Peeking Into MILF Manor: The Inauthenticity of “Reality” TV
Are reality shows only there for clout now?
MILF Manor premiered on TLC (originally known as The Learning Channel) on January 13, 2023. According to TLC, “From cities all across the country, eight confident and strong-minded women leave home for the chance to find love at a paradise destination.”
For those who don’t know, MILF stands for Mom I’d like to F***, with DILF being the male equivalent. We love equality. The show markets itself as a way to challenge societal norms, as older men dating younger women are more accepted by society. The show’s premise is a dating show where moms date each other’s sons. The women are in their 40s to 60s, with the boys being 20 to 30 years old. They all claim to have not known that before signing on. And information has popped up that makes me doubtful of its authenticity.
Some of the cast members on the show are actively trying to participate in the entertainment industry, with some of them having acting credits to their names. Lisa Wilcox is an actress best known for her role as Alice Johnson in the A Nightmare on Elm Street sequels 4 and 5. Charlene DeCicco had a part in the film Truth or Dare. Ryan Jovan (son of Shannan Diggs) describes himself as a singer, songwriter, and actor. Out of all the cast members on the show, I find April Wayne (previously known as April Jayne when married to Billy Jayne) and her son Gabriel to be the most interesting due to their backgrounds in the entertainment industry. April Jayne (as she’s known on the show) is an actress best known for her roles on MacGyver and Dead On, and her son Gabriel is looking to have a career as a singer with songs like “Pretty Face.”
It’s easiest to pick apart Gabriel Jayne because his relationships have been SO public compared to other contestants. Rara Knupps (Internet personality & OF creator) has documented her relationship with him, and here’s a video of her crashing his show after they broke up. He’s currently dating Briar Kenzie, an influencer. They may or may not have been dating before the show even aired, proving that the relationships on the show are super fake. In addition, his true dating history proves that he consistently dates younger women rather than older ones. At this point, it seems as though all the boys on the show are faking any romantic interest in the older women, though the women on the show do seem to actually be single and divorced. TLC has clearly given up on trying to seem legit at this point.
The show could have been more interesting and educational if TLC had included some psychologists to analyze the romantic interactions on the show. For example, looking at relationships through the lens of the Oedipus Complex and Jocasta Complex, and the non-incestual versions of these complexes. Dissecting this show could have been Freud’s dream regardless of his standing within psychology). But that would require these contestants to actually be attracted to each other and for TLC to care about educating its audience.
Semi-related but not quite:
For the Love of Dilfs: Described as a “queer Love Island,” it includes groups of “Daddies” and “himbos” trying to find love and compete for $10,000. The only similarity between MILF Manor and For the Love of Dilfs is the acronym, but there are no familial relationships in For the Love of Dilfs. As a queer dating show, there are different societal standards regarding age difference.
