Media dis&dat note: This reality show sounds like a horrible idea! Even worse than disability simulations by non-celebrities. In my opinion, fake disabilities are never a good idea.From The Press Association in the UK:
Heather Mills (pictured) has revealed plans for a reality TV show in which celebrities will live with a disability for a week.
The former wife of Beatle Sir Paul McCartney - who lost her left leg below the knee when she was hit by a motorcycle in 1993 - hopes the show will change people's perspectives of disabilities.
Mills, who was voted out of ITV1's Dancing On Ice at the weekend, said: "We've got a TV project in the pipeline which is challenging people's perception of disability, so if you think 'Oh well, it's not that difficult living one leg, or living in a wheelchair, or being partially sighted, or deaf, dumb or blind', then try it for a week."
She added: "We might put celebrities in that position and see how they cope. If it's Gordon Ramsay, shove him in a kitchen and see if he can cook for the restaurant if he's blindfolded, and have him live like that for a week."
The 42-year-old charity campaigner, who told how she has heard from "hundreds of thousands" of people who have been inspired by seeing her skate in the ITV reality TV show, despite her disability, hopes not just to inspire amputees, but able-bodied people to try new challenges as well.
She revealed she and professional skating partner Matt Evers hope teaching office workers to skate could help give them a boost during the recession.
Mills said: "We have also been asked by a company to do a motivational workshop day, because I do motivational speaking and Matt trains people. Then we can get the whole office out to boost them in these hard times. See what it's like to try and learn something and overcome something and have a motivational speech."
Mills said she did not take part in the show to change any negative perception people may have had of her, but she felt it was an added bonus that she was being seen in a positive light.
Mills said: "I didn't go on for that reason. It's been wonderful that everything's been so positive. I suppose I didn't go on, because I never had a public perception, or saw anything from the public that was negative, I only had support, and 'we're there for you'. What people were saying behind closed doors and not to me, yes that possibly was going on.
"But this show for me, to not be the first out, also renewed my confidence in people not to have tunnel vision, really having open minds to see people for who they truly are. So that was the added bonus and really helped obviously to keep us in for such a long time so that more and more people could see us skate together and try and overcome their adversities in life."
