This is kinda sweet, but… isn't he just going to go back to living with his horrible, petty family? 🫤 And now Dad probably has a grudge against him for "humiliating the family on TV" or whatever.

Hopefully he has the good sense to escape again.

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From the article:

Michael only lasted a month in the program before running away to stay with his best friend, where he said finally felt free for the first time in his life.

He might still be there?

A lot of these tv judges (can't speak for this one specifically) are actual arbitrators. The deal that people get for being on the show is that they can avoid a costly court battle and the arbitration process is paid for by the network in exchange for the whole thing being televised. They are also contractually obligated to drop their legal claims and accept the ruling of the arbitrator (tv judge).

So even if these are hammed up and cut a certain way to make them more enticing to a tv audience, the disputes, involved parties, and rulings are actually real.