All About the Ratings: The New Cast Members of Storage Auction TV

Jenny Mary Storage Wars Texas

Although the absence of Lesa Lewis and Jerry Simpson from this season of Storage Wars: Texas has caused a lot of speculation, it's hard to ignore that they've been replaced by two rather attractive young women. In case that seems like a coincidence, the same phenomenon has occurred on another popular show, Spike TV's Auction Hunters.

Carolyn Gianelli Auction HuntersCarolyn – an attractive young blonde often seen in a low-cut shirt and short shorts – appeared in an earlier episode of Auction Hunters when she was seen bidding against Allen Haff. Later, Allen and Ton brought her on as their assistant for their Hawaii episode that aired on September 19. It seems fitting that an episode in Hawaii, which is generally portrayed as both glamorous and relaxed, should be the appropriate place to introduce a new character.

Little is available online about Carolyn, whose last name appears to be Giannelli. Based on her Facebook page – which boasts a modest 82 friends and seems to be mostly private – she's a self-employed Mt. SAC graduate living in Anaheim Hills, California. She's not listed on the show's IMDB page yet, but she'll be appearing in the next episode according to Spike's website. More than likely, she's due to be a new permanent staff member. Undoubtedly, as season unfolds, we'll learn more information about her.

It seems fairly transparent that her appearance on the program is an effort to attract more viewers and boost ratings. Spike TV, as a network, caters primarily to a male audience, and young female stars definitely don't hurt when it comes to connecting with that demographic. Since the Hawaii episode, many fans have been commenting on the site's Facebook fan page or asking the Internet in general about the “hot girl on Auction Hunters,” which underscores the motives of the producers.

It's not a surprise to know that attractive women have a positive impact on ratings. Even the Olympics benefited from good-looking athletes. It's one of the topics that people sometimes shy away from when considering Hollywood and television, but it's a pretty well-known phenomenon that female celebrities are expected to look a certain way. While viewers will cut old, overweight or generally unattractive men some slack, they're often pretty ruthless about female stars, sometimes even claiming that some people are “too ugly for TV.”

In many ways, reality TV has avoided this problem, and many fans have always found this to be refreshing. Seeing real people interact is, after all, the primary allure of reality TV. Unfortunately, networks seem to disagree, and more and more the human element is sidelined in favor of casting eye-candy for various roles. From the addition of Danielle Rainey and Olivia Black on Pawn Stars to the new arrivals of Jenny Grumbles and Mary Padian on Storage Wars: Texas, it's pretty clear that reality TV producers are casting with an eye toward good looks when they find female stars.

It hardly bears saying that pretty young women are not generally the norm in the storage auction world, where the work is generally dirty and tiring. This is one thing that fans particularly loved about Lesa Lewis – she was genuine and authentic, and absolutely the type of woman you're most likely to encounter when you step into a storage auction or resale business. Perhaps if fans demand more realism from their programming, a better balance can be struck to make reality TV more realistic.

18 CommentsLeave a comment

  • Its hard to ignore the truth that good looking people attract attention. She is definitely easy on the eye’s and makes watching that show that much more entertaining.

  • Travis lane, the pseudo writer that uses facebook and wikipedia to create informative factual articles, haha what a joke! Carolyn deserves better and so do I …

    • Well, I see that at least one deranged and obsessed fan has found this page.

      Actually, I didn’t write the article, a female journalist that we work with did. At the time the article was written, there was very little information information available on Carolyn Giannelli. As a matter of fact, the only information available was obtained from her Facebook page and from a few postings on Spike’s website. To my knowledge, she doesn’t have a Wikipedia page just yet, but that may change as she grows in popularity.

      We sent Carolyn a request for an interview after she indicated on her Facebook page that she might be willing to “offer us more accurate picture”. We are looking forward to her reply.

      It has always been our goal to create informative and factual articles and I believe that this article is just that. There is nothing untrue or slanderous in this piece, it just states the obvious. If the article has offended anyone, perhaps they have taken it out of context and need to read it again.

  • I hope they loose the girl. She does nothing to improve the show and she’s hot until she takes off those sunglasses. No thanks!

    • Amen! I know I’ll sound “jealous” because I don’t like her, but I don’t care. You’re right; she does nothing for the show at all! It seems Ton doesn’t want her around, either. I guess fake blonde hair and fake boobs can get women far these days, haha.

  • She is hot. I think the skinny dude is probably dating her but that’s just a guess. And from TV she seems so cool too.
    I’d definitely hit on her, ask her out to dinner and have a few laughs.

  • She is just too hot !
    She distracts me from the purpose of the show.

    She is too hot for the show and might not be taken seriously.

    • She definitely is. I mean I really liked watching the show before and now that she’s on, she has most of my focus. Especially that Hawaii episode.

  • The blonde brings nothing to the show for me. I preferred watching the two make their own bids and sell their merchandise.

  • Hate to be against hot chick, but she adds zero to the show. I think it’s a sign things are going down hill. Fake in more ways than one!!

  • i always wonder why ton and alan got rid of her for she is way easy on the eyes and she is way sexy she made the show a hell of lot better to watch since she isnt on the show i dont watch it much any more i’m not saying alan an ton arent cool it just that she made it interesting and was way easier on the eyes to watch and now with there auction hunter pawn the girl they have working in there shop and she calls herself big sis it looks like she better lay off the happy meals and big macs pls if you can and if she will bring carolyn back

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