Ricki Lake Guest Shares Their Experience of Getting on a ’90s Talk Show with Minimal Vetting
Ricki Lake on her self-titled talk show.
Credit: Columbia Tri-Star Television/Everett Collection
NEED TO KNOW
- A new documentary series, Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV, explores the rise of “Trash TV” and its impact on American culture.
- In the final episode, Sarah Bunting, a guest on a 1995 episode of Ricki Lake, recounts a far-fetched story she and a friend fabricated to appear on the show.
- Bunting claimed her boyfriend killed her friend’s dog, which she said was euthanized by a veterinarian.
How far would you go to get on TV? A former guest on the popular ’90s talk show Ricki Lake has revealed how she went to great lengths to secure a spot on the show.
In the last installment of Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV, a three-part documentary from ABC News Studios that aired on January 28, Sarah Bunting detailed the outrageous story she and a friend concocted to get on the national platform. Bunting appeared on the show in 1995.
“I didn’t really want to go on the show. I wasn’t a huge fan of the show. Friends of mine thought it was hilarious to make up some crazy story for the ‘I Have a Secret to Tell You’ episode,” said Bunting.
In this fabricated narrative, Bunting’s friend Kimberly asked her to take her sick dog to the vet for euthanasia. Instead, Bunting handed the dog over to her boyfriend, who allegedly struck the pet with his car, disposed of it in a lake, and then treated Bunting to dinner with the money he received for the task.
Ricki Lake on her self-titled talk show in 1993.
Everett Collection
“Here’s the thing you might not recognize when you’re watching these shows. The audience is on top of you. They’re like 4 feet away,” Bunting recalled. “As I’m telling this story, people are crying, and they’re all right there. So I thought, if I get caught now, I’m going to be set upon and torn apart, so I gotta sell this.”
Bunting added, “It’s hard to believe how little vetting was done.”
The documentary reveals that Ricki Lake developed a reputation for showcasing fabricated storylines over the years. According to producer Garth Ancier, “We really tried to not let them do that [fabricate stories], but it happened with increasing frequency as guests figured out a game. There’s definitely a part of society that wants their 15 minutes of fame. How else can you explain blatantly lying?”
Another producer, Halle Sherwin, remarked that while Ricki Lake had a fact-checking department, verifying personal stories proved challenging. “People are gonna get through,” she noted.
Ricki Lake on her self-titled talk show in 1993.
Everett Collection
Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV delves into the rise of ’90s “Trash TV” talk shows, where hosts vied for the most outrageous guests and storylines, often leading to violence.
Documentary figures, including Maury Povich, Montel Williams, Sally Jessy Raphael, and Leeza Gibbons, reflect on the cultural legacy and impact of their own successful shows.
The first episode examines the explosive popularity of the daytime format in the ‘90s, emphasizing themes of sex and conflict. The second episode discusses audience motivations, including why guests were willing to share intimate stories on-air. It also recounts a notable incident where one guest murdered another post-taping. The series finale highlights how The Jerry Springer Show escalated the sensationalism in daytime television.
All episodes of Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV are available for streaming.
