Breaking Amish: Is TLC show fake?

• Doubts over honesty of show following lives of Amish in NYC
• Two cast members, Abe and Rebecca, 'have a child together'
• Kate 'submitted photos to modeling sites - even though she is portrayed as a technophobe and taking photos is against Amish beliefs'
• Jeremiah 'was out of the community for 14 years, is divorced with three kids'
  
• Sabrina 'is married and pictured wearing skimpy clothing'
• TLC: 'Some of the claims are true, some are not, but they will be addressed'
  

By Lydia Warren

PUBLISHED: 13:41 EST, 21 September 2012 | UPDATED: 04:23 EST, 22 September 2012

It may fall under the category of 'reality television', but there is apparently very little that's authentic about Breaking Amish.

After just two episodes, the TLC show has come under fire for deceiving viewers about the five Amish and Mennonite men and women it follows as they visit New York City for the first time.

While each cast member claims to have grown up in the strict communities, evidence has surfaced suggesting they have decidedly dark pasts - involving divorce, children and time away from the faith.

It comes in stark contrast to the naive characters portrayed on the show, who stare slack-jawed at Manhattan's towering buildings and pray as they travel by plane 'for the first time'.

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'Reality' TV? TLC's show Breaking Amish has come under fire for its false claims about its characters' pasts

TLC has previously admitted that Kate, who is billed as an Amish bishop's daughter and aspiring model, has been arrested for a DUI, but now new information paints an even more rebellious picture.

As revealed on a Facebook page, Breaking Amish the Truth, she has previously submitted images to modeling agencies - which is at odds with the Amish stance against photographs, believing they represent 'vanity' which they deem a sin.

Online records show that Kate posted a photograph on exploretalent.com to enter a Best Smile contest in 2010 - years before she claimed she gave up her Amish life to move to the city.

This internet savvy version of Kate is a far cry from an episode of Breaking Amish in which she is overwhelmed by new technology and struggles to work an elevator.

Aspiring model: A photo of Kate has been found online from a smiling contest in 2010

Questions: This is at odds with the persona she portrays on the show. Here, she struggles to work a lift

Two other cast members, Rebecca and Abe, are portrayed as meeting for the first time on the show - with a possible love match on the cards.

But a photograph apparently shows that the pair in fact already have a child together.

And while Abe claims in the program that he has never partied, police records - and a mug shot - reveal he was arrested for alcohol intoxication in a public place in 2008, when he was just 18.

Jeremiah, another cast member, was reportedly away from his Amish community for up to 14 years and is pictured on social networking sites surrounded by beer cans.

Public records also reveal that 32-year-old Jeremiah, who regularly swears on the show, is divorced and has three children - two daughters, aged seven and three, and a son, five.

Secret: A photograph on Facebook apparently shows two more cast members, Rebecca and Abe, with their baby - even though they 'meet for the first time' on the show

Nerves: On the show, Rebecca is seen praying as she takes the flight to New York City

The children live with their mother in Ohio. The couple married in 2005 and she filed for divorce in 2011, citing gross neglect of duty and incompatibility.

Brush with the law: A mug shot of Abe from 2008 after he was arrested for being drunk in public

'I've known him for years,' said Daniel Gingerich, who claims he lived with Jeremiah for a year and a half. 'I let him move in because he was living out of his truck and had no place else to go.'

In the show, he is seen leaving his girlfriend for New York but it is rare for Amish people to divorce so Jeremiah would unlikely have been accepted back into the community and have started a new relationship.

The final character, Sabrina, a 25-year-old from an Italian and Puerto Rico family who was adopted into the faith, is pictured on Facebook kissing a man while she wears skimpy clothing.

She was reportedly married in 2009 and has not been a practicing Mennonite for years, friends claim, suggesting this is not the 'first time' she has left the community.

The apparent betrayal by the creators of Breaking Amish is documented on a Facebook page, Breaking Amish the Truth, on which people who claim to know the cast have vented their anger.

Scores of people have also uploaded photographs showing the cast in their 'real' lives.

Mose Gingerich, a former Amish who appeared on a separate show, Amish in the City, lambasted the show for its dishonesty.

On the show: Jeremiah says he is desperate to break away from his Amish community on the show - but has reportedly already spent 14 years away

Past: Photographs from an old MySpace page show Jeremiah looking decidedly un-Amish

Wild: Pictures also show Jeremiah, left, surrounded by friends swigging from beer cans

'This show is doing exactly opposite of what I stand for,' he wrote on his blog. 'The fakeness of these characters supposedly just leaving the community, when in fact, they have been out for many years.

'The fact that they act like things like microwaves and iPhones are something strange, when indeed, they have owned them for years themselves, and the disrespect they show towards the Amish.

'I would never stoop to doing a show like this, and really wish no one else would have done it either.'

In response to the outrage, TLC has said it will address the revelations in time.

'There is a lot of information floating around about the group featured on Breaking Amish. Much of it is not true, but some of it is - and is addressed in upcoming episodes,' TLC told Variety.

'Our Amish and Mennonite producers that we hired introduced us to Amish and Mennonite men and women who were already determined to leave. They had already made the decision to go out and see the world, with or without us. They courageously allowed us to follow them on this journey.'

Half truths: Sabrina, a Mennonite, was reportedly married in 2009 - which is not mentioned on the show

Bewildered: On the show, the cast members are portrayed as naive and fearful of New York City

Despite these protestations, TLC has adjusted the description of the show on its website.

It was previously billed as 'four Amish and one Mennonite, breaking away from their faith and traveling to New York City for the first time'.

Now the TLC site explains: 'Breaking Amish offers an unprecedented look into a rarely seen world, following four Amish people and one Mennonite as they forgo horses and buggies for New York City's taxis and subways' - taking out any reference to 'first time' in New York City.

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