MTV didn’t actually audition several contestants on the show. One contestant, Brooke Siegel, had her Chevy Cavalier pimped, ended up on the show cause she had a mutual friend with one of the producers. They only gave her the gig, because she agreed to act, she had to beg on camera to get her car pimped.
They gave her an entire fabricated backstory, saying she was a 22-year-old film fanatic. In reality, she was 25-year-olds at the time and working as a cocktail waitress.
New and Improved
Once their renovation project was done, the contestant could finally see their newly-improved wheels. The final episode aired in December 2007. If you can recall any of the episodes, you would remember just how ridiculous and, at the same time, incredible the transformations were.
But as we highlighted early on, a few of the youngsters that participated in the show have since revealed some shocking reports about their experiences.
Not Legal or Even Safe
There was a lot being planned so that they could create a good story for the thirty-minute episode. Everyone really wanted to believe that the show was real, without much manipulation. It's not realistic or practical to drive with a fully functioning aquarium in the back of your car, but people wanted to believe they would keep it regardless.
Unluckily, many of the show's upgrades were removed as soon as the show finished filming, either because they weren't street-legal or road-safe. Let's take a peek at some of the insane overhaulings that were done during the show...
MTV Used Staged Houses
Just as on MTV's show "Cribs," the contestants' houses weren't their actual homes, the same is true for the houses shot during the filming of "Pimp My Ride."
Brook Siegel revealed that when Xzibit showed up at her house to announce that she had been chosen for the show, they didn't even use her real home to film the scene.
A Tow Truck Had To Be Used
MTV had to get a Tow Truck on-call because so many of the cars that were featured on the show didn't actually work once they were finished filming. This was bound to happen as the cars were all very old and worn out, and the renovations were more focused on the exterior.
According to the executive producer, Larry Hochberg, a tow truck was kept on call to assist any of the contestants with cars after filming as many of them had problems starting.