The murder-suicide of Jasmine Fiore and Ryan Jenkins is forcing VH1 to tone down its reality-TV programming, insiders say.
On Aug. 23, Jenkins, 32, a finalist on VH1’s “Megan Wants a Millionaire” and a contestant on “I Love Money: 3,” was found dead in a motel in Canada. Police said Jenkins — who had been wanted in California on charges of killing Fiore, his wife, on Aug. 15 — had hanged himself.
Now a television insider tells Page Six that since the tragedies, “VH1 has been rethinking and reshaping their shows. They plan to scale back on some of the formats that helped launch their network into reality fame.” VH1 had already pulled “Megan Wants a Millionaire” from the schedule, and “I Love Money: 3” never aired.
Viewers once tuned to VH1 for music videos but, just like its sister channel MTV, in recent years it has become better known for its reality programming.
Unlike MTV, Bravo, or E! — which often build shows around celebrities — VH1 casts outrageous characters for dating-competition programs like “Flavor of Love,” “I Love New York,” and “The Pick-Up Artist.” Our insider said the murder-suicide “completely rocked” the network.
“They are freaking out,” our source said. “It’s bad for their image to continue casting crazy characters. Producers realize the whole reality-TV thing has gotten completely out of hand. Two of their shows featured a murderer.”
The source told us, “VH1 is going to chill on the crazies for a bit. They’ll definitely still create reality-TV programs, but they’ll be more selective. Expect to see more real celebrities and fewer random people looking for fame.”
A rep for VH1 did not return calls.