The Swan contestant rules from 20 years ago are something else. The women who joined the 2004 reality show had to follow strict diets, intense workout schedules and even avoid seeing themselves in mirrors while undergoing months of physical and emotional transformation.
The Swan contestants agreed to strict diets, intense workouts and months without seeing themselves in mirrors
The extreme conditions are now being revisited in Hulu’s documentary ‘The Swan: Behind the Mirror’. The film looks back at the series, which put 16 women through plastic surgery, dieting and life coaching over three months before bringing them together for a surprise competition.
In an exclusive clip shared with PEOPLE, former contestants take turns reading the rules they were given when they arrived. Among them was a requirement to cut themselves off from family and friends and follow the program created by the show’s experts.
The rules stated, “I will be solely responsible for ensuring my time here is a success. I will not see my family or friends.” It further read, “I will follow the plan provided by the Swan team of experts. I will go to therapy once a week.”
The contestants also agreed to maintain a strict diet and exercise six days a week, sometimes twice a day. They were additionally told not to look at themselves in a mirror so they could concentrate on their “internal transformation.”
The Swan ran for two seasons from 2003 to 2004. After their transformations, the contestants were paired up to compare their results. The selected women then competed in a live beauty pageant, with one ultimately crowned “The Swan.”
More than two decades later, the documentary brings former contestants and members of the production team together to examine the reality behind the series. The trailer suggests that the experience was far more complicated than what viewers saw on screen.
“What the show started out as and what it ended up as were completely different,” one production member says. One contestant adds, “I don’t think we knew the nightmare we signed up for.”
The Swan: Behind the Mirror will premiere on Sept. 29 on Hulu.
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