‘I didn’t expect it at all.’ Phenix City family to be featured on Lifetime’s ‘Supernanny’
She already has read nasty comments from online haters who have viewed one of the promos, but this U.S. Army wife and Phenix City mother of four still insists she doesn’t regret opening her family’s privacy to the world via a reality TV show episode that will debut Wednesday night.
That’s because, she said, the lessons they learned and the experience they will cherish are more important.
Maria Corry and her husband, Ben, and daughters Lily, Blakely, Tenly and Taylor, ages 1-8, are the featured family in the Jan. 8 edition of “Supernanny” being broadcast at 10 p.m. EST on the Lifetime cable channel — and then available indefinitely on the Internet.
As she prepared for the watch party her family will host for about a dozen friends, Maria told the Ledger-Enquirer, “Life is chaotic. I did not expect it to be like this. We’re seeing a little bit of criticism now that the promos have come out. … It’s just random comments here and there, just being nasty.”
But the high school sweethearts from Seminole, Florida, understand the show’s producers edit the teases for dramatic effect to entice viewers. Even they haven’t seen a preview, so they hope the show’s full hour will depict their family in a more balanced way.
“I’m just kind of eager to see the episode myself and see how it all turned out, what they put together,” said Ben, 28, a sergeant based at Fort Benning.
The anticipation is a mix of nervousness and excitement.
“It’s a very vulnerable time,” said Maria, 27, a homemaker with a family-event photography business on the side. “We’re airing — literally — our dirty laundry.”
How and why on the show
Maria, a fan of reality TV shows, saw on Facebook early last year an ad looking for families to appear on “Wife Swap.”
“I thought that would be the funniest experience,” she said.
But she found out she didn’t qualify as an Alabama resident because of a licensing reason. But the talent agent also represented other shows and told Maria that she would be a good candidate for “Supernanny.”
Maria applied.
“I thought it would be cool,” she said. “When I’m with the kids by myself, it’s stressful, so I thought maybe I would get some knowledge out of this.”
Ben agreed, despite his reservations, because he wanted to support his wife.
“I kind of thought it was a little extreme,” he said. “I didn’t think it was going to happen. So when it started moving forward, I was still kind of in disbelief.”
Within a few days, Maria was selected for a Skype interview. A few weeks later, one of the show’s representatives called her and said, “We love your family.”
They were accepted.
“I was shocked,” she said. “I didn’t expect it at all.”
The filming
Cameras continuously recorded them throughout their house — in every room except the bathrooms — 24/7 for nearly two weeks in July, Maria said.
“I’d catch myself dancing or something and be like, ‘Oh, my God. I’m on camera. This is so embarrassing,’” she said.
As many as two dozen crew members were in the house at the same time. Jo Frost, the Supernanny, was in the house for only three days — but she made a positive impact with her tough love, Maria said.
“It wasn’t easy,” she said. “… If she sees something, she’ll call you out. She doesn’t sugarcoat anything. So she made me cry a decent amount.”
Yes, their contract calls for an undisclosed compensation fee to be on the show, Maria said, but giving up their privacy was tougher than she thought it would be.
“It was really cool,” she said, “but it was just very stressful. … There were a lot of times I laughed, but I’m pretty sure I cried more.”
They had to keep the filming a secret, as much as possible, but neighbors in the tight-knit Orchard Hills subdivision made that difficult.
“I just told them we were doing a documentary,” Maria said.
One neighbor recognized Frost and posted a photo declaring, “Nanny Jo is at my neighbor’s house now.”
And someone commented, “Oh, gosh. I feel bad for your neighbor. Her kids must be scary.”
What they learned
Now, she is grateful for Frost teaching her parenting lessons she is committed to using. Among them:
- Create a routine and stick with it — especially naptime.
- Take time to take care of herself, so she is better able to take care of her kids.
- Spend more time alone with her husband and without the kids.
- Broaden socializing with friends beyond electronic devices and meet in person more often.
“She brought me out of my comfort zone,” Maria said. “She also helped Ben take on the work of a mom. She showed him what I do. … She’s really passionate about what she does. It isn’t all just TV.”
In fact, since the filming, Frost has called her twice to check on her, Maria said.
“She genuinely cares about her families,” Maria said. “She didn’t have to do that at all.”
Dealing with postpartum depression and the absence of Ben for months at a time, which she discusses during the episode, Maria has struggled to handle four children by herself.
“I was so quick to just get mad and snippy with the kids,” she said. “I would get so triggered over the stupidest stuff. She really made me think before I discipline the kids.”
Maria posted a photo of her and Ben during their post-Christmas cruise — without the kids — and Frost commented, “Finally. Glad you guys followed through.”
Maria also wanted this experience to form a wonderful memory for her children to savor after they grow up.
“It’s really cool because they’ll be able to watch this when they’re older,” she said.
Maria also is grateful for the opportunity to share her postpartum depression with such a large audience.
“I could be saving another woman’s life,” she said.
