doing something else.  I had to look up more than usual just to understand what she  said.  I didn't realize how recently it aired.  I may go look at the live chat to see what i said at the time it aired.

[newyawk]

Wow. I just watched this one. I don't think I have ever thought this about a candidate on this show, but this person frightened me. She would fit right in at one of those 19th century asylums, or in a William Peter Blatty film. It was pretty scary seeing her personalities start to shift and bubble under the surface, I've never seen anything like that before. What a piece of work. And I hope no other reality show takes her on again, she has had more than enough media attention.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I did notice that when Ashley stomped back into the exam room, that every other door from the front desk and down the hall was shut tight.   Dr. Now has the camera crew, producer, and I'm betting extra help when he allowed her to come back.   I'm sure that he realized she was totally delusional, and lied about everything, not just her weight loss.      I think her temper tantrum was another of her lies.   

[newyawk]

She is extremely dangerous IMO and needs to be on medication. It's hard to believe that she isn't already prescribed some sort of anti-psychotic, maybe she just hasn't been taking them?  I can easily see her killing someone, or a few someones in a public meltdown..