Glasgow shrink who counselled men duped by cruel reality TV show feared they might ‘murder’ transgender star
A SCOTS shrink has spoken for the first time about his part in one of the most unbelievable reality TV series of all time.
Contestants on There's Something About Miriam battled it out to win love with a stunning model.
But the six lads had no idea bombshell Miriam Rivera was trans and had been born a man.
Glasgow psychiatrist Gareth Smith, 51, was roped in to counsel the duped contestants after they were finally let in on the big secret.
And he's lifted the lid on the explosive scenes that developed after the cameras stopped rolling.
Gareth, who also worked on Big Brother, revealed the competitors were so angry they threatened to murder the model.
He said: “It had the potential for absolute disaster.
“They started with 'that f**king bitch Miriam. I’m going to f**king kill her'.
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“That was my worry that it would escalate, that they would wind each other up and it would turn violent.”
Podcast Harsh Reality tells how one of the guys, a former marine, smashed up the villa in Ibiza where they’d been shooting and burly bouncers fled the flare-up.
Gareth, who was based at Gartnavel Hospital, Glasgow, feared the situation would spiral out of control.
He ordered show host and former Blue Peter star Tim Vincent to leave with Miriam.
'I WAS THERE TO MAKE SURE IT DIDN'T GO HORRIBLY WRONG'
It’s claimed shaken executive producer Remy Blumenfield fled through a toilet window.
Gareth said: “I was there to make sure it didn’t all go horribly wrong.
“I went out and I was like: ‘Get them out of the house. Go. Don’t be hanging around here just in case I can’t contain this in a room’.”
Gareth told Harsh Reality he was flown over from Glasgow for the final days of filming on the 2004 Sky series.
He claimed crew members felt guilty about conning the competitors and thought it would all kick off when she told them her secret.
But Gareth said telly bosses thought it would all be fine and planned to give him just five minutes with the boys before they all supped champagne together.
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Gareth said: “My heart sank a little bit.
“I remember just thinking ‘you have no f**cking idea what is going to kick off here. I think it might take a little bit longer than five minutes'.”
Gareth spoke to Miriam before the finale and was stunned because she thought the series might have led to a real love affair.
The plan was for her to sail off into the sunset with the winner, who picked up £10,000, but nothing went to plan.
He said: “She genuinely thought this could go well and she could go on this yacht and it would be lovely.
“I felt sorry for her. I knew for a fact she was going to get rejected.”
The show led to a legal battle and payouts for the raging contestants but was eventually a ratings smash for Sky.
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Miriam appeared on Big Brother in Australia but disappeared from the public eye before she died in Mexico in 2019.
You can listen to the podcast here: https://wondery.com/shows/the-story-of-miriam-rivera/
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