Sex, cigarettes and sneaking out all colored Kristen White’s adolescence in the late 1990s. Scolds from older sister Noelle didn’t inspire the then-high school sophomore to fix up her act. Pleas from her cancer-stricken mother, Toni, fell on deaf ears.
A wayward White — who behaved badly sans fear of retribution due to her mom’s failing health — even once threatened her family with a knife. But a 1999 appearance on the “Maury” show finally scared the then-16-year-old Jersey girl straight. “I got booed by the audience, drill sergeants screamed in my face, and I then was taken away to boot camp,” White, now 40, told The Post.
“It was a scary experience,” she continued. “But it gave me the wake-up call I needed.” And 25 years later, the televised intervention continues to have an indelible impact on White’s life — as well as on social media.
As the Y2K renaissance roars on, seeing Gen Zs and Gen Alphas rediscover 2000s fashions and fads , snippets of shows from the early aughts are also enjoying a second act online. Freshly exhumed footage of Tyra Banks reprimanding “America’s Next Top Model” contestants , hot takes on Ross and Rachel’s will-they-won’t-they “Friends” romance , questionable clips from family dramas like “Touched by an Angel” and “7th Heaven” — each has recently resurfaced to viral acclaim. And throwback moments from “Maury” are top-trending, too.
Helmed by host Maury Povich, now 85 — and filmed in Midtow.