'The Swan' Was The Most Inhumane Reality Television Competition Ever Made

Kevin Jacobsen
Updated July 3, 2024 147.2K views 14 items

In the annals of reality TV history, The Swan has cemented itself as one of the most unethical and inhumane. You can debate the worst reality shows ever, but few can argue that The Swan was uniquely horrible. A show that took women described as "ugly ducklings" and turns them into beautiful "swans," the series generated plenty of controversy. Fox aired two seasons in 2004 before quickly axing the misbegotten project.

While the cameras rolled, doctors nipped, tucked, and sculpted the women until they became enhanced versions of themselves. That typically meant the same plastic Barbie doll version of beauty, with very little input from the contestants themselves. The Swan also included a competition element. Two women per episode were judged against each other, and the contestant determined to have made the most progress went on to compete in "the pageant," the season finale in which "the Swan" was officially crowned.

After the show, there were all kinds of problems for the women who participated, both physically and in their personal lives. And it's clear that the morally bankrupt capitalists who produced the show didn't care; they had made their money. Here are just some of the reasons why The Swan is the most inhuman reality competition show ever.

  • 1

    All Of Its Contestants Were Deemed "Ugly"

    All Of Its Contestants Were Deemed "Ugly"

    Each episode of The Swan begins with two women who are literally referred to as "ugly ducklings," in reference to the fairy tale in which the duckling turns into a beautiful swan. This cruel and disheartening introduction implies that these women are only as valuable as their appearances.

  • 2

    Contestants Were Molded Into One Specific Concept Of Physical Beauty

    Contestants Were Molded Into One Specific Concept Of Physical Beauty

    The Swan surgeons and producers seemed to have only one ideal of physical beauty: the stereotypical "beauty queen" look. Each of the contestants was transformed into a conventionally attractive woman with a plastic smile, wavy hair extensions, and usually a smaller waist size. Anything that made them unique was sliced away.

  • 3

    Contestants Weren't Allowed To Look In Mirrors

    Contestants Weren't Allowed To Look In Mirrors

    Contestants were not allowed to look in any mirrors for their three-month stay on the series, thus preserving the surprise of the "grand reveal" of their new faces and bodies.

    This type of deprivation can be harmful. Psychologists debate the effect mirrors can have on self-perception, but some argue that intentionally having to stay away from mirrors actually gives them greater importance. That, in turn, reinforces the importance of physical beauty. Staying away from mirrors also likely caused unnecessary stress on the contestants, who were unable to assess how they were progressing.

  • 4

    Contestants Had Very Little Control Over Anything

    Contestants Had Very Little Control Over Anything

    The show's complete control over the contestant's transformations was more than a little off-putting. By not letting the women look at themselves in the mirror and have a say in their surgeries, they weren't given time to adjust to their new faces. Contestant Lorrie Arias, for instance, was horrified by her transformation, and had a breakdown once the cameras were off:

    "I was screaming for the executive producer... I was screaming, ‘I want my face back!’ That’s how freaked out I was. Intelligently, I knew that was impossible. But it was so weird. It was like looking at somebody else, but it was you."

  • 5

    It Valued Physical Beauty Over Everything

    It Valued Physical Beauty Over Everything

    While the contestants had helpers throughout their stint on the show to track their emotional well-being, virtually no importance was placed on these women's personalities. The ultimate goal of the show, according to the season-ending pageant, was to crown the woman who had become the most physically beautiful. That notion is antiquated, to say the least.

  • 6

    It Was A Competition

    It Was A Competition

    As if the concept of The Swan wasn't questionable to begin with, the producers also added a competition element. Each episode pitted two women against each other to see who would compete in the season-ending Swan Pageant. Qualifications were based on the work ethic of the women and the amount of progress they had made in changing themselves.

    What message did that send to the losing women, who after undergoing exhausting and painful surgery were told they still weren't beautiful enough? An ugly one, indeed.

  • 7

    It Was All About Exploitation

    It Was All About Exploitation

    Most of the women who signed up for The Swan had major self-esteem issues, and the series hammered in how "ugly" they all were. Producers took advantage of vulnerable women, who were then used as props to be molded to the particular taste of the doctors and coaches. And then, contestants were sent home by the end of the three months and told that they weren't worthy. Pure exploitation for ratings.

  • 8

    Producers Told Plastic Surgeons What To Say To Contestants

    Producers Told Plastic Surgeons What To Say To Contestants

    Reality TV hasn't always had the best reputation of being, you know, real. This extended to parts of The Swan, in which plastic surgeons like Dr. Randal Haworth were encouraged to not say certain things to contestants.

    "You couldn't really express your actual feelings," he said, looking back on his Swan experience. "I was censored in saying things I actually thought. Instead of expressing different ways of thinking about the process or patients, they had us saying the same thing repeatedly."

  • 9

    It Gave The Wrong Impression About Surgery

    It Gave The Wrong Impression About Surgery

    Dr. Randal Haworth was critical of how The Swan portrayed the surgical and recovery process. Three months of procedures and recovery windows were compressed to look like they happened in a very short amount of time:

    "It gave the impression that the procedures either were done all at once or in rapid succession (which would be imprudent given the extent of the work we had to do) and that the healing occurred faster than it actually did."

  • 10

    The Show's Psychologist Got Her PhD From An Online University

    The Show's Psychologist Got Her PhD From An Online University

    On The Swan, psychologist Lynn Ianni was tasked with treating the women emotionally, but she didn't exactly have the best reputation. As author Jennifer Pozner put it, "The real depths of exploitation were in that psychological element, and that [Ianni] wasn't even licensed by an accredited institution."

    Ianni had a PhD in Clinical Psychology from California Coast University, an online institution that did not have to meet any "national licensing or credentialing laws."

  • 11

    Therapy Ended Abruptly With The Show

    Therapy Ended Abruptly With The Show

    While show psychologist Lynn Ianni insisted that she "worked with the girls to the best of [her] ability," some did not have a very good experience with her. Season 2 participant Lorrie Arias spoke years after the show about how the therapist did not properly treat her, either on the show or afterwards:

    "When filming stopped so did my meeting with the therapist. She was a working psychologist who had her own practice so she was busy. I understand that, but the doctor opened up old emotional wounds and didn’t help me to work through them."

  • 12

    "Swan Coach" Nely Galán Was A Nightmare

    "Swan Coach" Nely Galán Was A Nightmare

    "Swan Coach" Nely Galán was also an executive producer on the show. Her coaching style was judgmental, to say the least. She shamed women for the food they bought, and criticized them for complaining at the gym or not wearing their girdles. While Galán couched everything in a "helpful" tone, it was unpleasant to watch and potentially harmful to the contestants.

  • 13

    It May Have Led Almost All Of Its Contestants To Divorce

    It May Have Led Almost All Of Its Contestants To Divorce

    Almost all of the contestants who participated in The Swan are now divorced, according to a 2013 report from the New York Post. While the show itself is not completely responsible in these cases, it's hard to imagine this is some sort of coincidence. Many of these women were clearly struggling with deep-seated insecurities, and the show didn't address the underlying issues that drove them to make drastic changes.

    When you consider the intense process of the show, the time away, and the fact that the woman who came home looked entirely different than the woman her spouse married, divorce seems sadly inevitable.

  • 14

    Contestants Had Numerous Problems After The Show

    Contestants Had Numerous Problems After The Show

    The Swan proved to be disastrous after the fact, too. Former contestant Lorrie Arias revealed she gained back all the weight she lost from the show and is now afraid to leave the house. Rachel Love, the winner of Season 1, said that she heard many of her fellow contestants were unhappy following their experiences on the show, thought she calls them "crybabies."