Jerry Springer hosted the infamous The Jerry Springer Show from 1991 to 2018, so you know he's seen some things.
During an exclusive interview with OK!, the 77-year-old opened up about the most shocking thing he witnessed during the series' 27 seasons — and it's likely even more bizarre than you imagined.
As the Judge Jerry star tells it, before each episode, the TV vet was given a card with names of the guests and no background of their stories in order for the cameras to capture a genuine reaction.
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"So on this one show, I get the card, and the guest's first name is Bob, so I say, 'Let's welcome Bob!'" Springer recalls. "Bob is about a 45, 50-year-old man and he's sitting on the stage in a chair right in the middle and says, 'I'm having trouble with the neighbors,' so I ask, 'Well, what's the problem?'"
"[Bob responds] 'They don't seem to like my wife', I said, 'What's wrong with your wife?' Bob says, 'Ah nothing, she’s very nice, she's quiet, she keeps to herself,'" Springer explains, admitting that in the moment, he thought to himself, 'Well, this is boring, this is going nowhere.' "So, I look at the next name, Pixel, so I imagine that's his wife, so, OK, 'I tell you what, why don’t we meet her, here is Pixel!' — and out comes this horse."
"My reaction is the same of what I would think any normal person's would be: My God, poor Pixel fell off her horse. So I said, 'Stop the cameras! Is she OK?" the Baggage On The Road host continued. "You know, I thought she fell off the horse backstage, and my executive producer off to the side is yelling to me, 'No, that’s his wife!' I'm like, 'What, that’s his wife?!'"
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According to the camera people who visited Bob's Missouri home, the man had extra-wide hallways because the horse lived with him: "The [neighbors] knew he had married his horse, they'd been married for about three years."
It was clear to those in the audience that day that Bob and Pixel...shared a connection. "Whenever I stood between Bob, who was sitting in the chair, and Pixel the horse, the horse would nudge me out of the way because Pixel always wanted to be in the line of site with Bob," Springer says, "so there was really something going on between them. That was the most shocking show I ever did."
Nowadays, The Jerry Springer Show exists only in re-runs, but the iconic TV personality — who practiced law for 15 years before his start in showbiz — still deals with crazy characters on Judge Jerry, his arbitration-based reality court show. The third season will feature cases concerning Patricia "Tan Mom" Krentcil, journalist Michael Musto, comedienne Rachel Feinstein, viral sensation Antoine Dodson, and an array of reality stars and TikTok stars.
There is one main difference between The Jerry Springer Show and Judge Jerry, says Springer: "This show has a consequences!"
The third season of Judge Jerry returns Monday, September 13.
