Besides the fake reactions, which we can only expect from reality TV, the timelines of the episodes were also deceptive. From watching the show, we might have thought that the vehicles were in the shop for about a weekend, but the vehicles were usually in the warehouse for several months.
This led to additional issues for the contestants as they had to finance a rental car for themselves until MTV reimbursed them for it sometime later.
They Had To Fake Their Reactions
Of course, there were other issues behind the scenes that we, as viewers, never got to see. Glazier and Dearinger both recalled that the show didn't approve of their initial responses upon seeing their new and improved vehicles.
The participants had to shoot multiple shots and act more enthusiastic for the camera.
Intimidation
Glazier recalled her experience to HuffPost, "I remember it very clearly. Big Dane was a very big dude, and he put his arm around my shoulders, kind of walks me around for about ten minutes."
Glazier went on to say that his words were a bit scary, and what he said was, 'Listen, we put a lot of effort into this project. We expect that you would be a little more f****** enthusiastic.'"
Fake Back Stories
Moreover, Glazier and Dearinger claimed that certain aspects of their stories were embellished by the program for the sake of ratings. In Glazier's case, they had his car littered with cigarettes when he revealed that his grandma was a smoker.
As for Dearinger, the contestant who appeared on the sixth season, his vehicle was made to look much more wretched than it actually was before filming took place.
Fat Shaming
We could argue that Martino got the worst of it, as he elaborated on his experience on Reddit. "I know that I'm overweight," he admitted. "But the show made a big effort to make me appear like a lazy, fat person by telling the camera that I kept candy hidden in my car, making me look bad."
Then to make matters worse, the crew determined it might be a good idea to give him a cotton candy machine in his trunk!