I've just watched all the episodes of this programme and I have mixed views from eye-rolling at the hypocrisy of the World Cup being held somewhere so poor at a cost of millions that would have helped so many of the people, these girls and their partners enormous salaries, to genuinely liking one or two of them by the end of the series.
It's good that the programme got the appalling poverty and issues in S.Africa onto our screens, and the presence of WAGs would hopefully mean that our brainwashed impressionable teens would also tune in, if only at first to see how they wore their hair and whether they packed any Jimmy Choos.
I'm afraid "Aimii" the "model" needed a good hard slap or ten. Firstly for spelling her name so stupidly. Secondly for behaving like an entitled brat whenever the work got too hard, and finally for running away to her 4 star hotel in the dying days of the trip, hiding behind pathetic excuses about stress and her skin and her ulcers and how they could affect her "career". With a face like that love, I'm surprised you even have a career, but I guess people aren't really looking at your face are they?
Imogen bless 'er - so dim but still likeable. She mucked in, she had a few tantrums, but she was nursing a smashed heart and I know from personal experience that it's a rocky road that can be distracting. She seemed to show genuine talent for connecting with the Jo'burg street boys, and I hope her foray into helping the London homeless shelters lasts long after the cameras have gone away.
Elen Rivas also nursing an even more smashed heart, seemed on edge and distracted but also came across as genuine, however I felt that there was too much focus on her tabloid lifestyle rather than how the trip was changing her outlook on life.
Ellie Darby - super girl, hard worker, warm, caring, she was great. But how much does her other half earn? How much does Emile Heskey, Chantelle Tagoe's other half earn? It's all very commendable that Chantelle got stuck in and organised the "charidee" night that raised £40k for the S.African causes (why she hired those two RIDICULOUS PR people is beyond me though).....but if Heskey earns a 5 or 6 figure sum PER WEEK, then to be honest, a £40k total from one charity event, is an insult. All these massively overpaid footballers could donate £10-£20k per week out of their salaries, to good causes - and still barely feel the pinch in their bank balances.
Chantelle bonded with a lovely little abandoned boy Moses, at one of the creches - his little eyes followed her everywhere and his shy smile grew bigger and bigger as she spent time with him. Then she left him, promising to sponsor him until he's 18. I wonder how long it took that little boy to realise that each morning as he looked for her, she too had abandoned him. She could have adopted him easily and given him a wonderful life. But no. Easier to shovel money at him when what he needs is love and stability.
Interesting to note that the girls all accepted a monetary fee to do this documentary, plus a deal for a TV programme about their "glamourous" lives back in the UK. The undercurrant of selfish self-PR that just takes the edge off the seriousness of the S. African plight.
I noticed that the entire programme never broached questions such as this to the girls. Never were they asked "how much does your husband earn per week and are you willing to donate 20% of it to these causes you profess to care so much about?" I'd have LOVED to see them answer that question. Ellie and Chantelle both questioned briefly the huge salaries, but never went in depth and also never seemed to express any sort of embarrassment about the sums of money they swim around in on a daily basis.
Ellie gushed "I feel blessed to have been given this opportunity". Er you could take such opportunities at any time love, just Google "volunteering in Africa", pick a project, and off you go. Why wait until a TV company and cameras come along? Oh wait, could it be a bit of conscience easing self-PR? Why surely not.......
Let's have another programme filmed 2 years later, to see if they are still helping out, donating, fundraising, and "caring so much" about S. Africa.
Let's also address the glaring elephant in the room about OVERPOPULATION and it's consequences in the developing world. There are too many kids - unwanted kids. not enough contraception and birth control education in S.Africa, or too much religion and "old traditions" that are stopping the widespread use of contraception. So many kids, and what future do they have? Why isnt' anything being done to curb the birthrate?
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