Cruel reality cuts deep for `Makeover' hopeful
By Beth Teitell
Tuesday, September 20, 2005

What's worse than making a vicious comment about a family member that airs on national TV? Making a vicious comment about a family member that does not air on national TV.

At least that seems to be the point of a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, which details the tragic story of a jilted ``Extreme Makeover'' contestant, one Deleese Williams, and her loved ones, who were allegedly coaxed into criticizing Williams' pre-makeover looks by producers for the ABC reality show.

According to published reports, Williams' friends and family ``didn't notice or pretended not to notice'' her lack of beauty, but once she got picked for the show, they were prompted to focus on nothing but her physical flaws. Here's what her mother-in-law had to say after the alleged coaching: ``I never believed my son would marry such an ugly woman.''

Nice.

All of which would have been fine with Williams if she had actually appeared on the show and gotten the makeover that would have made those slings and arrows moot. The new, improved Williams, the one with the ``Hollywood smile like Cindy Crawford,'' could have chuckled over those insults as she smiled for the paparazzi.

But the night before Williams was to begin her transformation - from a woman with droopy eyes, crooked teeth, a deformed jaw and small breasts into a plastic surgery-crafted babe - she was sitting in her hotel room reading pre-op instructions, when a producer came in and told her she was being bumped from the show because her dental surgery recovery time would be too long, according to the New York Daily News.

Which meant that not only did Williams have to head back to Texas in Before mode, but also with the fresh memories of her family's hurtful comments. Did I mention - she was in an adjoining room during the videotaped interviews and heard everything.

There's no word on how Williams' mother-in-law feels now (although Thanksgiving should be fun, that's for sure), but Williams' sister allegedly felt so awful about what she'd said that four months later she reportedly overdosed on pills, alcohol and cocaine. Williams and her husband are now raising her late sister's two children, and Williams grocery shops at midnight, so as not to be seen.

As horrible as all this is, I believe, in this land where major plastic surgery is a considered a TV-show prize, that this tragic tale can actually get worse.

Because I'm sure that someone, somewhere will make a movie about it.