"Eat, Drink, Love" castmember Kat Odell says it's TV editing — not unprofessional behavior — that's led to the firestorm of controversy over her portrayal on the Bravo foodie series.
One L.A. Weekly writer called the show "bad for women" and spent several paragraphs discussing an apparent lack of journalism ethics on the part of Odell, who's also an editor at Eater LA.
Odell tells TheWrap that the show doesn't air the full story.
"Going into an experience like this, you know it's television and it's edited," Odell told TheWrap. "This has definitely been a learning experience for me as far as what production is able to do in the edit. Yes, it's our life and these things do happen. It's a very odd experience."
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On the series, Odell published factual errors in an interview with co-star Waylynn Lucas, co-owner of Fonuts. Also, fellow cast member Brenda Urban (as well as footage of Odell on the series) suggests that Odell carried on romantic relationships with the chefs she wrote about.
"It's very misconstrued," Odell said. "My personality with men or women is the same. I like to make them feel like my friend. I also found that when you make someone feel comfortable, they're going to share more information. And, again, it's about getting information for Eater. I think that's what gets misconstrued on camera and by Brenda and everyone else."
Odell told TheWrap that viewers have also commented on Eater LA about her and the show in articles totally unrelated to the reality series.
"The site is not about me," Odell protested. "I'm not going to write about myself because it's weird and a conflict of interest. So, it's been a crazy experience overall."
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"Ultimately, Eater is an incredibly wildly successful site," she continued. "I've been there for over four years. When I started, it was about 300,000 hits. Now, we have two million. So, I think ultimately the numbers speak for themselves as far as people visiting the site, advertisers and people who want to work with us. You can create all you want on television, but the proof is in the pudding ultimately."
"Eat, Drink, Love" airs Thursdays at 10/9c.