Doobie Doo
Veteran
I was an ‘out of control’ teen on the ‘Maury’ show 25 years ago — it helped me turn my life around
BySocial Links forAsia Grace
Published June 12, 2024, 12:31 p.m. ET
Comments
Sex, cigarettes and sneaking out all colored Kristen White’s adolescence in the late 1990s.
Scolds from older sister Noelle didn’t inspire the then-high school sophomore to fix up her act. Pleas from her cancer-stricken mother, Toni, fell on deaf ears.
A wayward White — who behaved badly sans fear of retribution due to her mom’s failing health — even once threatened her family with a knife.
White, now 40, describes her former self as “defiant,” saying she often misbehaved due to her mother’s sickness.Phelan M. Ebenhack for N.Y.Post
But a 1999 appearance on the “Maury” show finally scared the then-16-year-old Jersey girl straight.
“I got booed by the audience, drill sergeants screamed in my face, and I then was taken away to boot camp,” White, now 40, told The Post.
“It was a scary experience,” she continued. “But it gave me the wake-up call I needed.”
And 25 years later, the televised intervention continues to have an indelible impact on White’s life — as well as on social media.
White often smoked, drank, had sex and snuck out of the house during her wild teen years in the late ’90s.The Maury Show/Facebook
White at age 16.Courtesy Kristen White
As the Y2K renaissance roars on, seeing Gen Zs and Gen Alphas rediscover 2000s fashions and fads, snippets of shows from the early aughts are also enjoying a second act online.
Freshly exhumed footage of Tyra Banks reprimanding “America’s Next Top Model” contestants, hot takes on Ross and Rachel’s will-they-won’t-they “Friends” romance, questionable clips from family dramas like “Touched by an Angel” and “7th Heaven” — each has recently resurfaced to viral acclaim.
And throwback moments from “Maury” are top-trending, too.
White’s decades-old appearance on “Maury” has recently reached viral heights on TikTok and Facebook.The Maury Show/Facebook
Helmed by host Maury Povich, now 85 — and filmed in Midtown during its first 18 seasons — the daytime talk show dazzled audiences for 31 seasons from 1991 until the Emmy winner’s retirement in 2022.
It was a must-see, mid-morning show that millennials and older faithfully watched during sick days, when they stayed home from school or work.
Jaws dropped at episodes featuring unruly teens, like White, wantonly defying their parents. Waves of shock hit viewers when Povich famously declared “You are not the father” to maybe-dads seeking DNA paternity tests.In its heyday, the real-life stories of show guests served as an amuse-bouche for the reality TV blowout that would erupt in the 2010s.
“I am so proud of what the ‘Maury’ show has done in turning people’s lives around,” Povich recently told The Post.
“The reason we did the out-of-control teen segments was an effort to change these young people’s lives — many times the shows were successful.
“The same can be said for the DNA segments,” added the legend. “Many of the fathers, who at first denied the child, entered those children’s lives after a positive result.”
Povich told The Post: “The reason we did the out-of-control teen segments was an effort to change these young people’s lives. Many times the shows were successful.”Getty Images
Povich believes his work has helped improve the lives of show guests over the years,AP
However, Casie Greer, a Texas mother of triplets, didn’t have such good luck.
She appeared on “Maury” in 2008 after her ex-boyfriend, Casey, denied siring their then-2-year-old trio comprised of two daughters and one son.
And despite Povich’s “You are the father” proclamation, Greer claims her ex hasn’t contributed much to the rearing of their tribe, now age 17.