Despite the mounting legal troubles facing embattled Dancehall superstar, Vybz Kartel, a producer of the deejay’s reality series, Teacha’s Pet believes those problems have only enhance the show’s stock.
Internationally acclaimed director Jason “Jay Will” Williams intimates that Teacha’s Pet benefits from the current drama surrounding Kartel, the program’s centerpiece. Since his initial arrest on September 29 in New Kingston, Kartel was slapped with a drug charge as well as two murder charges stemming from separate incidents this past summer.
Following Kartel’s first murder charge on October 3, telecommunication outlet, LIME, pulled their sponsorship from Teacha’s Pet just two episodes in due to the negative connotations and seriousness associated with the allegations against the deejay.
However, the main carrier of Teacha’s Pet, CVM TV, decided to continue broadcasting the reality series following a plethora of fan requests to keep the show on air. Now, Jay Will, one of the show’s producers, believes Kartel’s legal problems added an unprecedented aura to Teacha’s Pet; making it one of the highest rated Jamaican programs ever.
“In my opinion Vybz Kartel’s incarceration probably has boosted the controversy of the show especially internationally. People have heard about it and searched for him on the Internet and are running into Teacha’s Pet,”Williams told the Jamaica STAR.
“We have 29,000 active users on our Facebook page daily asking about what’s going on. People are logging on and interested, the girls are stars. People are sitting down every Thursday night waiting on the sneak peek of the show for the next night to see what’s going to happen. It’s the new thing on a Friday night, nobody nah go a road anymore, everybody a watch Teacha’s Pet,”Williams insisted.
As a result of the program’s popularity, a Teacha’s Pet reunion episode will hit the airwaves shortly after the conclusion of the series’ 13 episodes at the end of December. In said reunion show, the 19 girls who vied for Vybz Kartel’s heart will return to share their experiences on set and with the deejay during their times together. The winner chosen amongst the 19 girls spent time with Kartel shortly before his arrest and the two have spoken since the deejay’s incarceration.
Two of the girls, who appeared on Teacha’s Pet, K-Shoya aka “Brooklyn”, and Lola Mack, are also capitalizing of the reality show’s success. K-Shoya’s done a rap single entitled PG’d Up while Lola Mack featured on a collaborative single with dancer turned deejay, Chi Ching Ching for the song, Best Friend Party.
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