Baylen Dupree brings a selfless side to reality TV.
TLC’s Baylen Out Loud, which premiered this year, chronicles the life of 22-year-old Dupree.
While she initially rose to fame through TikTok videos, she was never the typical Gen Z fan who posts hilarious trends and dance moves.
Duprée suffers from Tourette syndrome, and her symptoms include loud outbursts of speech and vulgar language due to coprophagia. While these symptoms can sometimes cause a stir in Dupree’s hometown of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, they’ve become commonplace for her millions of social media followers and, now, the wider TLC audience.
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“I feel like the show has given me a much more complete and holistic understanding of Tourette’s and my life,” she said. “It’s opened up a much wider space for people to spread awareness or educate.”
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“A lot of people have reached out to me, and that’s great,”
she said.
The stories on the show often have more depth. At Chipotle, someone came up to me and said, “My wife has been waiting for a story like yours for 10 years.
She teaches special needs kids.
I teach behavioral therapy.
We see people being treated differently every day.”
We’re living it, we’re seeing it, and you’re making a difference. ”
What makes Baylen Out Loud so compelling is Dupree’s determination to live a full and meaningful life despite all the challenges she’s faced. Viewers will learn about her extended family – including her parents and five siblings – and her love story with boyfriend (now fiancé!) Colin Dooley.
Seeing Dupree’s loved ones overcome small challenges – like a crime on a shopping trip – and ultimately decide how to live with Dooley as their relationships deepen shows their empathy for each other. But it’s not all serious, as the series’ best moments include loving moments between Dupree and Dooley, as well as the inevitable arguments between the siblings and parents.
Despite their love for each other, the focus of “Baylen Out Loud” is a real family – and not everyone is ready to watch prime-time programming at first.
“We all sat down and took some time to “make my brothers and sisters understand that this is for the greater good,” she said. “This serves a purpose that is bigger and better than ourselves.” ”
As for the second season, which TLC has already ordered, Dupree said wedding planning will be a major part. However, she hopes to gain a better understanding of her condition and further educate viewers.
“I’ll have more public speaking opportunities, as well as new medications, different therapies and treatments that I’ll be researching,” she said. “There will be people on the site with Tourette syndrome that you either already know, don’t know, or are new to. ”
While Dupree has certainly made progress in showing the community her life struggles with Tourette and Coprolalia, she is quick to point out that there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of raising cultural awareness of the disorder.
“Right now, everyone should be more aware of this,” she said. “This is just one case of Tourette, and there are millions of others. I’m just one person with this disorder, but there are millions of others around the world. “I hope this leads to better understanding, but every case is different. I feel like there is a lot more to be done.”
