UPN to dump Manhunt?

UPN is considering dumping reality series Manhunt, amid claims that producers tried to rig the show's outcome.

Several scenes from the show were reshot in a Los Angeles park, after "disappointing" shoots in Hawaii earlier this year.

UPN and Paramount yesterday issued a joint statement saying: "We have not supported and would not support persons or practices designed to manipulate the outcome of the show."

Robert Jaffe, show producer, said: "The public deserves to know that what you're saying is real is real."

Explaining the decision to reshoot several scenes, he added: "Their concern and their belief was that there had not been enough conflict between the contestants. They brought in palm trees to make it look like they were in the jungle.

"My relationship ended in mid-March, and it had just reached a point where they wanted me to do a number of things I didn't want to do. They wanted to make it into a fictitious representation of what might have occurred."

Contestant Jacqueline Kelly said: "I feel like I was used. I didn't sign on to do a fictional show. I signed on to do a reality show. I never would have participated if it wasn't a reality show. I never had a chance to play a fair game."

UPN is now considering either dropping the show completely, or informing viewers that some scenes had been reshot.

Jaffe concluded: "I've never seen anything like it before, and I hope to never see it again. I have a great concern for what the public is being sold, and the ramifications for this are really frightening."