In this photo provided by Channel 4 on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2013, ‘White Dee’ featured in the show Benefits Street, poses for a promotional still. The stars of Britain’s most talked-about television show have a dubious claim to fame: They don’t work.By SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press
LONDON – It’s reality TV for austerity times.
A shoplifter, a recovering drug addict and a young couple barely able to feed their kids are among the stars of “Benefits Street” – a smash hit reality show featuring welfare recipients that has stirred up a storm of controversy in Britain.
The program zooms in on a rough Birmingham street where 9 out of 10 people are said to live off state payouts, chronicling over five episodes the lives of jobless neighbors as they struggle with their daily problems.