MCDOWELL COUNTY, N.C.,None — The Lytle family is similar to many other families in McDowell County. They sit down for dinner, they make sure the kids have done their homework and they make time for activities that their children enjoy.
There's one thing different about this family though. They'll soon be on national television as part of the series "World's Strictest Parents."
After learning that the show was casting families for an upcoming season, the Lytles decided to take a chance and see if they had what it took to be on the popular show.
"The organization that I work with received an inquiry letter from the show's publicist, who was looking for families who had unique ways of disciplining their children," said Mark Lytle.
The show immediately became interested with the Lytles after finding out that the family provides equine-assisted therapy at the farm located near their home.
"I called the producer and she came out and shot footage of what we do on a day-to-day basis. Then in May they came and started preparing the house for production," said Becky Lytle.
Once production crews installed high wattage bulbs and made various changes to the house to make filming easier, the family then was introduced to the two troubled Australian teens that would be staying with them.
"Kai and Celeste caused all kinds of trouble during their first night here," said Mark. "They vandalized my sister's house and Becky had to send our youngest children to a friend's house because of their behavior."
A thorough search of the teens' belongings helped the Lytles remove some of the substances that caused the teens to act out.
"We searched their bags during their first night here. Mark found 12 bottles of alcohol in their belongings, along with cigarettes. Once those were taken away they settled down," said Becky.
As if dealing with these teens wasn't enough, the Lytles also had to worry about folks finding out about them filming the show.
"We had to take a caravan of people to every place we went while filming the show," said Mark "When we went to our anniversary dinner at Low Country, the staff had to sign forms stating that they wouldn't talk about the show or anything that went on during filming."
At the end of their experience, the Lytles and their children are grateful that they had a chance to make a difference in the two teens' lives.
"By the end of filming, the kids really became a part of our family. We still stay in touch with them through Facebook and both of them have really turned their lives around," said Mark. "During an upcoming business trip to Australia, they plan on visiting me."
The Lytle's episode of "World's Strictest Parents" will preview in Australia on Wednesday, Sept. 28 and in America in October. The show will premiere on CMT and rerun on MTV.
WSOC
