One of the contestants on late-night Fox Reality Channel show “Paradise Hotel 2” climbed up a tall phone tower and jumped to his death in an apparent suicide after being eliminated. Nathan Clutter, 26, died in what was described in Broadcasting and Cable magazine as a “climbing accident” on October 12, 2006. Police sources tell the Enquirer that an investigation determined that it was a suicide.

Reality TV turned into a deadly reality for a contestant on “Paradise Hotel 2” who committed suicide after being eliminated from the steamy reality show.

Nathan Clutter jumped to his death from a 100-foot-high cell phone tower, The Enquirer has learned exclusively. Clutter’s family told police investigators that he had recently been depressed – and officials ruled his death a suicide.

But a broadcasting industry magazine reported that the 26-year-old bachelor died in a “climbing accident” and the show’s producer, Fox Reality Channel, is airing episodes in which he appeared with no mention of his suicide.

“Paradise Hotel 2” follows the romantic entanglements of a group of attractive single men and women living together in a fancy Mexican resort.

Clutter, a sales manager from Phoenix, Arizona, made it through several episodes before being eliminated last September.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, March 17, 2008]

The guy was depressed before the show aired, and who knows if he would have taken his life if he wasn’t on that stupid reality show. You would think they would try and screen people properly to make sure they can handle the they way they’re forced into stupid situations and portrayed as stereotypes for the sake of cheap entertainment.

I fast-forwarded through the “webisodes” available on the Paradise Hotel 2 website, and the situations involve such riveting and original events as guys doing body shots off a chick in a little bikini, and a guy trying to convince a female contestant to give him a hand job. Those night vision sex scenes are so titillating.

The only time I saw this guy Nathan was in a group scene at the bar about half-way through the third webisode. The online episodes are mostly narrated by the grating host, who fills us in on who hooked up and fought with whom and all the stupid details like some chick rubbing her face in another woman’s breasts. From what I could tell Nathan didn’t figure it any of the hookups or problems between contestants as he was barely mentioned. He seems to have wisely kept a low profile on the show.

People generally know what they’re getting into as a reality show contestant, but it does seem like they’re incredibly manipulated and used for those shows, and it must be difficult to deal with if you’re already depressed. Many of them willingly make asses of themselves, but others might just be trying to further careers or get some money or exposure. The producers should do both a thorough psychological screening as well as arrange for exit counseling for the contestants, but it’s doubtful they did either in this instance.

The Paradise Hotel 2 website has a brief mention of Nathan’s death under his bio. It reads:

As Paradise Hotel 2 comes to air, we are saddened by the loss of Nathan Clutter, who passed away on October 12 of last year. The cast and crew, as well as Mentorn Productions and the entire Fox Reality Channel and MyNetworkTV families, join Nathan’s loved ones in mourning his loss and we hope that they are able to find some comfort in knowing that he touched everyone he encountered with his thougtfulness and decency.

I wonder if Fox Reality Channel executives had a wreath sent to his funeral.