The Swan Director Erin Lee Carr on Reality TV's Cruelest Makeover

E460 - The Swan Director Erin Lee Carr on Reality TV's Cruelest Makeover

Published: October 1, 2026

Duration: 26:31

In 2004, thousands of women applied for a Fox reality show that promised to turn "ugly ducklings" into beauties. It was called The Swan. Contestants spent three months cut off from friends and family while undergoing cosmetic surgery and intense fitness regimens, and most had no idea a beauty pageant was waiting at the end. 

Now director Erin Lee Carr (Britney vs Spears, Mommy Dead and Dearest) revisits the show in the new Hulu documentary The Swan: Behind the Mirror. She joins H. Alan Scott on Newsweek's Parting Shot podcast to talk about what the show did to t...