Marriage Boot Camp - General Discussion

[Elizabeth9]

Wait, isn't Tanisha already married?!

[Lola16]

Wait, isn't Tanisha already married?!

It's a divorce party

[mythoughtis]

Jenni and Roger don't do the ceremony on TV, but they do the 'last words' in the room on TV.  I get the point of Jenni trying to put Roger first, but it was wasted.   

 

Tanisha doesn't want to be married to Clive, but she wants him to want to stay married to her.  Co-dependency much?  

 

Gretchen and Slade won't survive,  He does not want more children, and she doesn't want him to be a leader, because she would have to give up control.

 

Ryan and Trista... laughing my fanny off at them trying to justify coming to Marriage Boot Camp.

 

Kevin and Tracy... they are a perfect fit.

 

Worst counseling in the world.... leave the couple with the most issues, who just split up, one of whom is violent, to pack in a small closet together, while you go drink with everyone else.

[bilgistic]

I just...what. That finale was the most anticlimactic thing I've seen since the first season finale of The Killng (spoiler alert...?).

If I never see or hear of the assiness that is Tanisha ever again, it shall bee too soon.

[VartanFan]

Run, Clive!  At least while you're allegedly still broken up.  

 

One thing I really hate about this show (all seasons) is how it's so obvious when they've had Jim and Elizabeth do voiceover editing.  They clearly do not say most of that stuff in the evaluation section (like the pithy little therapy-isms) and you can tell when they show them from behind or just show the couple nodding/smiling/scowling...that what's being said wasn't actually ssaid at that time.  J & E have no balls to call these people out to their faces.

[OnceSane]

 

Tanisha doesn't want to be married to Clive, but she wants him to want to stay married to her.  Co-dependency much?

 

I don't think it's co-dependency.  I think it's that Tanisha wants to know that she doesn't want Clive but he wants her because she is just that awesome.  I'd say I couldn't believe it when she was pissed he didn't have her ring in the box after she didn't have his ring in the box, but I'd be lying.  Tanisha needs serious anger management classes & next time, Clive needs to file charges.

 

 

J & E have no balls to call these people out to their faces.

 

That was obvious when J & E praised Gretchen for walking the red carpet by herself instead of castigating her for being such a douche to Kevin.

[leisawoo]

I don't think it's co-dependency.  I think it's that Tanisha wants to know that she doesn't want Clive but he wants her because she is just that awesome.  I'd say I couldn't believe it when she was pissed he didn't have her ring in the box after she didn't have his ring in the box, but I'd be lying.  Tanisha needs serious anger management classes & next time, Clive needs to file charges.

 

 

That was obvious when J & E praised Gretchen for walking the red carpet by herself instead of castigating her for being such a douche to Kevin.

If there was EVER any sliver of doubt (and I know damn well, there wasn't) about what a piece.of.SHIT Gretchen is, that cleared it right on up!!!!

[discoprincess]

Jenni and Roger don't do the ceremony on TV, but they do the 'last words' in the room on TV.  I get the point of Jenni trying to put Roger first, but it was wasted.   

 

Tanisha doesn't want to be married to Clive, but she wants him to want to stay married to her.  Co-dependency much?  

 

What was with Jenni not wanting to do the ceremony...only to have that entire exchange filmed (and aired) anyway? She might as well have gone through with it...unless she was feeling too nauseated due to her condition.

 

Either Tanisha just wants Clive to pine for her, even though she can't seem to stand him, or Tanisha's pissed that his box was empty, because she didn't get a chance to dump him first. You would figure that she would have done cartwheels once she saw that Clive's box was empty. (Where are the divorce papers?) 

[sunrisepink]

I get the impression that Slade is addicted to fame (he bought his and Jo's spot on the first season of RHOC at a charity auction) and that is something that Gretchen provides him that no other "trophy girlfriend" can. I believe this is why he refuses to get a traditional job and support them - he clings to the hope that they will live together in infamy in the media. And let's face it, he's broke now, and couldn't attract the other gold diggers of the OC if he tried.

 

I actually think they are a pretty good match for each other because they both crave the spotlight more than anything else.

[Persnickety1]

  I didn't think I could hate Gretchen any more than I already do but her whole forgiveness shick about how she needs to forgive herself.?? That woman can not get any more ME ME ME.  As for Slade if you ever watched the other show he was on RHOC- he rarely EVER sees his son. I think he might have gone to see him when he had the latest surgery. Basically IMO his son doesn't exist unless he can use his plight for sympathy. No Gretchen doesn't give a shit about his son either. She doesn't help with any medical bills. He doesn't want another child because he already has 2 and doesn't support the ones he already has. He had  a vasectomy so having another child is  out of the question unless he wants to spend a lot of money to reverse the procedure. And fi he doesn't have money to support his terminally ill child then he shouldn't be spending money to have another.

 

Tanisha and Clive- sad that he stays with her. Trista and Ryan are too cute together they so don't need to be there.

 

Late to the party here, but I wanted to expound on that by pointing out that for original poster of this situation that on RHOC there were several times Gretchen emphasized she did NOT want to marry Slade because she feared having to absorb some of his apparently sizable "financial" burdens.

 

I always got the undercurrent that she was referring to Grayson's medical bills and all of that outstanding unpaid child support Slade has racked up.  I think from her concerns it was clear she was not (and did not intend to ever) help out financially regarding Slade's youngest son.  Not that it's her responsibility but if she really loved Slade and, by extension, loved Grayson, one would think she would genuinely offer to help when and where she could.  I think she's too busy trying to hawk her GC Beaute products and those godawful plastic satchels to give a whit about Grayson.  Just the impression I get from her.

 

I think she has not a single fuck to give about Slade's son....and sadly, in spite of his going-for-the-Emmy performance, I think Slade doesn't give the poor child much thought either.

 

I agree with you, he seems to only mention his son when it's convenient for him as a sympathy ploy for HIMSELF, not even for Grayson and to promote any pediatric cancer causes.  Such a platform he had for so many years on RHOC and not once did I ever see anything done on his part to increase awareness of his son's condition.  And as vile as Bravo is, I find it hard to believe they would refuse to let this topic be a story line.  In fact, a story line centered around planning and carrying out charity events to increase pediatric cancer awareness would have been far more interesting (and educational for viewers) than the ridiculous contrived story lines in which he and Gretchen engaged.  Hell, they might even still be on the show.

 

Every time I see the ghastly duo laughing and carrying on as if they didn't have a care in the world, honestly my stomach just does a slow roll in disgust.  

Edited July 31, 2014 by Persnickety1

[Persnickety1]

If there was EVER any sliver of doubt (and I know damn well, there wasn't) about what a piece.of.SHIT Gretchen is, that cleared it right on up!!!!

 

Absofuckinglutely.

 

As I said in the thread when that episode aired, had she considered Kevin a "hottie", I think her braying ass would have latched onto him like a life preserver in the middle of the Atlantic and dragged him in front of every camera she could find joking about how he was "the new Slade."

 

Clearly he wasn't up to the Hee Haw Princess's definition of attractive.  If I were him, I'd have had that driver take me right back to the retreat.  Fuck her.

 

What a tacky, classless, egotistical clam.  Ugh.

[JenE4]

I thought Jenni didn't do the ceremony because she was proving to Roger that everything she does isn't "for TV"--despite the fact that the cameras were there, it was about the two of them, not the made-for-TV spectacle of a ceremony. However, I think I dozed off when Jenni was talking in her uber monotone voice, so I may have completely made that up.

The most shocking part to me was the on-screen written update that Tanisha and Clive are still married, but she's in love with someone else. Maybe I was still asleep from Jenni and dreamed that part, because I can't fathom how such a vile person could find some other sucker to be in a relationship?! I mean, even Hitler MAY have had some good qualities SOMEWHERE, but Tanisha is pretty close to that same level of having zero redeeming qualities as far as I can tell.

[StayingAfterSunday]

 I actually think they do a pretty good job.  The mutual hand gestures start to get at me, though, as petty as that sounds. You know, making the letter "O" with your index finger and thumb while explaining a point (to the camera, of course)...   and they both do it.  I guess allthattogetherness will do that to you after awhile.  Apparently, Jim and Elizabeth were both married before.  I think they met while Jim was still married to his first wife.  Regardless, their marriage looks like it's probably a very good one.  It should be with all that boot-camp knowledge they possess.

 

Oh, by the way, I was not surprised at all to discovery that Ilsa (the pretty young woman who assists Jim and Elizabeth during drills, etc.) is Elizabeth's daughter.  I knew it!  Actually, I think she resembles both of them, but nowhere have I read that Jim is her father. 

[trimthatfat]

How sad is it that I totally forgot about this show and missed the finale. This season was a snooze. I am curious as to where we will see Trista and Ryan next. They already had the vow renewal for ABC and this show all in the past year. I wonder if Trista will randomly show up on David Tutera's new party planning show because there are a bunch of Z-listers on that one.

Edited August 12, 2014 by trimthatfat

[Persnickety1]

Apparently season 4 will be bringing us lucky viewers Reid and Aviva Drescher from Real Housewives of NYC infamy.

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/confidential/aviva-drescher-exit-pulling-housewives-leg-article-1.1944990

 

 

 

“The real Housewives of New York City” will start rolling on season seven in two weeks, Confidenti@l has learned — without now-ex-Housewife Aviva Drescher, who has committed to a new television project since her firing.

Drescher will be heading to Los Angeles for six weeks to film — along with a celebrity-filled cast — “Marriage Boot Camp,” where relationship experts try to improve the marriages of reality stars. Her husband Reid, a finance honcho, also will take part, and the duo will live in a house with the other couples and collect a hefty paycheck of $150,000.

The “camp,” run by husband-and-wife counseling team, Jim and Elizabeth Carroll, features exercises and drills to help improve marriages.

“It’s a good paycheck for easy work for Aviva,” an insider tells us. “And she knows how to create good reality TV.”

Drescher notoriously took her prosthetic leg off and slammed it on a restaurant table in last season’s finale, after she was accused of being phony by her fellow castmates.

 

Any scuttlebutt out there about who else might be joining the cast?

[mythoughtis]

Well, the amount of money is interesting.  I'd sit thru two weeks of 'therapy' for $150,000 too.

[bref]

Here's the cast. Blecchhhh @ Aviva, but Heidi and Spencer may be worse?

[OnceSane]

A Preview of Season 4.

[OnceSane]

In the season premiere, the reality stars arrive to their digs and reveal the problems that have brought them there. After settling in, they attend an elegant cocktail party, which turns tense when Jim and Elizabeth Carroll show up with a lie detector and start asking the boot campers some outrageous questions.

[bosawks]

"Romantical", love it!

[Primetimer]

Marriage Boot Camp rounds up some more no-hopers to 'work on' their relationships, not that anyone will notice anyone other than Speidi.

Read the story

[goofygirl]

BORING!!!  Thought old Reid & Aviva acted extra thirsty for some more "fame".  Also that Natalie "THe Chin" chick from Bad Girls Club and her hubby.  And Speidi?? Who really cares about them??  Nothing but a BUNCH of famehos imho.

[kayak]

Yeah, famewhores, that is it!

[BusyOctober]

Just watched this on demand because I'm home sick today.  I'm only familiar with 2 of the couples, but its so obvious the Bad Girl is shooting to get her own show. I am not the most social media savvy, but how does one make money by posting one's fat ass (not phat) on Instagram?  Do you sell the pictures?  Or is it like You Tube where you can get $$ from advertising?  If fat flabby cellulite laden ass pix are a money maker than me and several of my suburban soccer mom friends have been missing this gravy train.

 

I am vaguely aware of "Speidi", and I know neither one of them are Mensa members.  However, has Spencer always sounded drunk/high?  Maybe he had too many procedures and they've affected his speech?  I was impressed that Heidi could squeeze out tears through her overwrought wax works.

 

This whole enterprise is so ridiculous but like any televised car wreck, I can't turn away.

[kira28]

I didn't know who any of the couples were save for Speidi and Aviva and her husband Reid. During the previews I mistook Aviva for Heidi and recoiled in disgust at how horrible Heidi looked with all that plastic surgery. Then I realized it was Aviva. How in the hell is Aviva going to have a 5th child (didn't realize she had four already). She looks like she's in her 50s easily.  Heidi does look terrible though. So old and just has an unfortunate looking face due to all her procedures. I really do believe their storyline (that she desperately wants a child and he has no interest) but I can tell they are both playing it up for the cameras. Have no idea who the other couples are as I don't watch BGC or Survivor. 

[OnceSane]

The best part of the episode for me was the look on Natalie's face when R&B Diva chick said she didn't know who Natalie was.

[Tara Ariano]

The reality stars face their worst nightmares; and "Divorce Court" host Judge Lynn Toler offers advice to the couples on the show.

[SaucyMommy]

I kind of wanted to say to Natalie - "Yo that show you were on was like 7 years ago - no one cares you were a bad girl" I also found it hilarious she always made fun of how people were fat on that show and looks like marriage hasn't been friendly to her waist line.  I don't know any of the other couples.  I have never even heard of the rest other than Speidi.  And Heidi the crying for the camera is getting tired.

[Drogo]

Apparently Natalie was on an Bad Girls All Stars show this year.  I guess that's a thing. 

 

And now she's pregnant. 

Edited January 16, 2015 by Drogo

[OnceSane]

Apparently Natalie was on an Bad Girls All Stars show this year.  I guess that's a thing. 

 

And now she's pregnant. 

It was called Bad Girls Redemption, complete with an annoying life coach sent to help the women deal with their issues. It aired late last year with the third part of the reunion airing a week or so ago. Natalie was her usual "I run L.A.!" self.

[SaucyMommy]

I still stand by my "no one cares you are a bad girl".  She's 29 years old.  Grow the F up.  And if she is about to be a mom, nobody cares if she runs LA.  Which she really doesn't run LA.  I fear for that child.  I really, really do.

[OnceSane]

I fear the poor child will end up with that chin.

[SaucyMommy]

OMG that chin is so much.  that face.  To think people find that thing that is Natalie as attractive is beyond me.  When they were discussing people being on instagram and liking her butt shots...I was like who on earth finds this woman attractive?  

[Primetimer]

It's time already for the Carrolls to pull 'fake divorce court' and 'fake spouse death' out of their careworn bag of tricks.

Read the story

[RedheadZombie]

How in the hell is Aviva going to have a 5th child (didn't realize she had four already). She looks like she's in her 50s easily. 

 

Aviva is 44, and one of those children is Reid's from a previous marriage.  Aviva has one from her first husband, and two from Reid.  I hate that I know this.  I don't believe Aviva really wants another child.  Just another excuse to be on a show.

[SaucyMommy]

This was a snoozefest

[MrsPatrickBateman]

I seriously do not understand how Heidi and Spencer are still together. He is just gross and it seems he doesn't bring anything into the relationship.

Also the Survivor guy is a jerk, he needs to dump her because she is way to weak to leave him.

[GuidanceGirl]

I know it won't happen, but I wish Jim would bitch slap Spencer the next time he gets up in his face making threats. I don't know how any of them can tolerate that punk.

[SaucyMommy]

I hate the survivor jerk. His girlfriend seems like she's under his spell. And spencer and Heidi live with his parents? Why on earth do you want kids when you aren't even living on your own?

[technorebel]

I thought Aviva said she wants baby number 5?  Which I don't believe anyway.  I think the only thing she really wants is another season of RHONY.

 

I don't know who Heidi/Spencer are, but I remember that Natalie chick from Bridezillas.  How do women like her get the nicest, most normal seeming guys?  I don't know if I can stand to listen to her again.  She should really be paired up with Spence.

[sunrisepink]

Some of these couples were so weird during the death activity. It made me tear up just looking at that crash scene..some of them had no emotional response whatsoever! I wish Jim would have asked them the question I was wondering: "It really doesn't bother you or bring forth any genuine emotion to see your partner dead?"

[technorebel]

Well, it would be hard for me to pull up some genuine emotion knowing that the whole thing was fake.  I'd probably giggle or something, but maybe when you're actually in the exercise, it seems more real.  I'd probably try to do it just to shut Jim and Elizabeth up.  I guess next week is the paintball shooting exercise.  They've got to come up with some new stuff.

[Drogo]

 

With fairness to Spencer, it's hard to take the exercise seriously when you have Canary Yellow and A Creeper Who Looks Like He's Taking a car selfie for his Plenty of Fish page hovering over you while you say your "last words" to your "deceased wife."

 

And FWIW - if I walked out of the house and they'd put my "bleeding" wife in a car wreck pretending to be dead Jim would be joining his ancestors right quick.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Drogo

[runforcover]

I love how The Carrolls  just make up the value of the exercise based on participant response.  An  emotional diagnostic?  Pleeeez.  Mental health professionals must want to kill themselves.  

 

This show is making me like Spencer.  That's not good.  

[bunnywithanaxe]

 

With fairness to Spencer, it's hard to take the exercise seriously when you have Canary Yellow and A Creeper Who Looks Like He's Taking a car selfie for his Plenty of Fish page hovering over you while you say your "last words" to your "deceased wife."

 

And FWIW - if I walked out of the house and they'd put my "bleeding" wife in a car wreck pretending to be dead Jim would be joining his ancestors right quick.

Furreal. This exercise tells me much more about the hosts than the participants.

[Miss Scarlet]

The only couple on this show that I know of is Tyson and Rachel. Tyson can be intelligent and funny, so when I watched Survivor I wondered why he was with someone who seemed sweet, but very dull. I always got the sense that the dynamic of their relationship is that Rachel is supposed to look pretty, be passive and defer to Tyson all the time (basically being seen and not heard) and validate him by telling him how great, funny, smart, etc. he is. She gets a partner who is interesting/exciting to her and Tyson gets all the attention and makes all the decisions. This episode of Marriage Boot Camp confirmed that. I think guys like Tyson purposely choose partners like Rachel who will never overshadow them in any way and will allow them to be the dominant one in the relationship. It helps that she's not that intelligent because then she doesn't realize how manipulative he is. They actually remind me a lot of Rob and Amber from Survivor in this way.

Edited January 19, 2015 by wudpixie

[BusyOctober]

I bet Aviva has a copy of her dramatic scene in the fake Divorce Court  all cued up to show casting directors. She is working it hard and she so wants to be on TV.  Watching RHONY and suffering through her seasons I thought her husband was somewhat normal.  If he's going along with this BS than he is as delusional as she is.

 

I guess any of these people willing to go on these shows just shows how desperate and unfulfilled they are without cameras on them 24/7.

 

Are the Carrolls for real, accredited therapists?  They seem to have as much professional integrity as "Dr" Jenn on Couples Therapy.  Maybe they all graduated from the same for-profit online "college"?

[runforcover]

They have a background in boardroom mental health or something else super-non-compelling. And I think they are very religious, which isn't worth mentioning, except that what's-her-face devotes quite a few words to it and it's in a professional profile - so there's that

[Persnickety1]

Aviva isn't just thirsty....  

 

Bitch is downright parched.  

 

She's quite a piece of work.  I'll bet the other NY housewives are still kicking up their heels in delight that they don't have to work with her anymore.

 

I wonder if she bitched off camera about a lack of a banner when she arrived at the marriage boot camp?  

[ArcticWolfRS]

 

Are the Carrolls for real, accredited therapists?  They seem to have as much professional integrity as "Dr" Jenn on Couples Therapy.  Maybe they all graduated from the same for-profit online "college"?

 

In a word - NO. The only one even remotely qualified as a real therapist is Elizabeth, who has a masters in Counseling Psychology. And even she has done some majorly sketchy therapy in my eyes on this show, particularly back when it was Bridezillas.

 

Jim's qualifications are writing some novels, making a low budget movie or two, producing some soundtracks, and running a security firm. Seriously. Not a single solitary counseling class to be seen on his "about me" section of his own webpage. He says he was a "trainer" with Dr. Phil. That tells me all I need to know right there.

 

As for the other people who have been on the show as "counselors" ... the bald guy - David - used to be a firefighter. The blonde - Dana - was software manager before becoming a "Life Coach" and does sales training and business consulting. Since I haven't seen this season's episodes yet, I have no idea if anyone else has replaced those two, or if it's just Jim and Elizabeth now.

 

In the "real life" boot camps this is supposedly based off of, there is still only one other person (out of 4 more) who has any qualified background in therapy - Cliff Poe, who has a masters in Theology and Counseling.