Hired Friends: Whitney's Social Barnacles

[yogi2014L]

28 minutes ago, ClareWalks said:

That article didn't say where the race was, but based on Lake Monona I am assuming Madison WI. That lake is medium-sized, low chop, and fairly easy visibility so the fact that a kayaker took 7 minutes to reach the scene is unacceptable. I am glad Will is okay, he is a trooper for sure.

The games were in Madison WI, so you are correct!

And yeah, a lot of the commentary was that they completely dropped the ball on safety regarding that. I love CF, but there have been a few things at the games that always make me wonder why they don't prioritize safety more. A few years ago a lot of athletes were passing out from heatstroke as one of the more grueling events was held like in the middle of the day under the sun with no shade.  

Edited August 7, 2017 by yogi2014L

[pigs-in-space]

I'm glad his friend was a decent person and didn't worry about finishing his race.  Saving someone's life is something that matters a lot more.

[TurtlePower]

On 8/7/2017 at 8:09 AM, ClareWalks said:

That article didn't say where the race was, but based on Lake Monona I am assuming Madison WI. That lake is medium-sized, low chop, and fairly easy visibility so the fact that a kayaker took 7 minutes to reach the scene is unacceptable. I am glad Will is okay, he is a trooper for sure.

I work this kind of event and we always keep motorized vessels on the route ready for rescue. Drowning happens fast--Will must have some good water survival skills with his body fat being so low, he'd sink like a rock. 

[TaylorTalk]

What is with Todd's dancing?  I can't put words as to what his style is.  It just seems so lazy, self absorbed and undisciplined.

[AZChristian]

5 hours ago, qqererer said:

What is with Todd's dancing?  I can't put words as to what his style is.  It just seems so lazy, self absorbed and undisciplined.

Gee, that describes his dance partner perfectly as well.

[tdanaher]

On 8/22/2017 at 0:44 PM, qqererer said:

What is with Todd's dancing?  I can't put words as to what his style is.  It just seems so lazy, self absorbed and undisciplined.

I've described it as flailing. It's really that. He pretty much just flings his hands, feet, or hips in a direction, and the part of the body attached to those things gets flung in the same direction. He's got no control, power, or strength involved. It's just "there goes my foot up in the air, hope it works out!"

[Eliava]

Watching the first episode of the new season (I don't know or care which one it is), I think Buddy has a narcotics problem. One minute he is utterly not-understandable and then the next time you see him, he's talking like a normal person. In the scenes when he's talking through a mouth full of marbles, he's not making sense AT ALL! I'm kinda surprised no one around him has noticed something is horribly wrong with him health-wise. If it's not drugs, then he has a health issue that needs to be addressed sooner than later.

[Eliava]

On 8/22/2017 at 0:44 PM, TaylorTalk said:

What is with Todd's dancing?  I can't put words as to what his style is.  It just seems so lazy, self absorbed and undisciplined.

If the guy could take his eyes off of himself in the mirror, he might notice that the girls taking his class are SO not into his self-love!!! But I think his eyes have been welded to his FAB-u-lus self (ugh).

[Honey]

Deleted.

Edited January 7, 2018 by Honey

[lightninggirl]

On 1/3/2018 at 0:11 AM, Eliava said:

Watching the first episode of the new season (I don't know or care which one it is), I think Buddy has a narcotics problem. One minute he is utterly not-understandable and then the next time you see him, he's talking like a normal person. In the scenes when he's talking through a mouth full of marbles, he's not making sense AT ALL! I'm kinda surprised no one around him has noticed something is horribly wrong with him health-wise. If it's not drugs, then he has a health issue that needs to be addressed sooner than later.

As someone who's been around too many hydro, oxy/roxy, and Xanax abusers, it's like he's on a combo of alcohol and Xanax. He's not weaving quite like he's on that combo, but it's pretty dang close. The slurring could definitely be something like alcohol + Baclofen or Flexiril (muscle relaxant) combo if it's not Xanax. Or maybe Xanax and muscle relaxant. 

Clearly, I'm thinking about this too much, but I agree with you, Eliava. It's definitely getting worse and it's sad to watch.

[Irate Panda]

Todd has no rhythm and is not a great dancer, but unlike Whitney, he’s at least mobile.  I agree Buddy seems like he has some sort of substance issue, of course I have no proof, but he really looks terrible.  I don’t particularly like Buddy, I think he has a nasty streak, actually they all (Heather, Buddy, Todd) do, with the possible exception of Tal.

[Ketzel]

10 hours ago, Irate Panda said:

Todd has no rhythm and is not a great dancer, but unlike Whitney, he’s at least mobile.

He and Whitney have said in the past that she "taught him everything he knows" about dance. Which explains a lot. I would hope that his stint in New York City trying to break into musical theater would have exposed him to some better training, but if it did, not much of it took.  He's really clumsy and has no grace to his body line at all.

[auntjess]

Ah, I missed that, because while he's athletic, he never looks graceful.

[TurtlePower]

On 1/2/2018 at 9:11 PM, Eliava said:

Watching the first episode of the new season (I don't know or care which one it is), I think Buddy has a narcotics problem. One minute he is utterly not-understandable and then the next time you see him, he's talking like a normal person. In the scenes when he's talking through a mouth full of marbles, he's not making sense AT ALL! I'm kinda surprised no one around him has noticed something is horribly wrong with him health-wise. If it's not drugs, then he has a health issue that needs to be addressed sooner than later.

I was speculating on that myself. There's definitely something going on with him. His face is puffy, his eyes are droopy, he's marble-mouthed and his breathing sounds heavy at times. Drugs or drink (?), lack of sleep, night shift, poor nutrition. He doesn't look good at all. 

[Irate Panda]

Does anyone know how old Buddy is and what his job was before he was a bartender?

[Dot]

33 minutes ago, Irate Panda said:

Does anyone know how old Buddy is and what his job was before he was a bartender?

Twit will be 34 in Apr & Buddy is the same age, give or take a yr or 2. (He was at a different h.s. when she was in h.s. & they met then thru her BF.)

He was delivering pizza when he reconnected with Twit. I don't know if that was a second job or what he was primarily doing to earn a living.

[Irate Panda]

23 minutes ago, Dot said:

Twit will be 34 in Apr & Buddy is the same age, give or take a yr or 2. (He was at a different h.s. when she was in h.s. & they met then thru her BF.)

He was delivering pizza when he reconnected with Twit. I don't know if that was a second job or what he was primarily doing to earn a living.

Thanks I remember seeing some old clip maybe the beginning of the series of Buddy bringing Whitney a pizza, but it didn’t show if he worked at the pizza place.  Do any of these people have real jobs? I’m not saying a pizza place is not a real job, I mean, they all seem to be able to take off and film or go on vacations or whatever.  Heather works two jobs (I’m not sure what), Tal is/was a counselor, Todd is is/was waiter, dancer.  Is filming for the show like a few weeks or something, it just seems odd all these adults can just take off their jobs at the drop of a hat.  I get why they’d want to, but   I’d think their bosses would get tired of these time off requests unless the filming in very condense or extremely spread out.  Sorry if this isn’t clear.  Maybe the show only shoots a couple of months and their parts only require a week’s worth of shooting.  A lot of this show confuses me.

[editorgrrl]

On 3/3/2018 at 7:53 PM, Irate Panda said:

Does anyone know how old Buddy is and what his job was before he was a bartender?

Luby Francis “Buddy” Bell is 34. (His dad is also Luby, his mom is Edythe, and his brother Phil is two years younger.) In January 2014, Buddy assaulted a police officer at a Queens of the Stone Age concert in Raleigh, North Carolina. Charged with assaulting a government official, second degree trespassing, resisting a public officer, public intoxication, and disorderly conduct, he was convicted of disorderly conduct, put on probation for 45 days, and fined $380.

[Tipsymcstagger]

5 hours ago, editorgrrl said:

Buddy assaulted a police officer at a Queens of the Stone Age concert in Raleigh, North Carolina. Charged with assaulting a government official, second degree trespassing, resisting a public officer, public intoxication, and disorderly conduct, he was convicted of disorderly conduct, put on probation for 45 days, and fined $380.

Man...if that isn’t white privilege - I don’t know what is.

Bet he REALLY learned his lesson. /s

[Irate Panda]

Maybe I’m missing something, but can someone explain what is so attractive about Buddy that Heather is so distraught over this break up? Is it just because he basically ghosted her, so he’s like some unattainable catch? I ask because for the life of me I don’t get why anyone would find the guy attractive.

Now physically he might be some people’s type (not mine), but he’s pretty much an admitted bum, has a mean streak going back to the host of the reunion, mumbles, is a criminal, alluded to cheating on Heather, has/had a drug/alcohol problem, seemingly hasn’t apologized for any of it, seems like a man-child, emotionally stunted.

I mean Heather’s no prize attitude-wise, but seemingly is able to hold down a couple of jobs, pay her bills as far as we know, and in this bunch is definitely physically attractive. This just keeps nagging at me.  I mean if Buddy were some great catch, I might understand it, but even at his best, Buddy seemed like an over grown frat boy, somebody you’d invite to your party for a few laughs then regret it the next morning, when he’s passed out on your sofa, thrown up on your rug and pissed in your potted plant.

[AZChristian]

Good question.  I watch Judge Judy and People's Court every day.  Trust me.  There are a LOT of women who would find him a prize.  At least he had a job.  That's more than most of the male litigants being sued by females have.

[TurtlePower]

8 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Good question.  I watch Judge Judy and People's Court every day.  Trust me.  There are a LOT of women who would find him a prize.  At least he had a job.  That's more than most of the male litigants being sued by females have.

What gets me are the people who go into court without documentation. This concept--and these shows--have been around a long time. I'm willing to bet some of them don't care how stupid they look, they're on tv. Which makes them even more stupid. 

[princelina]

21 hours ago, Irate Panda said:

Maybe I’m missing something, but can someone explain what is so attractive about Buddy that Heather is so distraught over this break up? Is it just because he basically ghosted her, so he’s like some unattainable catch? I ask because for the life of me I don’t get why anyone would find the guy attractive.

Now physically he might be some people’s type (not mine), but he’s pretty much an admitted bum, has a mean streak going back to the host of the reunion, mumbles, is a criminal, alluded to cheating on Heather, has/had a drug/alcohol problem, seemingly hasn’t apologized for any of it, seems like a man-child, emotionally stunted.

I mean Heather’s no prize attitude-wise, but seemingly is able to hold down a couple of jobs, pay her bills as far as we know, and in this bunch is definitely physically attractive. This just keeps nagging at me.  I mean if Buddy were some great catch, I might understand it, but even at his best, Buddy seemed like an over grown frat boy, somebody you’d invite to your party for a few laughs then regret it the next morning, when he’s passed out on your sofa, thrown up on your rug and pissed in your potted plant.

Back in the early 90's afternoon talk shows were huge and everywhere - Oprah, Jerry Springer (before he was ridiculous), Sally Jessy, Ricki Lake, and I don't remember the rest - but I think Heather is doing what I used to call "the Ricki Lake defense" - which was a girl and a guy, same general relationship as Heather and Buddy (details differed) and after detailing what a crumb the guy was the host would finally ask the girl why she wanted to continue in a relationship with him, and she would say, "I've invested so much time in this relationship . . ."  It wasn't until a decade later that the brilliant book He's Just Not That Into You finally addressed the point that:  you've wasted enough time on it!!!

[Irate Panda]

Does anybody know how long Buddy and Heather dated?

[Maggienolia]

4 minutes ago, Irate Panda said:

Does anybody know how long Buddy and Heather dated?

I think they started dating after Buddy and Twit moved into the house together. But that's as close to a timeline as I can get. Others may have a better handle on how long exactly. But I caught Twit saying something to Buddy (pre-rehab, so quite a few episodes back) about how did he go from wanting to design his own engagement ring to breaking up. So maybe it wasn't ALL in Heather's mind but there was way more stringing along on Boo-Bear's part than we've seen on screen.

[Irate Panda]

22 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Good question.  I watch Judge Judy and People's Court every day.  Trust me.  There are a LOT of women who would find him a prize.  At least he had a job.  That's more than most of the male litigants being sued by females have.

Honestly the way it’s portrayed on the show sometimes it seems like he only had a job to access to booze.  They act like he never paid his bills.  I’d love Judge Judy to tell all these folks what she thought of them

[Maggienolia]

14 minutes ago, Irate Panda said:

Honestly the way it’s portrayed on the show sometimes it seems like he only had a job to access to booze.  They act like he never paid his bills.  I’d love Judge Judy to tell all these folks what she thought of them

Judge Judy would eye-roll herself into another dimension! 

[LordOfLotion]

49 minutes ago, Maggienolia said:

I think they started dating after Buddy and Twit moved into the house together. But that's as close to a timeline as I can get. Others may have a better handle on how long exactly. But I caught Twit saying something to Buddy (pre-rehab, so quite a few episodes back) about how did he go from wanting to design his own engagement ring to breaking up. So maybe it wasn't ALL in Heather's mind but there was way more stringing along on Boo-Bear's part than we've seen on screen.

Maybe it's me, but Buddy doesn't seem like the type to design his own engagement ring. He seems more like the "buy whatever she tells me to buy" kind of guy-- and probably at Wal-Mart. 

[Irate Panda]

I read Tal’s dad passed away yesterday.  I’m sorry for his loss.

[Brooks]

Do Glenn and Babs count as barnacles? 

I have been assuming that Heather, Todd, et al, are being paid by TLC but that Glenn and Babs are not.  Any thoughts?

[3girlsforus]

28 minutes ago, Brooks said:

Do Glenn and Babs count as barnacles? 

I have been assuming that Heather, Todd, et al, are being paid by TLC but that Glenn and Babs are not.  Any thoughts?

I don’t consider Glenn and Babs barnacles. Whitney is their barnacle they are desperately trying to shed. I suspect they hoped getting involved in the show would encourage her independence and prompt an attempt to be healthier and lose weight. Glen especially seems to live in fear that their golden years will be spent wiping Whitney’s butt and paying her bills. 

[Dot]

21 hours ago, Brooks said:

Do Glenn and Babs count as barnacles? 

I have been assuming that Heather, Todd, et al, are being paid by TLC but that Glenn and Babs are not.  Any thoughts?

I don't see any reason that Glenn & Babs would NOT get paid along with the rest of the "cast."

Edited March 24, 2018 by Dot

[Maricopa]

19 minutes ago, Dot said:

2 hours ago, Brooks said:

Do Glenn and Babs count as barnacles? 

I have been assuming that Heather, Todd, et al, are being paid by TLC but that Glenn and Babs are not.  Any thoughts?

I don't see any reason that Glenn & Babs would NOT getting paid along with the rest of the "cast."

I'm a SAG-AFTRA (actors' union) member, and even those onscreen people who are not, they are being paid. It's entirely possible all are SAG members, and over five words turns into quite a lot plus lovely surprise residuals. But the extras (people onscreen), even those not speaking, are getting something, if only $100/day. I'll ask around. And TLC is definitely paying for the trip. Remember, they have to pay for a crew and some of the stuff (some is rented on location) to be shipped to wherever. So they're paying for the cast to travel too. I'll see if I can look up the reality show contract.

[Dot]

4 hours ago, Maricopa said:

 

Quote

I'll see if I can look up the reality show contract.

 

That would be very cool if you can get your hands on it. Many of us have been speculating about the Discovery/TLC/PMG/MBFFL/Twit relationships for several years.

[Almost 3000]

5 hours ago, Maricopa said:

I'm a SAG-AFTRA (actors' union) member, and even those onscreen people who are not, they are being paid. It's entirely possible all are SAG members, and over five words turns into quite a lot plus lovely surprise residuals. But the extras (people onscreen), even those not speaking, are getting something, if only $100/day. I'll ask around. And TLC is definitely paying for the trip. Remember, they have to pay for a crew and some of the stuff (some is rented on location) to be shipped to wherever. So they're paying for the cast to travel too. I'll see if I can look up the reality show contract.

Reality stars aren't union. That's why these shows are so cheap because there is a flat fee paid per season or episode and there are no residuals. There have also been participants not paid anything if the show didn't air which if in a union they would have been paid.

[Irate Panda]

I don’t consider Babs and Glenn Barnacles because they are acting a fool on TLC for Whitney, the others are acting a fool for money or exposure.

[Brooks]

Then if Glenn and Babs are being paid, maybe that's the basis for Glenn agreeing to back up Whitney on her mortgage.  ;^)

[auntjess]

From watching the first season again, I was struck by how much better Tal looked.
He had hair, and he had COLOR, not the pale, washed-out look, of the more recent seasons.

[SevenCostanza]

15 hours ago, auntjess said:

From watching the first season again, I was struck by how much better Tal looked.
He had hair, and he had COLOR, not the pale, washed-out look, of the more recent seasons.

What about Buddy? He looks like a different man. 

[Dot]

17 hours ago, auntjess said:

From watching the first season again, I was struck by how much better Tal looked.
He had hair, and he had COLOR, not the pale, washed-out look, of the more recent seasons.

I don't think Heather, Twit's supposed BFF since h.s., was even in S-1. Am I right? (I can only remember Ashley.)

[Dot]

From a video on her IG page it appears Heather, like Tal, has now added a ring to her nose no doubt becuz it's such a fab look on Twit. (Heather has had a nose stud for a while which looks more like a pimple in photos.)

[Dot]

To ponder: if Heather loves singing so much, why does she look so constipated while doing so?

[auntjess]

On 12/1/2018 at 11:22 AM, SevenCostanza said:

What about Buddy? He looks like a different man. 

Yes, he's thinner and healthier, but Tal just looks like he's been fading away since season 1.

[Dot]

On 12/1/2018 at 8:22 AM, SevenCostanza said:

What about Buddy? He looks like a different man. 

I was reading his IG profile Q&As. He was asked about the GF he raved about & said they broke up a couple of months ago.I guess that explains why he's back to hanging around Greensboro.

[Sasha888]

18 hours ago, auntjess said:

Tal just looks like he's been fading away since season 1.

And he's not going to be looking any better now that he's moved in the Twit and is likely on chub rub cream duty. Among other distasteful tasks I'd rather not think about.

Selling your soul to TLC has made a lot of people look like crap.

[Colleenna]

3 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

And he's not going to be looking any better now that he's moved in the Twit and is likely on chub rub cream duty. Among other distasteful tasks I'd rather not think about.

Selling your soul to TLC has made a lot of people look like crap.

Chub rub duty would kill anyone's appetite. Hell, seeing Twit nude would be enough (except for the chubby chasers.)

[Irate Panda]

I’m confused did Buddy move back in with Whitney and Tal? He was texting him if he was home because he heard a lot of noise and didn’t know if it was the cats or somebody was robbing them.  On a side Buddy is 17 months sober...good job Buddy.

[Dot]

1 hour ago, Irate Panda said:

I’m confused did Buddy move back in with Whitney and Tal? He was texting him if he was home because he heard a lot of noise and didn’t know if it was the cats or somebody was robbing them.  On a side Buddy is 17 months sober...good job Buddy.

He's definitely there now bc he tweeted a photo of himself with Henchi which may be having some health problems. (Twit asked Buddy to get the cat to the vet ASAP.)

I said a while back that I thought Buddy was camping out at Twit's. My only evidence is that he has seemed to be at Twit's side all the time at least since they returned from the cruise.

[princelina]

7 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

And he's not going to be looking any better now that he's moved in the Twit and is likely on chub rub cream duty. Among other distasteful tasks I'd rather not think about.

Selling your soul to TLC has made a lot of people look like crap.

@Dot is going to be pissed at me but I still don't think he moved in there - I think he's faking it for storyline.

However your point stands - they do a lot of unpleasant things to stay on this show :)

[Brooks]

Buddy's parents didn't live very far away.  Maybe he's with them.