It’s no secret some people will go to extreme measures all for a few minutes of fame on television. Most of us also know to suspend our take on what is true “reality” when watching reality shows. Still, one episode from the archives of The Dr. Phil Show persists as perhaps one of the silliest incidents of producers failing to do an adequate background check.
The story stretches back to May 2005, when twins Crystal and Jocelyn Potter appeared on an episode titled “Bad Influences.” The women claimed they were on the straight-and-narrow with respective jobs as a secretary and computer programmer. But “bad influence” Crystal said she was trying to convince Jocelyn to quit and follow her into a new career as a sex worker. As Dr. Phil told the audience, “Crystal says she wants to become a legal prostitute and, to make matters worse, she’s trying to convince Jocelyn to come along and be one, too.”
The problem was, the women already had a handful of XXX credits to their name, including some with Ron Jeremy. On top of that, Crystal allegedly even dated Dennis Hof, the owner of the infamous Nevada brothel where she said she wanted to go work. Speaking out to Radar Online recently about the inaccurate representation of the women, Hof said, “Face it, the show did not do as thorough a background check on the girls as they should have.”
Making the details on the episode even more comical (or tragic), Jocelyn said at one point, “The thought of having sex with multiple guys and, on top of that, having Crystal included, does not appeal to me one bit.” Yet, Radar notes that that is what the women did–as the “Virgo Twins” in films that showed “the hardest of hardcore sex.”
After the episode aired, viewers who were aware of the twins’ actual activities tried to set the record straight.
“Shocked by blatant lies and obviously fabricated life story I went to the message boards on drphil.com to reveal the truth about the twins. I sent several messages trying to be as polite as possible and give the good doctor a chance to explain himself and avoid further embarrassment,” one blogger said. “Was I ever naive! The board is moderated (read: censored) and none of my messages ever appeared on the site.”
The writer also captured screenshots that showed the Dr. Phil website replaced the risque photo they initially shared of the women with a more demure one after people started asking questions. Even Anne Bissell, author of Memoirs of a Sex Industry Survivor and fellow guest on that episode, said she felt duped. As she told Radar, “There is a fraud perpetrated on the viewers here.”
Despite it all, the Potter sisters went on to appear in yet another television show about their sexual exploits… And, of course, Dr. Phil’s show is still going strong more than 10 years later.
