Source: tvlistings.zap2it.com

Slowly but surely, reality television has dominated the airwaves, and we, viewers, have witnessed our fair share of relationships unfold and crumble under the sallow lights of television-fame. The constant exposure, desire to intrigue and need to create “authentic” moments often causes gigantic rifts between friendships and couples…even within iconic relationships. Jon & Kate, Britney Spears & Kevin Federline and Hulk & Linda Hogan have all fallen victim to the side effects of lime-light living, but they aren’t the only ones.

Diary Presents Brandy: Special Delivery: Brandy Norwood & Robert “Big Bert” Smith

usmagazine.com

The Grammy Award winning songstress, Brandy Norwood began her entertainment career as a 14-year old on the short-lived sitcom, “Thea” in 1993. Since, the actress/singer/dancer launched a successful singing career, which is where she has garnered the bulk of her success. While working on her third studio album, Full Moon, with Dark Child producer and composer Robert Smith, she became romantically involved with him, and eventually pregnant. In lieu of the pregnancy, the pop star and her “husband” decided to televise their love and home life on MTV’s Diary Presents Brandy: Special Delivery, where she documented the final months of pregnancy and birth of her daughter Sy’rai. Not long afterward, the two announced their separation, and later came clean about NEVER having been married in the first place. The nuptials were staged to help Brandy preserve her public image.

UPDATE: After 72 Days Of Marriage, Kim Kardashian To Finally File For Divorce

Kim Kardashian seemed to move on rather quickly from her five-year relationship with Reggie Bush when she married Kris Humphries a few weeks ago. It’s one thing to move on to a new serious relationship in a matter of months, and a totally different thing to tie the knot. Sure, it happens sometimes. But it certainly was quite a coincidence that Kim found her life long true love — in time to cash out to the tune of $17 million through the related television specials, photo sales and gifts. Or was it? Celebrity gossip impresario Necole Bitchie is reporting that the E! network actually arranged Kim’s marriage to Humphries in order to set the gravy train running. She reports on her blog that:

Now, sources are claiming, the whole relationship and marriage was arranged by E! and Kris Humphries wasn’t their first choice. In 2010, E! allegedly began searching New York City for a pro athlete that Kim could date while filming Kourtney and Kim Take On New York. A-lister such as Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter were already taken and NFL prospects were slim so the producers set their sights on the New York Knicks. An E! network rep allegedly approached New York Knicks forward Danilo Gallinari, and asked if he would be interested in going on a date with Kim for a featured segment on the show, but although Dan was interested in meeting Kim, he wasn’t interested in doing reality TV. They eventually approached New Jersey Nets player Kris Humphries who was down for the cause, and soon after Kim began to attend all of his games. As the first season of ‘Khloe and Lamar’ wrapped, it was announced that Kim would be getting married. The rest is ‘Hollywood Royal Wedding’ history.

Read the whole story on the Necole Bitchie blog.

In this day and age, this type of arranged marriage should not be too surprising. The Kardashian clan has made its fortune on the back of the overexposure of the most intimate aspects of Kim’s sex life, so it only makes sense that she would make something like marriage into a source of further enrichment. Plus, most people these days — especially young people — are ready, willing and able to do anything for money and fame, and reality TV is seen as the primary means towards achieving those ends.

Reality TV doesn’t take any talent, only ruthless ambition and the ability to share your personal life dramatically on camera. If you can — like Kris and Kim — engineer drama and intimacy at the request of a network like E! that is willing to pay, this is a deal that most people would take in a heartbeat. Shoot, if I knew I would make millions of dollars for marrying a decent-looking rich person on television, it would be kind of hard for me to refuse the offer. As half of marriages end in divorce anyway, what would be the harm in just trying it?

Of course, such thinking dashes many people’s romantic fantasies of union through marriage, but obviously that is not the only reason most people get married. Some people marry for true love, but marrying for money is also just as common. If you can, like Kim and Kris, marry and make money in the process, it is a very similar thing. If truly presented with such an “opportunity,” I have to say that I probably would not do it. But I don’t blame Kim and Kris for tying the knot for purely financial reasons.

What would you do?

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