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TLC/YouTube
Sometimes, a show comes around that’s so outrageous, with a cast doing things that are so cringe-worthy and bizarre, a reasonable viewer must, at least once, think to themselves, “This cannot be real.”
Enter I Love a Mama’s Boy. A TLC show – billing itself as reality – that has a lineup of couples and their corresponding overbearing mothers that will make even the most die-hard reality TV fans scratch their heads and wonder if there are writers in a backroom who just love to make the audience squirm or if reality has indeed become this out of pocket for some people.
See the clues that hint at whether the show is a depiction of its subjects’ real lives or just exaggerated made-for-TV storytelling.
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Shahid Says He’s on the Show to Spite His Mother’s Boyfriend
Shahid Hinton gave some insight into the process showrunners use to find the couples they feature.
On TikTok, he posted, “When you’re 24 years old and still live at home with your mom but can’t stand her lil bf. So you post a TikTok video about it and now your on National TV for a living at home, loving your mom, and still hating her lil bf.”
His post strongly implies, at least in his case, the producers sought out a truly dysfunctional family situation to bring onto the show and the drama is real.
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Shekeb Is an Actor
Shekeb Sekander is a professional actor who has been actively working since 2018. He boasts several TV and movie credits.
No one is saying actor’s can’t have tumultuous personal lives – or love their mothers so much it ends their relationship with their significant other – but many fans have speculated he may be putting it on for the cameras in a bid to get famous.
Shekeb has also never posted a picture with his ex Emily Chu to his Instagram, fueling speculation they’re a fake couple.
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Mike Is Also an Actor
Mike Boorn, like Shekeb, is an actor trying to find a breakout role. He has several credits, notably the HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.
His girlfriend, who appeared with him on I Love a Mama’s Boy, Stephanie Ressler, is also a producer on the talk show Maury, another show based on reality ridiculousness that also came under scrutiny for playing up certain scenarios on air.
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Shekeb May Have Confirmed They’re Acting
In response to a comment on Instagram that read, “acting? Ridiculous stories? Heck ya…sign me up for another season!” Shekeb wrote, “Yassss.”
While this may just be a cast member building some hype for the show by interacting with fans, another user responded to his comment by saying “Oh so are you are acting” and then thanking him for “for being so honest.”
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Shekeb Directly Denies the Show Is Faked
One commenter accused Shekeb and Emily of being “fake to the T. for ratings!” as they’ve “never seen any affection between the two of them.”
In response, Shekeb said, “The affection is behind closed doors,” with a smiley face, either ducking the very real question about whether he and Emily ever actually dated or just revealing they were a very strange couple, considering the others on the show are often affectionate, at least when they’re not fighting.
Another user directly called out the show, declaring, “It’s all fake.”
To which Shekeb responded, “It’s not tho.”
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Janelle and Josh McAloon Have Been Trying to Get Famous
Another strange couple, Janelle and Josh McAloon, share four children together and, before appearing on the TLC reality show, had given interviews and made posts about their strange habits as a family in an obvious bid for attention.
They talked to People about swapping Josh out for his twin brother when their daughter starts to miss dad, to Good Morning America about throwing Disney-themed balls for their little girls, to Your Tango about Janelle breastfeeding Jason for a few days and to Newsweek about Janelle testing Jason’s memory by wearing the same thing repeatedly.
Whether attention-seeking, faking it, or just really bizarre, they struck gold with TLC by bringing Josh’s mom, Tina, into the mix.
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