Gayle Haggard: Why We Went on Celebrity Wife Swap
What happens when you mix ministry leaders like Ted and Gayle Haggard—a couple who survived a very public church scandal—with eccentric actor Gary Busey and his fiancé Steffanie Sampson? You get the newest spin on reality T.V.—Celebrity Wife Swap.
Ted and Gayle Haggard are no strangers to spotlight and scandal. They weathered their share of media scrutiny when Ted was accused of paying a male prostitute for sex and meth in 2006, but Gayle says they’ve come through the horrific experience better for it. She also sees their recovery as an opportunity to share the message of the Gospel through any door God opens, and the most recent door just happens to be a show called Celebrity Wife Swap.
When I spoke with Gayle, we discussed their decision to appear on the show, the issue of “celebrity” church leaders, the money, and what it was like to be Gary Busey’s reality-show wife for a week. The answers she shared might just surprise you.
It’s been five years since the scandal—what’s life like today for the Haggards?
In your opinion, do you believe Ted is a healthy church leader today?
After the scandal, I didn’t know for sure that Ted was going to re-enter any type of leadership position; however, I was close at hand, and I watched his journey. I know the man before and during the scandal, and I watched him afterwards. I’ve also known many, many highly respected leaders, and I’ve watched their struggles, and I’ve watched them do things that I find far graver offenses against the body of Christ. Yet, they continue to be highly respected. I don’t point fingers or judge them. I just think it’s human nature, and we’ve got to get away from thinking it’s about our own righteousness.
I think my husband has earned a place of leadership again by how he responded to his weaknesses. Even though people have continued to judge and scrutinize him, they haven’t done it knowledgeably. I think the people who go to St. James church have validated that. For those who say he has not lived a life above reproach, I would just say who has?
How did you end up on a show called Celebrity Wife Swap — seriously?
We talk with Gayle about the decision to appear on the show, handling critics, and what it was like to be Gary Busey’s wife for a week.
We turned them down three times because it wasn’t in keeping with what we felt our life’s calling was. Then when they came back to us, we explained to them that we really don’t want to put ourselves out there for further scrutiny, so we again told them no. But they came back again, and the third time, they explained to us what Celebrity Wife Swap is all about. It’s a little different than the show Wife Swap. They’ve been doing Celebrity Wife Swap in Europe for some time now, and its purpose is letting people experience what it would be like to walk a mile in someone’s shoes and to see what another family’s life and values are like and to bring our own values into that situation. Even though we said no—the third time, we really started to think about the potential in the show and saw the possibilities. We knew the risks, and we knew that we could receive all types of judgment, but we finally settled on the fact that we are willing to do whatever it takes to present the Gospel in whatever way God opens the door for us. We knew there would be those who didn’t understand, but we thought, what do we have to lose with this — other than our reputations? which, as you know, have already suffered.
What we have to recognize in the body of Christ is that we are losing ground in a huge way in the United States, and even though there are some wonderful churches that are strong, by and large, we are not making an impact in the cities we live in. So we have to be willing to go outside our comfort zones and what’s familiar to us and reach out to people and be relevant. The show Celebrity Wife Swap receives somewhere between 8 and, they’re telling us, possibly 22 million viewers—that far exceeds what we are able to do on our Christian programming.
So Ted and I, not willingly at first, have been forced to think outside the box. Now, we are really seeing God move in the most amazing ways in these different venues even though we receive a lot of criticism, and there are people who do not understand what we’re doing. We’re also receiving tremendous responses from people who tell us that our faith has inspired their faith. Ultimately, we have to trust God even though this is a different way of expressing our faith.
I would not have volunteered for this path but I’m grateful everyday for what God has done as a result. In Proverbs, it says that the godly will fall seven times and get up again. It’s the wicked that are overcome by one stumble.
Some people may watch the show and think that you and Ted are chasing after celebrity—or you’re doing it for the money. How do you respond to that criticism?
We laughed at the thought that they even considered us celebrities. There are the famous, and then there are the infamous. We recognize that fact; however, we know we’re in good company because we know that Jesus numbered himself with the transgressors. We know that the heroes of our faith are those who stumbled and fell and got back up again.
Because we are walking this out on a public stage doesn’t mean that we see ourselves as big celebrities or somehow made famous through all of this. We would much rather lead quiet lives and not have all the criticism and not have our children go through what they’ve gone through. It’s almost comical when people say we do this for notoriety or for the fame or to earn money because none of that is true. It’s all extremely uncomfortable and embarrassing, but we see the bigger picture so were not going to let our sense of shame and fear keep us from doing what the Lord has called us to do all along—and that is to spread his grace, to spread his love.
They did pay us, but it’s all very minimal. I don’t know that I’m at liberty to say the amount. The money actually went to St. James church because we really care about this new body developing strength and being able to be a part of what we call the war for the Gospel. So that money went to the church and not us.
What was it like to be Gary Busey’s reality-show wife for a week?
My time with Gary Busey was remarkable. Gary is, of course, a very interesting person, and I highly respect him. He grew up in a Christian home and is a professing believer. He went through a horrific motorcycle accident in the 80s where he suffered a brain injury and is still suffering the effects. I had hoped to really show him as much love and respect as I could on the show.
Do you think the show was a success? Did it accomplish what you hoped?
Ted and I sincerely took the opportunity to represent the Gospel the best we could, and we knew we were taking the risk because we’re not part of the editing process. Even though it’s not everything that we would have shaped it to be—we’re really believing that God will use it to bring hope to people.
source:Reality TV will have another proud moment Tuesday night when disgraced pastor Ted Haggard and unstable one-time Oscar nominee Gary Busey trade spouses for ABC's "Celebrity Wife Swap." To promote their appearance on the show, Busey and Haggard appeared via satellite earlier in the day on Fox's "Good Day LA."
"Steve, do you remember the last time we talked?" Busey started the interview, then recalling for host Steve Edwards the interview they had after Busey's Oscar nomination in 1979. "You were very much a gentleman and very nice to me, and I've never forgotten that moment. You inspired me."
It's unlikely Busey will have such warm memories of this interview.
What followed was an awkward nine minutes of live TV that featured Haggard engaging in a contentious discussion of gay marriage with Jillian Reynolds, a virtually ignored Busey seemingly amusing himself in the monitor off camera, and a series of pauses caused by some kind of audio lag that seemed to affect only Busey.
Haggard seemed put off by the intro, in which Edwards described Haggard's scandal involving a male prostitute who claimed to have had sex with Haggard (which Haggard denied) and doing drugs with him (which Haggard admitted to). The scandal led to Haggard resigning as pastor at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs and as head of the National Assn. of Evangelicals. Amazingly, he's remained married for the past five years and he's willing to let his wife spend a week with Gary Busey.
Shortly after the introduction, Haggard turned to Busey and commented, "That was a jumbled group of facts they had."
The rest of the interview is worth watching for Busey's facial expressions and occasional asides and for his reaction to Edwards' concluding suggestion that he say, "Amen!"
Chances are that ABC's "Celebrity Wife Swap" episode will be slicker and probably less entertaining than Tuesday morning's chat.
As for the wives who actually did the swapping? Barely discussed. source:
No comments:
Post a Comment