Featured Image Credit: Channel 4
Topics: Channel 4, Documentaries,
Kya Buller
Warning: This article contains discussion of discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community and suicide which some readers may find distressing.
Channel 4 documentary Miriam: Death of A Reality Star has been a difficult but necessary watch for viewers.
The three-part exploration into the treatment of Miriam Rivera, one of the first transgender women to feature on reality TV, by producers and the general public has been heart-wrenching.
Miriam, 21 years old at the time, starred on the 2004 reality dating show There's Something About Miriam in which six British men aged between 22-28 competed to win her heart and a £10,000 cash prize.
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The cruel stunt was that the viewers at home were aware that Miriam was a trans woman - but the men competing were not.
The language of the show was thoughtless - referring to Miriam as a 'man' and making jokes at the expense of her gender identity.
Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star revisits the reality show aired by Sky One, and doesn't shy away from any of the difficult details.
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In one of the most shocking parts of the documentary, a psychiatrist hired by the show, Dr Gareth Smith, shared his insights about his time on set.
He opened up about how There's Something About Miriam put the mental health of Miriam at great risk, though this was not acknowledged - despite the overall attitudes to trans people at the time being largely unaccepting, and certainly judgemental.
He said: "I had been brought in ostensibly to look after the men.
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"No one had given a thought to how Miriam might feel.
"The reveal was her coming out to the world and as far as I was aware, Miriam hadn't been psych tested.
"How would she deal with rejection? Not just from who she picked, but everyone who thought trans people were freaks.
"They sold her a dream without anybody telling her what could go wrong. I thought, she's vulnerable, she's had a really, really hard life, like a bird with a broken wing."
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Dr Smith shared that in 2004, he was one of the only psychiatrists with a 'special interest' in trans patients, so he was able to converse with Miriam and specifically asked showrunners for time with her.
He shared that Miriam genuinely 'really fancied' the boy she eventually picked as the winner, Tom Rooke, and thought he would take 'the reveal' well.
Before the show aired, Tom, along with fellow contestants, sued the show. They also claimed a number of damages and eventually settled for an undisclosed amount.
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Dr Smith went on to brand There's Something About Miriam as 'cruelty television'.
As well as looking back at the 2004 ill-fated show, the documentary takes a look at Miriam's personal life.
Born in Mexico, she began taking hormones at 11, was living as a woman by 16 and was outed by a boy who 'discovered her secret'.
Tragically, her father carried out an exorcism to 'cure' her.
To think that a woman who had experienced such hardship and judgement would then go on to be used as reality TV bait is heartbreaking beyond belief.
Miriam died in an apparent suicide in 2019 at just 38 years old.
She had largely absconded from public life despite There's Something About Miriam propelling her to notoriety.
Dr Smith added: "The fact that she had a penis seemed to be the punchline to a joke.
"But it wasn’t a joke. It was Miriam and her life."
Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star continues tonight on Channel 4 at 9.00pm, and all episodes are available to stream on All4.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected].
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.