In_Touch_Weekly_June_5_2017

Victorian Slum House:
entury Ghetto’
Modern-day Brits
face the harsh realities
of the past in an
eye-opening show
channeled her Victorian-era forebears with her
husband and kids for the three-week experiment.
Here, participants, who worked 12- to 15-hour days
to buy food and pay weekly rents (they would’ve
been forced to reside in homeless lodgings if they
couldn’t square up!), talk to In Touch about the
“vile” sleeping conditions, life without technology
and what it’s really like to use an outhouse.
MAIN: PBS. INSETS: R/R (4)
MANDY
OWARTH, 48
AMILY BUSINESS:
Mandy’s husband,
ssell, and their kids,
ebecca and James,
all worked as tailors
(Russell currently
owns a tailoring
business). “We woke
up with the birds and
went to sleep when
we literally couldn’t
sew anymore,”
she says.
LIVING QUARTERS:
The family of four
shared a bedroom
in a cramped
apartment. “It was
filthy,” she says of
the space, which
cost roughly
$20 a week.
A SIMPLER TIME:
Participants gave up
all tech gadgets for
filming. “So we talked
and sang songs,” says
Mandy. “It was
amazing to spend time
together without any
modern distractions.”
TUNE IN! Victorian Slum House airs Tuesdays
at8p.m.onPBS.Alsoavailableondemand.
WIEBKE
BIRD, 47
HUNGER GAMES:
Hearty meals were tough
to come by while on the
show. “Breakfast and
lunch were a slice of
bread with butter, dinner
usually a stew with
potatoes, cabbage and
onions,” says the
electronics firm exec.
“Most of us lost at least
10 pounds.”
STYLE: Participants
wore authentic period
costumes, including
“bloomers, stockings,
a chemise, two big
underskirts, a corset,
a heavy dress and old
leather boots,” says
, who ran the
ocal shop.
PERSONAL
HYGIENE:
There were no
showers; the
cast would heat
water on coal
toves and use it
r sponge baths.
hen I got home,
ok the longest,
t shower ever.”
INTOUCHWEEKLY.COM 61