14 DAY TRIAL // Almost a month ago, the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson was caught on tape as she was asking for and taking bribe from a journalist disguised as a businessman trying to buy his way into the good graces of Ferguson’s ex, Prince Andrew, who acts as the UK Representative for Trade and Investment. She apologized for the behavior and even went on Oprah to say the episode could be attributed to alcohol abuse and financial problems – both hers and her close friend’s.
Strapped for cFash and looking for solutions at the bottom of the glass, the Duchess started to seriously consider accepting the offer for the reality show Celebrity Rehab, the same one that is now on indefinite production hiatus because it’s lacking stars. As she was about to decide in favor of doing the show, Ferguson was effectively barred from doing so by the Royal Family, the National Enquirer claims (story via Perez Hilton).
“Sarah was absolutely ready to do it, but received calls from both Prince Andrew and a representative of the Royal Family, threatening to cut off all ties with her if she appeared. Initially, she’d turned down the Celebrity Rehab offer, but when they sweetened the deal with an extra quarter of a million dollars, Sarah found it too enticing to reject,” an unnamed source says for the tabloid. Money, it would seem, served as the one incentive to convince her that she could risk angering the Royal Family.
However, when Prince Andrew himself, with whom the Duchess remains on incredibly good terms even after the divorce, called her to tell her not to further disgrace the family by doing the show, she realized the mistake she could have done. “Andrew laid down the law, ordering the mother of his children to end ALL negotiations immediately. In the end, Sarah decided the money just wasn’t worth all the trouble it was going to cause,” the same tipster explains.
Other celebrities that considered – or were at least rumored to be doing so – an appearance on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew Pinksy include Lindsay Lohan and Heather Locklear. Both were reportedly courted assiduously by VH1, and both turned down the offer because it would have implied admitting they had a problem in the first place.