Well, we guess that’s the top of that little actuality TV saga…
Earlier this 12 months TLC‘s latest hit became the center of some serious controversy. If you haven’t seen I Am Shauna Rae, it’s the story of a girl named Shauna Rae Lesick, who — effectively, we’ll let TLC inform ya as a result of of us hold getting irritated at us:
Twenty-two-year-old Shauna Rae’s development was stunted after a battle with mind most cancers. From relationship to driving, Shauna strives to have the independence of an grownup whereas trapped within the physique of an 8-year-old.
Grown girl “trapped in the body of an 8-year-old.” That’s actually how the community places it of their promo, and the place we bought it! Shauna Rae herself has extra lately taken problem with the present’s tagline, saying it’s “actually very inaccurate,” telling a fan on social media:
“I am not stuck in the body of an 8-year-old. I am a 23-year-old woman whose body is 23 years old. It’s matured. It’s gone through puberty. I’ve grown in areas that 8-year-olds don’t until they’ve hit puberty, which is later in life. I am just a shorter statured woman, and my body is at the average height of an 8-year-old.”
OK, with that each one clear, her troubled relationship life is certainly lined by the present — and went relatively viral a pair months again.
Related: Lala Kent BLASTS Tom Sandoval For ‘Lying’ During ‘Random’ Howie Mandel Interview!
If you didn’t see, a person named Dan Swygart reached out to Shauna after seeing Season 1 and came over her for a couple of dates in Season 2. When we are saying he came over, it was an extended journey. Dan is from Wales! So he traveled all that method to hang around along with her after seeing her on TV? It was a giant crimson flag for lots of viewers. Comments ranged from being usually cautious of his intentions to full-on accusing him of getting a “fetish” as a result of “she looks and talks like an 8 year old.”
Swygart — one thing of a budding influencer with numerous attractive journey pics on his Instagram — took to social media on the time to defend relationship Shauna Rae, blasting critics for not treating her like a grown girl and denying her happiness, and so on, saying:
“I think it’s absolutely disgusting the attitude of some people. She’s been through so much in life. She survived cancer as a child, she’s always felt different and been treated different by society. But how dare you take away her right, her human right, to have a connection, a friendship, a relationship with someone else?”
Fair sufficient, proper? HOWEVER… the factor that was all the time a bit off to us was the very fact he’s speaking about an actual human connection and friendship — however he reached out after seeing her on TV. Our fear was a couple of man perhaps searching for his quarter-hour of fame! It’s hardly uncommon within the actuality TV world! He even launched a model new YouTube channel on the again of the eye he was getting. It was all fairly sus to us!
Well, now that his time on the present is over, he’s nonetheless defending his relationship with Shauna Rae — however he’s making it abundantly, explicitly clear that at no time did he ever have interaction in any type of sexual exercise with the 23-year-old.
Dan appeared on Monday’s episode of The Sarah Fraser Show podcast and clarified:
“We got very, very close on an emotional level. I mean, it never really got physical, we kissed once. Of course, I wasn’t there for long periods of time … So it never really progressed into a relationship.”
Is it simply us or is he being method candid abruptly a couple of actually non-public matter. His complete factor was about respecting her, so he may have simply mentioned it’s not anybody’s enterprise. But we suspect as an aspiring influencer he’d perhaps relatively everybody be tremendous clear that he by no means attached with the lady. Maybe that’s only a sense we’re getting from that reply. But it kinda implies to us all of the progressive, understanding protection he’s been placing out there may be much less about her and extra about what the world thinks of him.
But hey, perhaps that’s us…
Related: Love Is Blind Villain Bartise Bowden’s Baby Momma Revealed
Dan additionally mentioned on the podcast how he defended himself — and Shauna Rae — as they have been judged in particular person in addition to on-line:
“We went to a bar together with some of my friends, some of her friends and her sister, and there was a restaurant. We were eating in the restaurant, then we went to a dance floor, there was a bouncer at the dance floor. He lets us all in but he stops Shauna and she’s showing him her ID, and he’s like, ‘No, this can’t be true, no, no, no, wait, no way,’ and then the crazy thing was, in the corner a TV was playing and it was her show.”
He added:
“People were taking their phones out, taking videos of her, so I had to go up to them and tell them to leave. People came up to me and they were like, ‘Um, is it not past her bedtime?’ This is just one evening and it’s just constant.”
But in fact the web hate was worse. The 26-year-old mirrored about being known as, in so many phrases, a pervert for his curiosity within the actuality star:
“With that just came this big, huge amount of hate, and I felt like the world was crushing me because obviously the media and people, YouTubers as well, they categorized me in the most hated group of people on the planet. Obviously, because of Shauna’s condition… they put me in that category. I just felt like that world was crushing me.”
But the movies he made gathered sufficient help to drown out the haters:
“I basically lost my faith in humanity, did these videos, and then a huge amount of love and support came and I’m so thankful to the world. Because that’s the lowest I’ve ever been in my life, with the world sort of crushing me like that, the world sort of saved [me], I had a huge amount of support… They started attacking all the negative comments, and people started deleting the negative comments and, yeah, the rainy clouds disappeared and the sun started shining and now it’s all fine.”
Yep, he was the great man who did nothing improper all this time, and he undoubtedly didn’t message a actuality star for views on his IG web page. And now everybody is aware of he 100% by no means did something bodily with the grown girl he has all of the utmost respect for.
Whattaya need, we’re a bit cynical! The man inserted himself right into a actuality present — and is nonetheless speaking about it. But hey, resolve for your self! You can take heed to Dan’s full interview HERE!
[Image via Shauna Rae Lesick/Dan Swygart/Instagram.]
Discussion about this post