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Down Rose Fainche McCormack.
A ROSE of Tralee contestant has publicly criticised the treatment she received on the Sunday morning of the festival, when they were filmed being told whether they made it to the final 32.
Down Rose, Fainche McCormack – who did not make it through to the finals – said she didn’t sign up to be treated like “animals in the circus” as part of the process of whittling down the 65 Roses to 32 on Sunday morning in front of TV cameras.
The conclusion of the RTE TV show ‘The Road To The Dome’, featured an ‘X Factor’ type of selection where one group of Roses were told they made it, while the other group were told they were not going through.
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It made for emotional scenes and interviews in the immediate aftermath, which the Down Rose did not appreciate.
“The Rose of Tralee was honestly the most amazing experience of my life, until Sunday morning…” Fainche McCormack posted on Facebook. “I, and my fellow rose sisters, did not sign up for a cheap reality television show in which our emotions would be manipulated for entertainment purposes,” she continued.
“It’s just a shame that television viewing numbers became more important that the truly amazing girls that got hurt and that now have to deal with the emotional trauma of the whole, quite frankly disgusting and cruel, ordeal. None of us signed up for a cheap reality television show and now unfortunately the Rose of Tralee is an experience I will never forget, for all the wrong reasons,” she said, also claiming they were asked inappropriate questions and intrusively followed with cameras all week.
Chief Executive of the Rose of Tralee International Festival, Anthony O’Gara, said it’s a natural thing that people will become disappointed when they don’t progress.
He said the manner in which ‘The Road To The Dome’ finished was insensitive, they didn’t anticipate it and would not like to see it repeated. He said there was an apology given to the Roses which they accepted.
“have to deal with the emotional trauma of the whole, quite frankly disgusting and cruel, ordeal”
Jesus I could think of much worse things to have to deal with….
Like a cancer diagnosis or death of a loved one.
Sounds like sour grapes.