We all know that reality TV is usually pumped up to be a bit more glamorous than things actually are IRL, and this was apparently the case with the old MTV show "Pimp My Ride," hosted by Xzibit.
Although the show stopped airing in 2007, it recently returned to the news when two of the seasons' participants did a Reddit AMA. Following that up, Huffington Post investigated the authenticity of the show even further. As it turns out, not much authenticity.
Jake Glazier from Season 4 and Seth Martino and Justin Dearinger from Season 6 all spoke with Huffington Post, revealing that some of the crazy additions to their cars had to be removed after the show aired, and other times, they didn't even work.
Dearinger revealed that "they actually take out a lot of the stuff that they showed on TV," including a "pop-up" champagne contraption and a "drive-in theatre." He further explained to Huff Post that the champagne contraption was removed because the show did not want to condone drinking and driving, and the "drive-in theatre" was not street-safe.
The show's executive producer, Larry Hochberg, also spoke to Huff Post to respond to some of the participants' claims. "Sometimes we did things for safety reasons that the kids on show interpreted as us 'taking away' some items," he said. He provided an example, detailing when they put 24-inch spinner rims on a 1977 Cutlass. Although it looked amazing on TV, "out of abundance of caution" they switched it to "beautiful 20s for daily driving."
Martino, who also appeared in the sixth season, revealed that one of his contraptions didn't work at all. The robotic arm that was installed in his car was actually "controlled by commands that were entered into a laptop by the spiky haired guy off screen." And really, it "was just a robotic arm with a bunch of wires hanging out of it." Martino also had a TV installed which wouldn't even turn on following the filming.
Those weren't Martino's only issues. "There were plenty of things wrong with it," he said, including the LED lights installed on his seats. "They would get really hot if left on so I couldn't drive with them on," Martino said. "They took the gull-wing doors off because the pistons used to lift them kept them from putting seat belts in the back, which was highly dangerous."
Glazier actually ended up selling his own pimped out car after a month, and the new owner said the car broke down immediately. In addition, Xzibit surprising the contestants was also staged (often the house shown was one rented by MTV), as were the surprise revelations, which were done in multiple takes.
Despite this, the contestants said they enjoyed their experience and would do it again.
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