wesleydurden

Tragic Twofer: Contestant on “The Next Great Baker” Eliminated, Revealed Dead

Wesley Durden, an Army paratrooper with baking skills, was a beloved character on the second season of TLC’s The Next Great Baker.

The 28-year-old was a recreational baker, a great contestant on the reality show and still active with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Or, so fans of the show thought.

Monday night’s show featured Durden being eliminated from the contest. But then in a cruel twist of fate, TLC subsequently broke the news to viewers that Durden had died back in October from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Whoa.

The Fort Bragg soldier, husband and father of two, had been deployed to Iraq from January 2007 to March 2008 and again from August 2009 to December 2009.

Naturally, people expressed their frustration of having the rug pulled out from under them on Twitter.

Pretty much all of the Twitter comments were a variation of shock, confusion and memorial.

There were many ways to handle this, but it’s not clear there was a way for TLC to handle this any better than it did. If you alert viewers to what happened either before Monday’s episode or when he committed suicide in October, producers risk sucking any dramatic heft away from the proceedings, or they run the same risk of being accused of leaking the tragic news for publicity. It’s a tricky balancing act, and there’s no rulebook for how to handle something this tragic.

All TLC could do was make a decision and hope it didn’t piss off a lot of people.

RELATED: You should also read this piece from HyperVocal partner IAVA called “Epidemic: Army National Guard Suicides Double in 2010“

(via shortformblog)

Comments (21) Write a comment

  1. R I P so sad to hear that… Prayers going out to his family. He was a good baker.

  3. I was just devastated to read the news of Wesleys death I liked him so much and will miss his smile I feel so bad for his family and also for Buddy he must have been horrified. My prayers go out to his children.

  4. I had known about his passing from the very first episode. Someone had posted it on Facebook and I googled it to see if it was true. I knew that TLC was going to only post it when he was eliminated from the show. So sad to read that it was actually true. May he rest in peace.

  5. Y DID HE SHOOT HIM SELF JUST BECAUSE HE WAS A BAD BAKER ON NEXT GREAT BAKER DOESN’T MEAN HE HAS TO SHOOT HIM SELF!!!!!!! R.I.P. YOU WESTLY DURDEN AND SORRY WIFE + CHILDREN OF WESTLY DURDEN!!!!!! :(

  9. you’re a moron. A> he wasn’t a bad baker.. being eliminted doesn’t make you “bad” at something. B> It’s far more likely that hsi time served in this fucked up military we’ve created is what had him on the edge – NOT elimination from a TV show.

  10. My heart goes out to his family, I am married to a Corporal in the US Marine Corp and I feel the loss for our country too. Rest in peace Wesley, we’re praying for your family.
    As for how TLC handled the tragedy, I think they handled it a very respectable manner.

  11. As a military wife I’ve seen the horrors our men and women endure. He most likely had much more going on than anyone realized and maybe this letdown was the last little push… I pray he is at peace.

  12. This is very sad news and a tragic end for a bright young life. He could have probably really done awesome work with enough experience.

    For all the idiots I keep seeing posting idiotic things like, “He must have killed himself because he got eliminated”: You should be smacked upside your idiot heads. The cause of suicide is depression and while something like a let-down on a show wouldn’t help his depression, it was not the cause. All I’m seeing is a bunch of people who don’t know a damned thing about depression or suicide and should really educate themselves before opening their mouths/touching a keyboard.

    He killed himself because he was ILL, not because he lost some ridiculous reality show contest. I like Buddy and Co, but ask yourself, would you end your own life over not winning a contest? No? That’s because you’re not depressed and suicidal. More than likely he had a LOT more going on in his head due to the multiple deployments he had to suffer through with the military.

    Check out bringchange2mind.org if you really want to educate yourself. Those of us who struggle with mental illness and the constant misinformation and stigma would really appreciate it.

  13. I remember the first season of The Contender had a boxer who was eliminated, and at the end of the show they just had a black screen with white writing informing the viewers that he’d killed himself after the show. There’s no good way of doing it, and it’s a sad situation for everybody involved.

  14. I’m sorry that he’s gone, I don’t think anyone deserves to die, but when you kill yourself, you are being the most selfish you possibly can. He had two kids under 10 and a wife. Watching him, I thought he was lazy. Now, I think he may have just been depressed. There are places to help overcome that. And I’m sorry to say, I feel bad for his family, but not him at all.

  15. My prayers remain with his family. I hope TLC has done something to help his wife and children out. Any kind of contribution to ease their grieving and lives would be an honorable act on their behalf. Thank you for your service and duty and sacrifice to your country Trooper. Spread your wings to God now.

  16. I hate to say it, but I agree with you. I’ve been there, and regardless of what you are thinking, suicide is never the answer. My heart goes out to the family he selfishly left behind.

  17. It’s always easy to judge when you’re on the outside of a situation. Ever consider having a mental disorder compromises ones ability to (consider “places to help”) or to think/feel clearly? Don’t just jump out and call it laziness and selfishness, without knowing the facts. Lumping all suicides into those categories is what I call lazy….

  18. Well I’m sure the TV show had something to do with it it probably gave him a strong thought of purpose and when he got eliminated it probably made him feel totally worthless and that mixed with killing people from war maybe was too much for him.

  19. i’m actually in shock, just watch the episodee i missed on last week and saw the annoucement at the end ….may his soul rest in piece…much love to the family

  20. He seemed so sweet. His bless his family and his soul. TLC I think should’ve done more in the memorial for Wesley maybe a few minutes of clips and scenes with only him….

  21. This is January 16th today & I JUST saw where he was eliminated off the show. This is so, so sad. I feel like it was bc of the military, I know what it can do to our men & women. But, at the same time…I believe this show was what maybe could have helped him, given him something positive to look forward to do/doing. AND…..I will say this, SHAME ON YOU “BUDDY” FOR LETTING HIM GO..HE WAS GREAT!!! YOU LET THAT CRAZY WOMAN STAY ON WHO TOTALLY DIS-RESPECTED EVERYONE & COULDN’T HANDLE “THE PRESSURE” & WENT TO THE HOSPITAL”…SHE DIDN’T HAVE HALF THE PROBLEM’S WESLEY HAD. WHAT HAPPEN’S IN THE DARK COMES OUT IN THE LIGHT….”BUDDY”. You should have made HER GO!! I personally have gotten to where I cannot stand the show, I can’t stand BUDDY’S ATTITUDE. When you fly a lil too high, you alway’s fall back down. I’d be changing my attitude if I were BUDDY…HE’S A SMARTASS….HE COULD END UP LOSING EVERYTHING TOO…KARMA IS REAL PPL!!!!!

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