Alina Makeyeva
Rumours were spreading that the filmmakers lacked the money to edit an episode of the popular Russian TV sitcom "My Beautiful Nanny," which has Vladimir Putin's look-alike meeting the main character, Vika Prutkovskaya.
Prior to the premiere of the sitcom's new season on channel CTC, the buzz and press reports on the plot had been that Vika, hired as a nanny, would move to a house in the elite Rublyovka neighbourhood of Moscow. Later she would go to a posh French ski resort in Kurshavel and meet Vladimir Putin, who is a known downhill skier. According to reports, a Putin look-alike was hired to film the episode - however, the photographs in the press showed Vika with a man that only vaguely resembled Mr Putin.
Surprisingly, with the new season's screenings near, the reports changed, claiming that producers lacked the money to film the episode amid the current economic crisis.
To find out more, we called the CTC press office. They claimed the producers had no intention to shoot the scene of Vika's encounter with Putin's look-alike. They did admit that all the stories and roomers with their detailed reports and pictures played into the filmmakers' hand. Any publicity serves to promote the series.
It's a shame, the length some celebrities will go to, to promote themselves. It is reminiscent of the boy who cried "Wolf!"
"My Beautiful Nanny" is screened Monday through Friday on channel CTC.