The Swan tell-all doc uncovered a shocking revelation about how Dr. Randal Haworth staged a nude photo shoot with the contestants that never saw the light of day.
During Hulu’s The Swan: Behind the Mirror, which premiered on Tuesday, September 29, several former contestants reflected on their complicated history with Fox’s controversial 2004 reality series that transformed everyday women through extensive plastic surgery.
“There was really nobody on set or on the team that protected us,” Amy Williams said. “We might have all had different outcomes, but we’ve all been through the same thing.”
Williams recalled a confusing interaction when she and several other contestants were brought into Haworth’s office.
“The production team said, ‘We’re gonna take some pictures,’” she said in a confessional. “They brought us into the garage of his office, and it was set up with a white backdrop and all these lights. I was like, ‘OK, this is just what he does. But why is there a photographer here? And why is there rock ‘n’ roll music playing?’”
In her own interview, Jennifer Patten described feeling “so nervous.”
“There is a room with five or six guys,” she explained. “I’m like, ‘I can’t do this. I’m gonna leave. I can’t do this. No way. That is way out of my comfort zone.’”
Kari Bravata had the same experience, saying, “We were totally nude. So many lights on you and feeling the heat of the lights and just feeling like — at this point — any dignity that I did have was totally gone.”
She continued: “I remember the photographer being on a stool and looking down and us saying, ‘I don’t want to do this. I can’t do this.’ And it was like, ‘If you don’t do this, you go home.’”
Director Erin Lee Carr tried to clarify whether it was specifically said to the contestants that they would be eliminated if they didn’t participate. While Bravata didn’t remember, she did recall pressure — especially since “no one that was part of production” was in the room when the photo shoot took place.
“Our cameras were not there,” Bravata said while questioning the legitimacy of the shoot in real time. “See, that makes me question it.”
Haworth, now 65, was then asked for his clarification on the situation.
“I do [remember that]. Thank you for reminding me. I was working with Dahlen, who’s a top photographer — he worked with Madonna. We asked the girls if they would want to do before-and-afters,” he claimed. “I spoke with [show creator] Nely [Galán], and [it was] for a big coffee-table book that never saw the light of day.”
Haworth smiled at various points while answering questions about the concerning shoot.
“I still have those pictures. It was an art project, and I kind of forgot about that,” he noted before being asked whether “everybody was asked for their consent” to be photographed. “Oh, yeah. But again, it never saw the light of day.”
Williams, however, said “that’s not what we were told” when it came to how the contestants were “approached” about being photographed nude. Bravata, meanwhile, admitted her opinion of Haworth changed after realizing how involved he was in the offscreen project.
“I got to back up a little because what’s weird to me is I could sit here right now knowing I did this photo shoot that didn’t add up to me,” she explained. “It didn’t make sense. It’s almost like I removed him from that photo shoot to focus on this doctor that had my back. But if he needed nude photos of us, why didn’t we have the little underwear on? Why were they not still shot in his office like every other patient?”
She concluded: “I don’t think I’ve thought about it. I don’t think I let myself ever really think about it because it just feels disgusting.”
Haworth continued to defend his involvement.
“I remember it was going to be black photos and it was against the green screen and it was very, super artsy,” he added. “Not even a question of … not even a question. I would never do [something] like … that. Yeah.”
The Swan: Behind the Mirror is currently streaming on Hulu.
