One high schooler's hopes for a fairytale prom has a supposedly nightmarish ending instead. Christina Pagliarolo, who was a guest on the Rachael Ray Show back in April 2011, has filed papers to sue the show, the network, and the personal trainer assigned to her to help shed major pounds in time for her senior prom.
Pagliarolo, who was 18 years old and weighed 260 lbs. at the time of the filming, initially approached the show with the goal of losing 70 pounds by her senior prom. She spoke on the show about how she had endured bullying because of her weight, and hoped that Ray could help turn her life around.
Two years later, however, the teen is alleging in a lawsuit filed Tuesday, April 16, that Ray and her colleagues were "grossly negligent, careless, reckless, wanton, and outrageous" in their conduct.
Among other accusations, she claims that the trainer yelled and screamed at her during their sessions "in a manner that caused Plaintiff to feel anxious, demeaned and threatened."
Pagliarolo highlights one incident in particular, in which her trainer, Eric Viskovicz, reportedly made her work out on a Stairmaster and "continually increased the speed" even though she begged him to stop. When she eventually fell off the machine, she was again "yelled and screamed" at.
The suit also details one instance in which Pagliarolo was "coerced" into taking a hike, and her "extraordinarily weak and painful" legs gave way, causing her to "fall in a manner causing serious injury to her legs."
Pagliarolo is seeking an unspecified amount in "punitive damages in an amount appropriate to punish and make an example of Defendants and each of them." She is including The Rachael Ray Show, CBS, and Viskovicz in her lawsuit.
"We haven't received this purported lawsuit but if it does materialize we will defend ourselves against it vigorously and fully expect to prevail," a rep for the show told Us Weekly.
