On the ruins of glory: the life of the heroes of the documentary project on the BBC channel collapsed to smithereens after filming

Fame does not always bring happiness, and this family is just such a case. Karen Wakefield and her husband Paul Dawson became famous after the story about the creation of their laundry "Wishy Washy" appeared in the BBC documentary series "People Like Us". After the end of the show, their lives rapidly went downhill.

What happened to the family after the end of filming — find out from our material.The couple, who became famous thanks to a controversial BBC documentary project, told how their lives were destroyed after filming the show. Karen Wakefield and Paul Dawson appeared on the screens in the program "People Like Us", where they founded a laundry. The program featured people hired specifically to create the appearance of an active and busy life in the area.The documentary project covered the lives of people in the poorest neighborhoods of Manchester. For a married couple and their two daughters who took part in it in 2014, the final was not at all rosy. In 2016, they lost their business after a two-year fight with a gas supplier over a controversial bill for its services.Karen says that time was the worst in their lives. The supplier company presented them with a debt and cut off the gas through the court. Without this, the laundry could not exist, but the family decided to fight for their business at all costs. During the two years of unsuccessful struggle for the laundry, they hired several lawyers, but in 2016 all resources were exhausted, and the couple had to give up.

They had to survive on benefits, but they had to wait 3.5 months before the first payment. The family had no money left even for food. The couple sold everything they could: jewelry, televisions, DVDs and their daughters' phones.

Constant stress has negatively affected the health of all family members. Paul's blood pressure rose, but he had to hold on to help his disabled wife, whose physical and moral condition had deteriorated significantly. One of the daughters left home and quarreled with her sister. She dreamed of becoming an actress, but was so overwhelmed by the attention the show attracted to their family that she began to avoid publicity. It got to the point that Karen started having suicidal thoughts. In addition, her father died suddenly that year.

Fame is like a drug: no matter how bitter the hangover, you want to get a new dose again and again. The euphoria of everyone's attention often ends in complete disappointment off-screen. But it seems that Karen and Paul are no longer afraid of this and they want to remain TV stars in the future.