I really tried to skip this news because two stories about young people dying from addiction issues is two too many. However, I am getting a lot of info sent on this because of my Wednesday night Twitter sprees. Sunday -Tuesday nights I am usually swamped with recaps and news stories but on Wednesdays, I secretly sort of take a night of and tend to drunk tweet a lot. Last Wednesday, the mother from the House of Versailles movie switched places with the wife of Jeremy London. The Londons lived on a farm and had a new baby. I could not stop tweeting telling people to watch this episode.
Jackie Siegel is a mother of eight who is afraid of babies and had never changed a diaper. She was clearly pretending to be Zsa Zsa Gabor on Green Acres and Jeremy seemed sincere in his horror while trying to be as polite as possible. Meanwhile, Jeremy’s poor wife was dealing with the “King of Versailles” who is quite the handsy old man. It seems the rulers of the palace have very little contact with their kids and leave them to be raised by the staff. The new wife sets up a camping trip for some bonding time with the Dad, but he can’t be bothered to go. The kids flourish with the new mom. It was all sort of sad.
Victoria was not on the episode. According to TMZ, she was likely in rehab at that time. If you watched the original movie, which I spent way too much time looking for my recap of it that I guess does not exist, you will remember her from the photo above. Victoria was around 12 at the time of filming and was going through a Goth phase with the red and black hair. I remember her from that photo as being “the troubled one” looking back the signs were clear that she needed some guidance from someone other than the maids. I remember that little girl. I do not remember this 18-year-old blond who has undergone a transformation over the years to turn her into the stereotypical blond. Sadly, it seems like her inner issues were not resolved. On the inside there is still that angsty 12-year-old that did not received a lot of emotional support despite having tigers at her fancy birthday parties.
It’s a sad story and one I did not want to write today. If you are a teen who needs someone to talk to, or know someone who is, Crisis Call Center available any time day or night. Give them a call.
800-273-8255 or text ANSWER to 839863
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week
http://crisiscallcenter.org/crisisservices.html
It’s hard to believe that those two photos are of the same person. What a difference. I don’t know why those people had all those kids when they don’t seem to want to have any interaction with them. He said he gave her jewelry every time she had another baby, so I guess that was her motivation.
How sad! My heart goes out to the family. I’m sure they had their issues (as every family does) but losing a child has to be the biggest tragedy to try and overcome. Hopefully they can come together to give each other the love and support they need.
Their nanny lived in the kids’ playhouse and the “palace” was rundown with dog shit on the floor, etc. The dad stayed locked in his office. It was an interesting documentary.
I saw that episode. The kids were more or less begging for boundaries and for one of their parents to give a real shit about them and show it. They responded really well to Jeremy London’s wife who showed a genuine interest in them. At the end the queen of Versailles looks completely befuddled when informed that her kids eagerly ate dinner together, as though that was the most difficult thing ever, when it took next to no effort at all. They really need to require mandatory training on parenting for expectant mothers and fathers, when a woman first becomes pregnant.
For me, the biggest surprise on Wife Swap was that Jackie was proud of ‘Queen of Versailles’. I seem to dimly recall them threatening law suits and saying they were misrepresented. International humiliation didn’t get through to these fame whores – one can only hope this loss will make them appreciate the rest of their beautiful children – but who am I kidding – we know it won’t.
The husband threatened lawsuits over the characterization of his businesses. The wife was thrilled with the attention and went to all the premieres.
On Mon, Jun 8, 2015 at 5:39 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I can’t imagine being thrilled over that representation of your life – but amazingly she was! And to think the husband’s main concern was the characterization of his business while his home life crumbled around him. So sad for those kids. 🙁
I think I need to go hug my kids right now.
Oh my God TT this is so sad, was she the one who was playing with the snake in the movie, or the one cooking the shepard Pie with her mom. They also had her niece. TT my head started hurting when I read this, I knew something was going to happen. Jackie never seem so into herself, she never even picked up anything. Husband spoiled her. So very sorry for him and her no one should loose a child. I will keep them in prayer.
When did “mom” ever cook ANYTHING?
What killed me was all the shopping she did as they were bleeding money and buying the same kid a bike a week or something crazy. Also the dead animals the kids didn’t take care of, could have been an insight into their lives in more ways than one. If you do not nurture and care for an animal or a child they will die. So sad. Money does not equate good parenting…
yeah, I forgot about the dead pets. Looking back it’s no wonder the kids didn’t know how to nurture anything. Everything, pets included were just more things.
On Mon, Jun 8, 2015 at 6:35 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I heard about this earlier & searched for / watched the Wife Swap episode a few hours ago. I heard on the news that Jeremy London’s wife issued a statement that Victoria was there during her visit but didn’t want to be on camera. They added she saw no signs of drug issues & was quite sweet & helpful while she was there. Whether she was there or not – what a horrible tragedy for this family. As therealdeb stated above “If you do not nurture and care for an animal or a child they will die. So sad. Money does not equate good parenting…”.
This is all too sad. Weirdly, I never watch Wife Swap but for some reason I did last week featuring the Londons and Siegels. I cringed when Mr. Siegel stumbled trying to remember all of his children’s names and rolled my eyes when Jackie made that admission of never changing even one diaper of her eight children. Although I thought she had to be full of shit when saying this, I wondered wasn’t there another quip(sp?) to be made for a shock value chuckle to prove how pampered she is? I remember thinking, at that moment, these kids are going to see some major issues in their young lives. It saddens me so to think what they must be going through today and how many viewers will only look at this family today from what we saw of them last week. Thank you TT for providing the information and resources at the end of your writing.
So sad.
So sad. Such a beautiful girl with her whole life ahead of her.
Tedtalks had a speech by a police officer, Kevin Briggs, who worked on the Golden Gate bridge for years. Many come to that bridge to take their life. He saved many lives. He says that the ones that did jump and survived all said that they regretted it as soon as they jumped and were going down. It is a long way down…
I have no problem at pointing a finger. I hate to broadstroke a scenario but the mother in this circumstance is more to blame than the father if we are pointing to blame (and I am in this scenario). The dad is too old. He might actually give a shit but that wouldn’t matter to his wife who he probably has left in charge of their children. She’s a real piece of work but he picked her. Imo, the mother is ultimately responsible for the children she carried and birthed.
My heart goes out to the siblings involved. I’m very sorry for their loss.
I get the outrage. I do. I understand that these kids are flapping in the wind. But let’s try not to be too harsh as the mother is the type to read all of these things.
On Mon, Jun 8, 2015 at 11:38 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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So very sad on many levels. It breaks my heart.
This is very sad and my heart goes out to the family. Victoria dis appear on the Wife Swap episode (her hair was shorter and darker on the show) and according to Jeremy London’s wife, Victoria was very helpful during the week she spent at their home.
It is beyond sad. May her memory be a blessing.
I read recently that wealthy people now want to have many children as a new sign of status and wealth. This is a new trend on the Upper East Side of NYC. I am curious why the family would leave a child in recovery alone so soon after discharge, but I know the answer, having seen “Queen of Versailles”.
I saw this and thought it was awful. I don’t agree with different media quoting from the Wife Swap as though it’s fact. We all know those shows do a lot for entertainment value. I don’t think things are going well for them financially. That Versailles house is the same as it was 8 years ago, and I think the 30 “staff” were hired for the filming. The absurdity of the differences between the families is amplified to the hilt for entertainment value. I’m not sure I buy into a lot of what was said by any of them- we all know how “real” reality shows are. But I do think there is something to it. I don’t see the husband at his age and with his business having too much involvement with the kids. I was horrified at the documentary over the mistreatment of the animals and it seemed like the kids didn’t fare much better. I don’t see her as one to be sitting and doing homework with the kids, etc. She’s like she’s in a fog. I do agree it looks like that family needed structure and discipline, etc. Remember when she said bemoaningly how the kids might have to go to college now that they were having money trouble? All the rich/celebrity kids that don’t go to college, don’t get a real job, don’t have parents who parent rather than best friend them don’t turn out well generally. Very sad, Such a beautiful girl she turned out to be. Often those who use, get clean, then go back to their old routine and OD. We’ve seen that how many times now- PSHoffman, kid from Glee, etc. Very sad. My heart still goes to those parents.
OMG. Did anyone else see pictures from the funeral today? Jackie is straight up delusional. She is wearing a dress with boobs out like you cannot believe and smiling in many pictures because there are paparazzi there. You have to see it to believe it. One picture where she looks maybe like she’s upset, but never crying, much less even close to looking devastated. And the whole family- she has them posing for a selfie- taking pictures of the casket with her phone. I mean it is straight up cray cray.
Oh God. I just googled some. She is grinning and taking selfies with the casket. At least the Dad looks upset. So sad. She really thinks this is a paparazzi event.
On Tue, Jun 9, 2015 at 10:11 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I just saw the photos from outside the funeral home, and OMG WTF is wrong these people? The mom is cheese-ing it up for the cameras, and one of the kids is flashing the douchey sideways piece sign at the funeral.
The BILLIONAIRE father is wearing a dog hair covered blazer over a casual Havana shirt. I know it’s Florida, but dayum doesn’t he have a lint brush?
Back when I saw the documentary I commented that the kids seemed like zombies and were dead in the eyes. These parents are very soulless & deeply misguided when it comes to their family & priorities.
It’s all very, very sad. Those kids don’t have a chance.
On Tue, Jun 9, 2015 at 11:29 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Wow.
People express grief in many ways which may seem inappropriate to outsiders, but…wow…those are some pretty damning pictures.
The surviving children….I’m at a loss for words at how hideous things must be for them. The one group picture with the children is just so bizarre, with them posing in paparazzi styles poses, is just wrong…
It is so sad. So sad. I do think for real those kids wanted to go home with the Wife Swap mom. I think they are all starved for attention and direction. I couldn’t believe those pictures with her in the Derby hat looking at being photographed, like TT said like it’s a paparazzi event. I don’t think there was one picture of her even crying or those kids with her as their role model. How can a mom even function after losing a child ( and I think it was that the girl was fresh out of rehab and they left her home while the rest went to Vegas) much less act like she’s at a funeral for the mail carrier? WTF?