Former contestants of MTV’s 2004 hit show Pimp My Ride have come forward to reveal what really happened behind the scenes of the show and they say a lot of what viewers saw on television was faked.
The show, which was hosted by rapper and actor Xzibit, featured contestants who would come on the show to get their cars “pimped out” with items such as: new paint jobs, interiors and rims. The show also earned a reputation for adding unusual things to the cars such a pool tables and arcade machines, Daily Mail notes.
Several contestants have now come forward to tell The Huffington Post that the many of the customizations were taken away from them after they filmed the show.
"They actually take out a lot of the stuff that they showed on TV," Justin Dearinger's, who appeared on season 6 of the show, wrote on his Reddit AMA. Dearinger had his Toyota Rav4 “pimped” with a "pop-up" champagne contraption and a "drive-in theater,” which were later taken out because the theatre wasn’t street safe and the show didn’t want to condone drinking and driving.
Seth Martino, also from season 6, was left with things in his car that didn’t work after the filming of the show. He said the television screens that were put into his car never worked after the show was filmed. He also had a problem with the LED lights that were put into the seats of his car. "They would get really hot if left on so I couldn't drive with them on," Martino said.
Martino also suggested that he was picked on by producers of the show because he was fat.
“I know I'm fat, but they went the extra mile to make me look extra fat by telling the world that I kept candy all over my seat and floor just in case I got hungry,” he added. “Then gave me a cotton candy machine in my trunk.”
Martino says he never kept any candy in his car. The producers fabricated that part of the story by dumping bags of “generic candy” all over his car.
Contestants also complained that there was a lack of attention to the mechanical problems of the car and that there reaction to their “pimped out” rides was staged.
"I remember this very clearly: Big Dane, very big dude, he like puts his arm around my shoulder, kind of walks me around the shop for like 10 minutes and he's like, 'Listen, we put a lot of work into this. ... We expect you to be a little more f—ing enthusiastic.' " Jake Glazier of season 4 said.
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