Naomi and Wynonna Judd — who have fa mously feuded for decades — are now at odds about how authentic their new reality TV series is.
In a conference call with reporters this week, Naomi, 64, let it slip that some scenes for the “The Judds,” which debuts April 10 on Oprah Winfrey’s cable network OWN, were actually scripted ahead of time — with disastrous results.
“There were a couple of setups that Bruce [Toms, the series’ executive producer] requested we do,” Naomi said. “Because we are both recovering people pleasers, we went along with him and they had horrible outcomes — yet they wound up on camera because we don’t get creative control.”
The admission, which was abruptly cut off by an OWN publicist, came moments after Wynonna pounded the table demanding “The Judds” not be referred to as a reality show.
Reality TV “is often scripted by a guy who steps in and says ‘Lets do this, let’s put more emphasis on this’ because they want to sensationalize,” she said.
Not so with the Judds reality series, Wynonna contends.
“They are following us around, they get what they get and then they edit it.”
It is hardly the first thing mother and daughter have disagreed on. But it was unusual for the stars of an upcoming show to squabble — at a press conference, no less — over the credibility of their own show.
The series goes behind-the-scenes of the country duo’s first concert tour in 10 years. It also shows the mother and daughter working through their stormy relationship in family therapy.
“I have been in a healing, recovering process since 2003,” Wynonna said. “The most important, sacred thing on the top of my list of priorities was to heal my relationship with my mother.”
The pair have been sorting out their disputes for more than a decade with the help of Dr. Ted Klontz.
“She thinks that I am super woman, that I know all the answers,” Naomi says. “She needs me so desperately that sometimes she resents me.
“No matter if we are doing the bent-over double belly laugh or if we are warm and cozy with a good fire watching a movie, I will always cast a shadow over her. And now I am aware of it and I want to affirm her and I want to try to understand her sensibilities towards me.”
But the six-episode series reveals there is still much work to be done.
“There is a scene in the show where I walk off set and I am so PO’d because of what mom has gone through and the cameras are rolling,” Wynonna says.
“I get back on her bus because I love her and the relationship is more important than the ratings.
“But I just want people to know that we agree to disagree on the show.”