The home renovation show, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” gave a family a 3,900-square-foot home in North Carolina back in 2012 to house two adults and their adopted children, but now, according to the U.K. Daily Mail, the adopted children have been kicked out of the home.
The parents, Devonda and James Friday, already had two children they were caring for and were chosen to be on the show shortly after they adopted five more young siblings to keep them from being separated into different foster homes.
After 3,000 volunteers worked to renovate the Fridays’ home into a space suitable for a large family, the two oldest siblings, Kamaya and Chris Friday — now 19 and 20 years old, respectively — claimed that their adopted parents kicked them out not long after the show aired, according to WSOC-TV.
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The three younger adopted siblings are reportedly also out of the Fridays’ home and are thought to be residing with separate families.
Chris told WSOC-TV: “I felt like they were my mom and dad. I loved them like they were my real parents. I did.” He added, “What they did to us was just wrong. (They) threw us all out.”
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“My brother and sister were five years old. How can they get that much trouble where they have to kick them out?” Chris asked.
“I know it was all about the money. From the first day, it was all about the money,” Chris said of the Fridays, who have taken in 30 children over the years, according to the Daily Mail.
Chris and Kamaya claimed they were sent to group homes within months of each other because of “bad attitudes” but that they were told the move would only be temporary. The two also claimed that within just a year after filming commenced, their younger siblings were removed from the home.
James Friday has spoken out about the allegations and said, “Listen, no one kicked Chris or Kamaya out of the home.” He claimed that he could not comment about the three younger siblings because of the involvement of the Department of Social Services.
In addition to the renovated home, the Fridays’ nonprofit charity, House of Hope, was given assistance by the show. The charity’s store, which was created by the show, was in the Lincolnton shopping center but is reportedly now empty.
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According to Chris, before the show his adopted mother drove a minivan, but after filming,she traded up to a Mercedes-Benz.
This is certainly a sad story all around, and while it’s hard to say for sure what happened (although it doesn’t look good), it’s unfortunate no matter how you look at it.
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