August 22, 2007
VH1's reality series Flavor of Love: Charm School ended in July, but the show's influence remains strong, as exemplified by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hall County in Gainesville, Georgia. The youth organizations have adapted the goals of the series into two of their existing programs: the Gentlemen of the School of Charm--aka, Boys 2 Men--and Smart Girls in the World of Charm School. The programs are aimed to facilitate group work, teach the young men and women proper etiquette and manners, and promote all around self-improvement.
"We have changed the names of the programs, but they really are Smart Girls and Passport to Manhood, which are National Boys and Girls Club programs," unit director Derrick Caldwell said. "We are always trying to find out different ways to do things. These programs have been here for years, but we are coming up with our own creative ideas and at the same time try to implement the value and the importance that the programs have to offer."
August 14, 2007
Being part of a reality series means having some or even all of one's most intimate secrets revealed to the world, and the painful experience was enough to make former Flavor of Love finalist Leilene Ondrade seriously consider turning down an offer to appear in another reality series, Flavor of Love: Charm School.
"When producers called and asked me to be on Charm School, at first I was like ‘Oh, hell no!'" Ondrade recalled to AsianWeek. "To be honest, I really didn't want to do it."
July 31, 2007
Larissa "Bootz" Aurora, famed for participating on Charm School and Flavor of Love, has set the record straight regarding her continuous dispute with Charm School host Mo'Nique.
“The only thing I can say about Mo'Nique is that she doesn't see everything that goes on in the house, but our strained relationship was another reason I left...and let's be clear, I left the show, I didn't get eliminated,” Aurora told Essence.com.
July 16, 2007
For nearly three months, comedienne Mo’nique served as the “Headmistress” of VH1’s Flavor of Love: Charm School, a reality series that featured 13 of the rudest participants from the first two seasons of Flavor of Love. Mo’nique was joined by pageant coordinator Keith Lewis and Essence magazine editor Mikki Taylor, both of whom served as “Deans” on the show. The aim of Charm School was to turn the wild nicknamed bunch into a group of well-mannered ladies.
Each week, the three celebrity judges introduced the girls to a particular Charm School commandment, after which the girls were subjected to a corresponding challenge. The girl who showed the least improvement was expelled by the end of the episode. By the season finale, only four girls remained: Shay “Buckeey” Johnson, Becky “Buckwild” Johnston, Leilene “Smiley” Ondrade and Saaphyri Windsor. The last commandment they were made to master was called "Thou Shalt Be Fully Fabulous."