Late yesterday, Cityfile.com reported that Camille Hughes, the headband-wearing Blair Waldorf–wannabe of Bravo’s NYC Prep, would not be continuing this fall at the Nightingale Bamford School. It was reported months ago that the school was displeased with her participation in the reality series. But according to Cityfile, it wasn’t that the school kicked her out. According to a Nightingale rep, they were “expecting her back this fall” — though some school-community members whispered that she was politely asked not to return — but her family decided to send her instead to the Professional Children’s School. PCS is a place that claims to be dedicated to offering “an academic, college preparatory education to students who are preparing for, or already pursuing, careers in the performing arts, entertainment, or competitive sports, or who are drawn to a creative environment supportive of the arts.” Which is sort of like catering to reality stars, but hopefully the main goal is a bit loftier.
A rep for PCS told us that they don’t comment on their students, but that attendance there doesn’t necessarily rule out a student’s chances to gain admission to a school like Harvard, Camille’s dream destination. “We’re a college-preparatory school with an academic program that prepares our students for admittance to the most competitive schools in the universe,” spokesman John Tucker told us. They do not, he laughed, have a “reality-television program.”
Bravo, likewise, would not tell us whether Camille had switched schools or whether they felt guilty that they may have had a role in her decision to switch out of one of the city’s most elite prep institutions. (They also still won’t say if there will even be another season of the show.) Gawker seems to think that Camille was kicked out, but we think that if this story is true, then there might just be a simpler explanation. When you star in a reality show whose producers do their best to make you look like a nerdy shrew who can never choose the right color of lipstick, you might just come to realize that returning to your uptight school might not be that fun in the end. This is just conjecture, but if we were Camille, we might think it was easier to find comfort among kids who are constantly auditioning to be on TV rather than kids who were brought up being taught that reality television is the height of vulgarity. Even though her elite school is what gave her so much pride in the first season of NYC Prep.
Either way, being on the reality show, and attending PCS, very well might end up hurting Camille’s chances of getting into Harvard. But considering that the school accepts only about 7 percent of its applicants, this all may just add up to an excellent, comforting excuse as to why Tufts ends up being the school for Camille in the end.
