The festival “were happy with it”.
RTÉ has responded to claims from Down Rose, Fainche McCormack that she and her fellow participants were “manipulated and mistreated” during some filming at the Rose of Tralee festival.
The national broadcaster has issued a statement which says, “the 65 Roses were aware from the outset that they were being filmed at all stages in the run up to the live television shows. This also included the selection process where the 65 became 32 for the live televised programmes.”
The Down Rose posted her criticism to the main Rose of Tralee Facebook page saying:
“The Rose of Tralee was honestly the most amazing experience of my life, until Sunday morning…I, and my fellow rose sisters, did not sign up for a cheap reality television show in which our emotions would be manipulated for entertainment purposes, nor did we sign up to be treated like animals in the circus and held in a room against our will.
Cameras intrusively followed us all week and asked inappropriate probing questions; asking one girl what colour underwear she was wearing right before she went on stage, what’s acceptable about that?
I could go on for days about the many ways we were manipulated, bullied and mistreated; However, up until a certain point, the Rose of Tralee was the experience of a lifetime, every part of a little girl’s dream.
It’s just a shame that television viewing numbers became more important that the truly amazing girls that got hurt and that now have to deal with the emotional trauma of the whole, quite frankly disgusting and cruel, ordeal.
None of us signed up for a cheap reality television show and now unfortunately the Rose of Tralee is an experience I will never forget, for all the wrong reasons”.
Yours,
2016 Down Rose
Fainche McCormack
The post has since been deleted from the Rose of Tralee Facebook page.
RTÉ and The Rose of Tralee Festival have issued this reply to those remarks:
Road to the Dome was a new addition to the Rose of Tralee’s television coverage this year. It was commissioned by RTÉ and produced in co-operation and agreement with the Rose of Tralee committee. The 65 Roses were aware from the outset that they were being filmed at all stages in the run up to the live television shows. This also included the selection process where the 65 became 32 for the live televised programmes. In advance of the show going out on Monday evening the festival were given the opportunity to view the programme and were happy with it. We regret that the Down Rose, Fainche McCormack, was upset at elements of the filming process for the documentary and RTÉ and the Rose of Tralee Festival have agreed to review the process for next year.
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