14 DAY TRIAL // Chances that TLC’s reality show “Jon & Kate Plus 8” actually makes it through another season are slim to none, nay-sayers whisper on the Internet. Audiences have been dropping and are expected to go even lower than they are now, to the point that the network will have to make a drastic decision to overturn things their way. One such decision would be to cut Jon loose, which is already under consideration with TLC execs, Radar Online says.
However, nothing in this sense has yet been set in stone, but steps in that direction have already been taken, Radar claims, citing inside sources. For starters, Jon will no longer be allowed to endorse merchandise in front of the cameras, which means all the logos on his T-shirts, caps, shoes and everything else will be blurred out. This is, according to Radar, only a step to showing him that he no longer has the “benefits” he once enjoyed, with executives having already decided to cut him loose if ratings go below a critical threshold and continue the show with Kate and the children alone.
“TLC is also extremely unhappy with their Ed Hardy-loving star, sources tell RadarOnline exclusively. One result of that unhappiness is that the network has made a command decision to blur any brand logos that Jon wears on the show. Yes, right now that means Ed Hardy shirts. The network blurred the shirt logos last week and high-level executives have now decided to make it a policy.” Radar writes.
According to the e-zine, as in life, here too someone must pick a side and stick to it, so TLC seems to have picked Kate’s. What with ratings not looking up, and the media and public more averse to Jon than to his former wife, it seems clear that the only way to make the show successful again is to have just one parent on it. This parent would be, in this case, Kate – but only if the situation continues to deteriorate, it is further being said.
“‘TLC feels like they are being used by Jon,’ said a source close to the situation. ‘They want to send him a message loud and clear.’ Jon is actively shopping for endorsement deals and has met with Ed Hardy several times, as has his 22-year-old girlfriend Hailey Glassman. ‘The relationship between Jon and the network has become very strained,’ the source told RadarOnline. […] And while they will never admit it publicly, there has been talk by some executive at TLC about following Kate’s lead and divorcing Jon.” the same report reads.