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The Colony reality TV star dies
By Owen Gibson
Liz Minchin
May 24, 2005

The psychological effect of reality TV shows will come under review after it emerged that a girl, 17, who committed suicide last week had appeared in an Australian series, The Colony.

Carina Stephenson, from Yorkshire in England, was found by police near her home on Saturday. She had said she was going for a bike ride on Thursday morning. She was later reported missing. Her death is not being treated as suspicious.

Due to screen in Britain in two weeks, but broadcast here on SBS earlier this year, the six-week "living history" series re-creates the lives of convicts and settlers in Australia 200 years ago. It may now be pulled off air by Britain's History Channel.

The teenager's death has shocked those who worked with her on The Colony, including producer Chris Hilton.

Responding to speculation in the British media that her suicide may have been prompted by the imminent screening of The Colony in the UK, Mr Hilton said she had seemed happy about her involvement with the show.

This year, Najai Turpin, a contestant in the US reality show The Contender, shot himself weeks before the series was to be screened.

In Sweden's Expedition: Robinson in 1997, one of the earliest reality shows, Sinisa Savija, 34, committed suicide after becoming the first contestant to be voted off the show before it aired.

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