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TOM LEONARD: How Alec Baldwin's redemption roadshow turned into an excruciating TV car crash

Take one world-weary and cuddly famous dad and one glamorous younger mum, and marinate with the joyous bedlam of life with their seven adorable young children.

Even allowing for their vast egos, what could have possessed the couple, chorused critics, to think they could get away with such self-serving puffery – portraying the cantankerous and faded star as a lovable family man – amid the fallout from the tragic 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the western Rust? She certainly comes across as the show’s driving force in the first episode – appropriately titled ‘Along Came Hilaria’ – of the eight-part reality series, frequently taking centre-stage as her heavy-set and, at times, dishevelled husband bumbles around in the background, occasionally mugging with over-egged exasperation for the cameras. However, after enduring years of mockery for her bizarre Spanish act, Hilaria arguably has as much to gain as her husband from shamelessly flattering reality TV that promotes her as a cosy, caring mother rather than the pushy narcissist she’s often accused of being.

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