A reality television show that features nine extraordinary people living under one roof, including a bearded lady and a man who wants to become a parrot, has raised questions over whether its subjects are being exploited.
For the three-part show, titled The House of Extraordinary People, the group will spend 10 days in a Yorkshire cottage and get to know one another. It has been billed by Channel 5 as a vehicle to 'confront prejudices', focusing on the struggles of those who face daily judgement on their appearance and forcing them to confront their greatest fears. But some equality groups have expressed concern that it could tip over into exploitation. Danielle Wootton, Head of Marketing at disability charity Scope, said: 'We hope that this programme is inclusive and gives disabled people a positive platform where the public can hear their voices, and gain a greater understanding of their lives.' But there is a fine line to tread between insight and understanding, and voyeurism and exploitation.' We'd like everyone in the media to become Disability Gamechangers, and actively challenge negative perceptions and attitudes towards disabled people in everything they do.' The first episode of the three-part series will be on Monday night at 10pm.
Sales assistant and model Bashir Aziz, 24, will be joining the other eight people in the house. He has the skin condition vitiligo which causes pale white patches to appear on his skin. Bashir was bullied at school by kids calling him 'cow' and 'zebra', but now spreads body positivity messages to his thousands of followers on Instagram. He said he is proud of his marks and embraces them to help other people who are different. Last year, he even said he was 'saddened' when he noticed some of his white marks were disappearing.
A man who decided to have a healthy leg amputated will also join the group. Dan Cooper, 74, from Wyoming, travelled to Thailand to have his lower left leg amputated. He has body integrity disorder, which means he has an overwhelming desire to amputate a healthy limb. Dan said he had no regrets about the procedure and would not consider himself disabled.
A female catwalk model and motivational speaker will also be on the show because she can grow a beard. Harnaam Kaur, 27, from Slough, holds the Guinness World Record for the youngest female to grow a full beard at the age of 24 years and 282 days. She has the condition polycystic ovarian syndrome, which can cause high levels of male hormones in a woman's body. It can also lead to irregular periods and enlarged ovaries, which contain fluid-filled sacs that surround eggs in the organ. Harnaam has 134,000 Instagram followers and describes herself online as a 'social activist', a positive influencer, and 'Queen of #beardgang'.
Also on the show is Kristen Riley, who is three foot and five inches tall. The 36-year-old, who works as an activities coordinator in a care home, didn't grow taller as she was born with the condition microcephalic osteoplastic primordial dwarfism type II. Kristen, from the US, said people often stare at her because of her height. She is also one of the oldest people in the world with the condition.
One of the tallest women in the world will also appear on Channel 5's programme. Aly Stosz, 29, who stands at six foot nine inches, said she has taken part to show other women it is okay not to fit into traditional beauty moulds. She also says it's hard not to go unnoticed in a crowd being her height. Her sister Amanda said on Aly's website that her younger sister 'is within the 99.9 percentile for height in the world.'Only 0.1 per cent of people are in her height group.'Aly, who has 6,000 followers on Instagram, uses the name @humongouslife.
A mother-of-three has had multiple plastic surgeries to remove tumours after they got worse following each pregnancy. Rachael Reynolds, 43, gets benign tumours growing all over her body. The condition, called neurofibromatosis, has led her to worry about her outward appearance leading her to have several surgeries to remove the lumps and laser treatment. However, the lumps continue to appear and, she said, got worse after each pregnancy.It is a genetic condition that usually appears in childhood, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The group will also be joined by a man who had both legs amputated when he was a toddler. Rowdy Burton, 31, from Alabama, had both of his legs amputated at the age of three due to the genetic condition sacral agenesis. He now walks on his hands or uses a motorised skateboard to get around. When he had the amputation, Rowdy said he was bullied at school. But, rather than having a wheelchair, he chose to get around on his hands and even managed to play tennis.
An extreme animal-lover who decided he wanted to look like his pet parrots will also be on the programme. Ted Parrotman, who had his name changed from Ted Richards, took the decision to get the tattoos and piercings thanks to his pet birds. He has 110 tattoos of feathers on his body and 50 piercings to help him look the part. Ted even had his ears removed and tongue split to help him further resemble the birds. He shares his Bristol home with five parrots called Ellie, Teaka, Timneh, Jake, and Bubi, as well as a South American green iguana Iggy and a bull terrier called Candy.