Soon after the bombshell news of actress Lori Loughlin’s alleged involvement in a nationwide college bribery scheme that led to her daughters’ acceptance at the University of Southern California, word of another cheating scandal reportedly involving her youngest daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli, 19, surfaced.
Game show rigged to depict daughter as winner
In 2016, Olivia Jade was a contestant on a television game show that was played for charity, Cosmopolitan Magazine reported.
Verizon (“Can you hear me now?”) had a mobile phone channel, which is now defunct, and a show entitled “Tap That Awesome App,” according to the Daily Mail (UK).
Her participation on the show, hosted by Hunter March, was not the problem. Rigging the episode that presented her as the winner is an epic no-no.
Marissa Rachel, a social influencer like Olivia Jade, was the actual winner of the episode, which also included Rydel Lynch, an actress and singer, according to media outlets. The show’s premise was trivia with a $5,000 prize up for grabs and earmarked for charity.
Live audience applauded contestant seen winning
Though a live audience and crew saw Rachel win, Cosmopolitan reported that “studio execs” intervened and “made producers” tape a re-take, depicting Loughlin’s daughter as the winning contestant during the final questions. In its exclusive report, the Daily Mail stated that the publication “obtained screenshots.” The images show a 25-point spread between Marissa Rachel and Olivia Jade, who was “trailing.”
The report by the Daily Mail cited a “production source,” who stated that Rachel won the first round of pop culture questions the host presented to the contestants. She was also “declared the winner” by the host. The audience applauded but studio executives emerged on the show’s set.
According to the source, the crew was told to “film again” to “show Olivia as the winner.”
Confusion created by execs decision to show Olivia Jade winning
The decision to re-tape created a feeling of confusion for everyone. Rachel reportedly stated that she “already won” and left AwesomenessTV’s Los Angeles studio “visibly upset.,” according to the Daily Mail.
The show’s executives claimed that there was an error in “scoring” and said Olivia Jade won. During the re-shoot, Rachel and Rydel were told not to use their buzzers, which allowed Olivia to “answer and win,” Daily Mail reported. The audience was “instructed” to applaud her.
Game outcome with re-do ‘didn’t seem right’
Cosmopolitan pointed out that Rachel said that she does not have “anything against” Loughlin’s daughter.
The events that happened on the game show, however, “just didn’t seem right.” She assured that she “definitely won by a significant amount.” She described feeling embarrassed about giving wrong answers after she was told to do so for the re-take.
Rachel, who was playing for the American Red Cross, said she was “disappointed” since her charity would not receive “the full $5,000,” according to the Daily Mail. She recalled feeling upset, declining when she was later contacted with a written invitation to participate as a contestant during the second season.
Be sure to follow Blasting News for updates and for the latest information. In recent news, as well, Netflix fired Lori Loughlin from Fuller House.