Reality television is a genre of television programming based on true to life story or unscripted documents performed by unknown cast, which the genre often focused on personal drama and conflict to a much greater extent than other unscripted television such as documentary shows. The genre has various standard tropes, such as reality TV confessionals used by cast members or chosen competitors, to express their thoughts, which often double as the shows’ narration. In competition-based reality shows, a notable subset, there are other common elements such as one participant being eliminated per episode, a panel of judges, and the concept of immunity from elimination. The genre began in the reality television show with The Real World in the mid of 1990s. In the late 1990s to early 2000, reality television exploded as a phenomenon with the global success of the series Survivor and Big Brother. However, there are television shows, such as Documentaries, television news, sports television, talk shows and game shows, that are not classified as reality television, though they contain elements of reality television, such as unscripted situations and sometimes unknown participants. Other genres that predate the reality television boom have sometimes been retroactively grouped into reality TV, including shows of hidden camera, Candid camera, talent-search shows such as the 1948′s The Original Amateur Hour, the 1964′s Up Series a documentary series about ordinary people, high-concept game shows in 1965 such as The Dating Game, in 1979s This Old House a reality show of home improvement shows and in 1981′s The People’s Court a court shows that features real-life cases. Since reality television rise in popularity, it has faced significant criticism. The Amazing Race reality shows has low ratings though after a while, the show has regained its ratings, smae with reality television show Lost, (not related to the better-known drama series with the same title) and The Mole. The most popular reality television shows not only in the United States but in many countries in the worls such as Survivor, American Idol, The X Factor, Got Talent, Dancing with the Stars, The Voice, Master Chef, Iron Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmare, Top Model and a lot more reality game shows, such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Weakest Kink, Deal or No Deal, Jeopardy and many more reality television with over 50 international adaptions each, some of these franchises, Top Model, was created by either British producers or Endemol the Dutch production company. Avid viewers of reality television has their own bets and favorite characters, and saddened their fans if these cast member suddenly passed away.
1) Steve Irwin
Steve Irwin age 44
Stephen Robert “Steve” Irwin (born February 22, 1962 – died September 4, 2006), best known and achieve fame internationally as The Crocodile Hunter, was an Australian wildlife expert, television personality, and conservationist, worldwide broadcast documentary on wildlife series which he co-hosted with his wife Terri. Steve and Terri Irwin also owned and operated Australia Zoo in Beerwah, about 50 miles or 80 km north of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, founded by Irwin’s parents. Irwin was killed at the age of 44, on September 4, 2006, while snorkeling at Batt Reef of the Great Barrier Reef near Port Douglas, Queensland, after he was pierced in the chest by a stingray barb, while filming underwater the Ocean’s Deadliest a documentary film during a bad weather. Irwin decided to film some shots on the shallow water for Bindi, his daughter’s television show Bindi the Jungle Girl, and he approached an 8ft wide in chest-deep water stingray from behind in order to film it swimming away. The stingray reacted to Irwin’s movement as if a shark was attacking, and strike Irwin several times in the body with the stingray’s tail spine, according to only witness. The behavior of the stingray have been a defensive response of being caught as prey. At first, Irwin thought that he only had a punctured lung but the tail spine had pierced his heart and caused him extremely bleeding. Crew members aboard Irwin’s boat rushed him to the shore and administered CPR, but medical staff pronounced him dead at the scene. Irwin’s death was captured on video and is believed to be the only fatality from a stingray, which a copy of the footage was reviewed by the Queensland state police, but at the request of the Irwin family, all copies of the video were reportedly destroyed. On September 9, 2006, Irwin’s Family and friends held a private funeral ceremony service in Caloundra, and his remains was buried at Australia Zoo later that same day, in which the grave site is inaccessible to the visitors of the zoo. Steve Irwin met Terri Raines in 1991, an American naturalist from Eugene, Oregon, who was visiting at that time the rehabilitation facilities of the wildlife in Australia, and decided to visit the Australia Zoo. It was love at first sight according to Steve and Terri Irwin, and were later engaged four months and were married on June 4, 1992 in Eugene, Oregon. The couple had two children, Bindi Sue Irwin, a daughter,born on July 24, 1998, and a son, named after his father, Robert Clarence “Bob” Irwin born on December 1, 2003, while his daughter’s name was taken after two of Steve Irwin’s favorite pets, a saltwater crocodile named Bindi, and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Sui, who died on June 23, 2004. MY Steve Irwin the Sea Conservation Society ship was named after the late Steve Irwin in his honor.
Anna Nicole Smith, died at age 39
Anna Nicole Smith, 39 with son Daniel Wayne Smith, age 20 (image credit:www.kjendis.no)
Cheryl Kosewicz in Pirate Master reality TV (image credit:www.tvguide.com)
Cheryl Lynn Kosewicz was born on November 11, 1971 in Grand Coulee, Washington, she was a reality TV star on the CBS show Pirate Master, being the fourth to be eliminated contestant. Kosewicz worked for the Clark County District Attorney’s Office until 2000, and moved to Reno and worked in the District Attorney’s office, before joining the CBS reality TV show, Pirate Master. On July 27, 2007, Kosewicz committed suicide in Sparks, Nevada, soon after
Najai ‘Nitro” Turpin (image credit:the.honoluluadvertiser.com
Paula Goodspeed, age 30 (image credit:gravyandbiscuits.com)
AJ Ashley Jewell (image credit:www.examiner.com)
Asheley Jewell, age 15 (image credit:rockstu.com)
6) Jeanne Bice
Jeanne Bice, (image credit:community.qvc.com)
Jeanne Bice (born July 20, 1939 – died June 10, 2011) was an entrepreneur, businesswoman and reality TV personality, famous for her trademark headbands and the founder of the Quacker Factory line of clothing company, which made appearrance in 1995 on QVC. As of March 2011, Bice’s company, Quacker Factory, has grossed more than $50 million in sales. Since Jeanne Bice’s appearances on QVC, her Quacker Factory line made her a as an idol to her fans. Bice was also a frequent guest on a weekly American television series that airs on E!, The Soup, appearing opposite host, comedian, actor, producer Joel McHale. In 1981, Butch Bice, Jeanne’s husband, died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 42, leaving her a widow at age 40, with two children to support. On June 10, 2011, Jeanne Bice died of complications from uterine cancer, at the age of 71 at her home in Boca Raton, Florida. On July 1, 2011, three weeks to that former Ripon resident and QVC host Jeanne Bice died, her daughter, Terry (Lee) Bice, died at age 47, Friday, with no actual cause of death released publicly. Some Fans have speculated that Lee had a heart condition, or may be died of a broken heart due to her mother’s passing.
Julien Hug, Bachelorette Reality TV personality (image credit:web.poptower.com)
Matt Hughes, age 30, storm chaser (image credit:www.nydailynews.com)
Joseph Cerniglia, age 39 (www.italiaatavola.net)
Joseph Cernigilia and Gordnon Ramsey (www.theweek.co.uk)
Joseph Cerniglia of Pompton Plains, was born July 15, 1971, a self-taught chef, and a restaurant owner at age 39. In 2007, Cerniglia had appeared onreality television show of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmare, and during the show, Ramsey told him that his business was about to swim down the Hudson, where Ramsey unleashed that Cerniglia’s restaurant was in debt of more than $80,000 when it was featured on the show. Joseph Cerniglia was found dead on September 24, 2010, floating in the Hudson River Friday afternoon after jumping off the George Washington Bridge. Joseph Cerniglia had worked previously at the Gallagher’s Steakhouse chain for many years as an executive chef. One Cerniglia’s goals was to work at the Outback Steakhouse in Wayne, and during this time, he met his wife, Melissa De Vries, became and engaged and later they both married in 1996. Cerniglia bought the Campania restaurant in Fair Lawn, New Jersey in 2006. Cerniglia left behind his wife, Melissa and three sons, Evans, Michael and Nicholas Cerniglia, parents, brothers and sisters.
10) Rachel Brown Hell’s Kitchen’s Reality TV
Rachel Brown (image credit:newsworld88.blogspot.com)
Rachel Brown elimination at Hells Kitchen by Gordon Ramsey (image credit:www.cnn.com)
Rachel Brown age 41, a personal chef, was one of the contestant on Hell’s Kitchen, a cooking competition and American reality television show on Fox hosted by the famous chef Gordon Ramsay. In 2007, Rachel Brown was found dead, shot herself to death in her family’s Dallas home, she committed suicide a year after coming in fifth on the competition show that competes with other chefs. Rachel Brown, 41, was openly gay, and had a girlfriend, and her death was assumed as personal matter, and not as booted out of the Hell’s Kitchen show as speculated by some viewers. Brown appeared on the cooking reality television show, where she created a reality show, where she was involved with another female contestant. After her eviction from the reality show, Rachel Brown was quoted in a local paper saying she did not regret the experience.
11) James Scott Terrill
Scott Terrill, single dad Reality TV Supernanny (image credit:www.findadeath.com)
James Scott Terrill, age 37, a single dad of Georgetown, Kentucky, appeared in January 23, 2008, on the ABC reality show Supernanny, seeking help in managing his two sons, Lane, 11, and Tate, 5, after his wife left abandoned them. Terrill was reportedly still struggling with parenting as a single dad after the camera left. The Sueprnanny reality show was hosted by nanny Jo Frost, and the aim of the show was to help parents deal with young children who were out of control. James Scott Terrill called Georgetown police from the cemetery where his father was buried and threatened to shoot himself in the chest on July 4, 2008, where the police stayed on the phone with him for almost an hour, believing that they calmed him down, however, Terrill, took his own life while talking with the authorities.The Supernanny reality show’s producers, Richochet expressed “extreme sadness” upon hearing the tragic news.
12) Nathan Clutter
www.post-gazette.com
Nathan Clutter, 26 year-old reality television personality, born August 21, 1981 one of 11 singles appearing in MyNetworkTV and upcoming revival of Paradise Hotel on Fox Reality Channel, actually died in an apparent suicide, according to police documents obtained by Reality TV World, though the networks broadcast has stated that Clutter died in a climbing accident. Nathan Clutter is a native of Danville, IL but currently residing in Phoenix, Arizona and worked as a sales manager, before he started filming Paradise Hotel 2 last summer, took his own life in the morning of October 12, 2007, after jumping off a tower of the Alltel cellular telephone in Amarillo, Texas, according to the Randall County Sheriff’s Office incident report. The motive of his suicide was unknown, but the Clutter family believed that he had been dealing with extreme depression before his death, since no suicide note was found in his body or in his vehicle. Speculations spread that he took his own life after he was eliminated from the reality show Paradise Hotel 2, however, his family stated that Nathan was suffering from depression.
Ryan Jenkins and Jasmine Fiore
Jennifer Lyon, age 37
Tom Sparks (image credit:www.ruhalayaseminary.org)
Tom Sparks a reality television personality ABC show Wipeout, died after a stroke. at the age of 33, on November 5, 2009. On October 19, 2009, Sparks was doing a stunt on the show, complained of severe pain on his knee and medics on the set, who examined him, noticed his shortness in breathing and rushed Sparks to the hospital. But the brain damage was too extensive to repair. Sparks had been competing on the show Wipeout with his new wife. His father, Bill Sparks, stated to the Idaho Mountain Express and Guide, that the doctors determined the stroke probably was caused by antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, known as APS, is associated with recurrent clotting events including premature stroke and heart attack. Tom Sparks, who was a runner and competed recently in a marathon, who married Kate recently, and was competing on some episodes on Wipeout with his wife. The Endemol announced that all contestants of Wipeout reality game show, undergo medical examinations, however, APS diganosis requires blood test to determine the disease.
16) Kandice Hutchinson
Kandice Hutchinson, age 22 (image credit:www.bittenandbound.com)
Kandice Hutchinson,age 22, is one of the contestants kicked off the upcoming MTV dating show A Double Shot at Love, died in a car accident a shortly after taping her last appearance for the reality television show, according to report. Hutchinson’s family opted to keep her in the show. On October 21, 2008, Kandice Hutchinson died after her car was rear-ended causing Kandice to be ejected and died on the scene, according to KDFW in Texas. A Double Shot at Love is an American reality television dating game series which first aired on MTV weekly from December 9, 2008 to February 3, 2009.
Jade Goody age 27
Frankie Abernathy, age 25
Pedro Zamora in 1993, died at age 22
Pedro Zamora and family
Pedro Pablo Zamora born Pedro Pablo Zamora y Díaz, on February 29, 1972 , who died on November 11, 1994, was a Cuban-American AIDS educator and television personality, and he is one of the first openly gay men with AIDS to be known in popular media, after Zamora brought international attention to HIV/AIDS and issues on LGBT and prejudices through his appearance on reality television series on MTV’s The Real World: San Francisco. Pedro Zamora with his romantic relationship with housemate Sean Sasser,was also documented during the reality show and was later nominated by MTV viewers for Favorite Love Story award, and airing the of their commitment ceremony and exchanged vows, was the first such same-sex ceremony in the history of television. The former U.S. President Bill Clinton gave Pedro Zamora the credit with personalizing and humanizing those living with HIV, especially to the Latino communities, with his activism and his testimony before Congress. Pedro Zamora’s personal battle with AIDS, and his conflict with housemate David “Puck” Rainey is credited for making The Real World, a hit show, which ranked number 7 on Time magazine list of ”32 Epic Moments in Reality-TV History”. Pedro Zamora checked into St. Vincent’s Hospital on August 17, and was diagnosed with toxoplasmosis, a condition which causes brain lesions, fatigue, headaches and confusion. While Zamora was undergoing treatment and medication, to lessen the endurance from toxoplasmosis, further tests, including a biopsy, and was revealed that he had a rare, commonly fatal viral inflammation of the brain that breaks down the electrical impluses of the nervous system known as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Patients with AIDS, only 1% contract PML, and commonly drive off on its own in patients with T-cell counts higher than 300-400, and more serious PML symptoms causes paralysis or aphasia. Pedro Zamora’s T-cell count was 32 during that time, and the inflammation was attacking his brain’s frontal lobe, causing him short-term memory loss, and he was given three to four months to live. Pedro Zamora was surrounded by his family, he died on November 11, 1994 died at 4:40 a.m. EST, hours after airing the final episode of The Real World: San Francisco. Pedro Zamora was laid to rest November 13, 1994.
Sean Sasser
Sean Sasser, age 44
Sean Franklin Sasser (born October 25, 1968 – died August 7, 2013) was an American educator, pastry chef and reality television personality on The Real World: San Francisco on MTV, best known for his relationship with fellow AIDS activist Pedro Zamora. Although not one of the original cast members himself, Sasser’s relationship with Zamora was one of the focal points of that Real World season such as their commitment ceremony, in which Sasser and Zamora exchanged vows, the first such ceremony for a same sex couple on television. Sean Sasser was a dropped out of college, intending initially to take a year off, and after he came out as gay, and intend to take a year off, since his mother was a daughter of a minister and a religious mother, Sasser planned to enlist in the United States Navy at age 19, and stated in one interview in 1997, ”I didn’t want to be gay anymore. I thought it would work. You know, the discipline, all that stuff.” However, a mandatory blood test was required and was reveled that he was HIV positive, and as he was fond of cooking and wanted to own a restaurant in the future, Sasser decided to enroll in a culinary school. In 1993, Sean Sasser attended the Washington’s Lesbian and Gay March, where he met and introduced himself to a fellow AIDS educator named Pedro Zamora. Sean Sasser learned that The Real World producers were looking for an HIV positive person to cast in the 1994 San Francisco season, where Sasser had been residing for years, and also learned that one of the cast was Pedro Zamora, whom Sasser felt was ideal for the role. Sasser had been living in San Francisco for a couple of years in the 1990s. When Zamora moved into The Real World San Francisco loft, he and Sasser began dating. Zamora asked the show’s producers for permission to go out on the second date without cameras, so that he and Sasser could get to know one another in a more natural setting. After the producers allowed this, and the two men fell in love, and their relationship became a focal point of the season. In June 1994, after The Real World production was ceased, Pedro Zamora visited his family in Miami, before returning to San Francisco to live with Sasser. Zamora was diagnosed in New York City with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), in August 1994, and was given three to four months to live, and was flown home to Mercy Hospital in Miami on September 3, where his family could be close to him. Zamora’s family did not accept Sasser, however, due to Pedro’s PML gradually took away his ability to speak, and was unable to explicitly communicate to them his family then realized the importance of Sasser in his life. On November 11, 1994, Zamora died and Sasser returned to San Francisco two days later. In June 2013, Sasser married Michael Kaplan, whom he had dated off and on since the 1990s, and with whom he had moved in with six months prior. In July 2013, Sasser, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lungs, who had also been HIV positive for 25 years. On August 7, 2013, Sasser died at his home at the age of 44, and his remains was cremated as his wish and his ashes spread upon places he had been or wished to visit. Sasser is survived by his mother, Patricia, and his sister, a dancer who lives in Detroit with her husband and daughter.
Mitchell Guist, age 47, swamp-people (image credit:www.freerepublic.com)
Mitchell Guist with brother, Glenn, the swam-people, (image credit:in3wz.blogspot.com
Mitchell and Glenn became stars the Swamp People hit reality show on the History Channel in 2011, both became instant stars on the History Channel and had a fan club. On Swamp People they Mitchell and Glenn Guist, would regularly be featured hunting for their dinner as the Swamp People, such as Alligator gar, Blue catfish, Crayfish, Cottontail rabbit, Squirrel, Bullfrog, Alligator Snapping Turtle, and an American Alligator, once by accident. Mitchell Guist suffered an accident on May 14, 2012, in which according to authorities, Mitchell Guist slipped and fell while loading items onto his boat on the Belle River near Pierre Part. The initially reports, is that Mitchell, suffered a seizure, but it is not clear if his seizure was a result of the fall or due to a medical condition, but was later announced he suffered a heart attack, and was pronounced dead at age 47, at a Morgan City hospital, and that the cause of his death was of natural causes confirmed by the Ascension Parish coroner. On May 17, 2012, the Voodoo Bayou episode of the History Channel’s Swamp People, was originally aired, was dedicated in Guist’s memory.
Joey Kovar, age 29 (image credit:www.aftonbladet.se)
Mike Starr, reality TV actor age 44 (image credit:www.poptower.com)
Jeff Conaway in 1998, died at age 60
24) Phil Harris
Capt Phil Harris (image credit:newsbizarre.com)
Phillip Charles “Phil” Harris (December 19, 1956 – February 9, 2010) was an American captain and part owner of the Cornelia Maire, a crab fishing vessel, which is featured in a documentary reality TV series Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel. On January 29, 2010, Harris suffered a massive stroke while offloading C. Opilio crab at Saint Paul Island port in Alaska during the Deadliest Catch 6th televised opilio crab season. Harris was flown for emergency surgery to Anchorage, where he was declared in an induced coma, to reduce intracranial pressure and swelling. Harris woke up from coma after his condition shows improvement, however, on February 9, 2010, Phil Harris died at the age of 53, from an intracranial hemorrhage, after suffering a pulmonary embolism while in the hospital. On July 20, 2010, the Deadliest Catch episode featuring the death of Captain Harris was aired, followed by a special tribute episode. His remains was cremated, and half of the ashes was spread at sea and the other half of the ashes were buried in a Harley Davidson motorcycle gas tank which was ornately-painted with the remains of his mother. At the time of the captain’s death, Harris was unmarried, but had been married and divorced twice. From 1982 until 1991, he was first married to Mary Harris, whom together they have two sons, Joshua and Jacob, who were also working on board Phil’s fishing vessel, Cornelia Marie, as deckhands. Phil Harris set up a coffee company called the Captain’s Reserve, which he opened before his death. Harris’ two sons, Jake and Joshua are now in the process of expanding the national retail and promoting the family business and the brand, and will be going global the same year.
Justin Tennison
Justin Tennison, age 33 (image credit:www.allvoices.com)
Justin Tennison, 33 year-old crew member of the Discovery Channel, was found dead Tuesday, February 22, 2011 in his Alska hotel room, almost one year after Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia fishing boat on reality TV series Deadliest Catch, died after suffering a stroke. Justin Tennison died peacefully in his sleep the night of Feb. 21, 2011. Captain Andy Hillstrand of Deadliest Catch posted on Facebook about Tennison’s untimely death, who worked with Hillstrand as a deckhand on the Time Bandit ship. Justin Tennison was survived by his son and daughter.
25) Mike DeStefano
Mike DeStefano, age 44 (image credit:www.magweb.com)
Mike DeStefano (November 29, 1966 – March 6, 2011) was an American stand-up comedian and reality TV personality, executive producer of a special documentary film dedicated to Greg Giraldo, a dear friend who died of drug overdose. Mike DeStefano was best known for his appearance on Live at Gotham at the Comedy Central and a regular entertainer at clubs in New York and around the country and was also known as drug counselor. At the age of 15, DeStefano used material from his addiction of heroin and his recovery. He also appeared on Showtime’s Whiteboyz in the Hood, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, and US Comedy Arts Festival and other radio and television shows. DeStefano competed in the NBC’s 2010′s Last Comic Standing seventh season and finished in fourth place. On October 9, 2010 DeStefano appeared in the Comedy Central stand-up special Comics Anonymous with American comedian and radio personality, Jim Norton, comedian Rich Vos and Irish-American stand-up comedian Robert Kelly, all four comedians were former addicts who had been clean and sober for more than ten years. Mike DeStefano died on March 6, 2011 of hear attack at the age of 44, which his death came hours after filming funnyordie.com video. On March 10, DeStefano’s funeral service was held at the Schuyler Hill Funeral Home in New York.
26) Shain Gandee
Shain Gandee age 21 reality TV Buckwild (image credit:starcasm.net)
Buckwild cast, from left, Shain, Anna, Katie, Salwa, Joey, Ashley, Tyler, Cara, and Shae
Shain Gandee also known as Gandee Candy, born Shain Lelyn Gandee born on November 1, 1991 in Sissonville, West Virginia, is an actor and reality television personality, known for Buckwild in 2012, Buckwild: WV to the NYC in 2013 and in 2009 guest with the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. American reality television series Buckwild on MTV, first started on January 3, 2013, ended on February 7, 2013. Shain Gandee and his uncle, David Gandee, was reported missing on March 31, 2013, after telling their friends that they are going on an off-roading. Then that day they start searching for 21 year-old Shain and David Gandee, after 31 hours, the Gandees were found dead with Robert Myers in the Sissonville area of West Virginia inside Shain Gandee’s 1984 Ford Bronco, which was buried partially in a deep mud with the exhaust pipe covered totally. The officials used bulldozer to pull to pull the Ford Bronco stuck from the mud. On April 1,2013, Shain and David Gandee with Robert Myers were found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in Sissonville. The three men died due to accidental carbon monoxide poisoning after autopsies were performed.
27) Jamie Coots
Jamie Coots (image credit:www.cage8.com)
Jamie Coots (image credit:www.tricities.com)
James “Jamie” Coots (November 17, 1971 – February 15, 2014) was a pastor of the Pentecostal in Kentucky, a reality TV personality featured in Snake Salvation in the National Geographic Channel, which documented the lives of people practicing snake handling. On February 15, 2014, Jamie Coots, was bitten on his right hand during a service by a rattlesnake, at his Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name church in Middlesboro, Kentucky. After Coots was beaten, he dropped the rattlesnake, but he again picked the snake, back up and continued the service, but later, collapsed and died from a rattlesnake bite while performing service. In 1995, a 28 year-old woman from Tennessee,was bitten by a snake in his congregation, during a church service led by Jamie Coots. The woman died from the snake bite in his home, and Coots was charged in connection with the woman’s death but a judge decided not to pursue the case. In 2008, Jamie Coots was fined for keeping 74 snakes in his home, and in 2013, he was sentenced to one year of probation for illegal wildlife possession after he crossed into Tennessee with five venomous snakes. Jamie Coots was succeeded by his son Cody Coots as head of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus’ Name.
28) Gia Allemand
Gia Allemand, age 29 (image credit:www.glamour.com)
Gia Marie Allemand (December 20, 1983 – August 14, 2013) was an American actress, model, and reality television contestant, best known for appearing in Maxim and compete with other reality TV personalities on ABC’s The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love and Bachelor Pad. Allemand was a former professional ballet dancer, but her dancing career was cut short due to an accident and injured her hamstring and Achilles tendon. She once stated in an interview that she had a passion for acting and performing. In 2010, Gia Allemand was chosen to portray the supporting acting role of actress Ava Gardner, in an upcoming film produced by Brett Ratner, on the life of actor Gianni Russo. Gia Allemand began as reality television personality, when she was selected as a cast member on The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love season 14 on ABC’s Bachelor reality series which first aired on January 4, 2010. The show placed her with 24 other women all competing for the affection of pilot Jake Pavelka, and Allemand was the second to the last contestant eliminated by Jake Pavelka. Gia Allemand joined the cast of Bachelor Pad, an ABC’s Bachelor spinoff, which premiered on August 9, 2010. Allemand entered the show as the only contestant in a committed relationship, which the reason why she refused to participate kissing contest game on the show, led her to be eliminated in the third episode. Allemand was rushed to New Orleans University Hospital after an attempted suicide by hanging on August 12, 2013, and was declared brain dead and two days later, Allemand’s life support was removed at age 29. Allemand was living in New Orleans and dating Ryan Anderson, NBA player of the New Orleans Pelicans at the time of her death. Her funeral was held in a nondenominational Christian church at Trinity Grace Church, in Chelsea in Manhattan.
29) Eric Hill
Eric Hill (image credit:www.usmagazine.com)
Eric Hill died at age 31, on April 23, 2014 of paragliding accident in Salt Lake City, Utah. Eric Hill, a reality TV personality and one of Andi Dorfman‘s potential suitors on the upcoming season of ABC’s reality series, Bachelorette 2014, an adventurer traveler from Citrus Heights, California, though residing at in Salt Lake City in Utah at the time of his death. On April 20, 2014, Hill was paragliding with some friends in Draper, Utah near Point of the Mountain, when his canopy collapsed at about 15 to 20 feet from the mountainside, due to velocity of the fall it caused him trauma, and was rescued by a team who was called at the scene of the accident, and he was immediately transported by helicopter in a hospital. Hill was in induced coma until Wednesday and in critical condition. Before the tragic accident, Eric Hill was eliminated from the Bachelorette show.
Mark Balelo (image credit:www.tvguide.com)
Mark Balelo, owner of an auction house featured on the reality show Storage Wars an A&E reality TV show was found dead at age 40, on February 11, 2013, by killing himself due to carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the Ventura County Star report. Mark Balelo, former owner of a chain of thrift stores, had special talent for bargaining and find treasure among the trash, was one of the deep-pocketed buyers who was featured on the reality show, that represent storage-unit auctions. Balelo was named Rico Suave because of his flamboyant style, and one example during a live auction show before the Halloween, he was wearing a Superman costume. Balelo was best known for carrying always his man purse or murse, which he believed his good-luck bag, and this murses became so popular with fans that later, Balelo sold them to eBay. Mark Balelo became an instrument to recover a 1938 Action comic book owned by actor Nicolas Cage, which was valued for $1 million, that was stolen from the actor’s storage locker. Mark Balelo was arrested for alleged possession of a controlled substance, before he committed suicide, E! Online reported, and also was reportedly distraught after being released from jail. Balelo’s body was found by one of his employees inside his home garage at Simi Valley, California, according toe TMZ.com report. Senior deputy medical examiner, Armando Chavez, refused to provide any information about the cause of death of Mark Balelo, however an autopsy will be conducted. According to sources close to Balelo, stated that he was found dead inside his car, which was parked and running in the garage at his Simi Valley, California auction house.
Caleb Bankston
Caleb Bankston (image credit:www.people.com)
Caleb Bankston was born on September 27, 1987 in Collinsville, Alabama, a former contestant on the reality TV series 2012s Survivor: One World and Survivor: Blood vs. Water in 2013, has died in a railway accident, on June 24, 2014 in Birmingham, Alabama, at age 26. Bill Yates, the Jefferson County Deputy Coroner, stated that Caleb Bankston, who was working at the Alabama Warrior Railway in Birmingham, was thrown away from a train in a partial derailment on Tuesday. The Alabama Warrior Railway, was only a few miles long, and is used by industries in Birmingham to haul coal and other materials. According to the CBS website’s show, Caleb Bankston, was a contestant on “Survivor: Blood vs. Water” last year, along with his fiance, Colton Cumbie, according the CBS show’s website.