But now, no less than former Miss America Vanessa Williams has come forward to criticize the show, and she's got some ugly things to say about "T&T's" treatment of its pretty little ladies ...
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In an upcoming episode of Anderson Cooper's "Anderson," the host asks the erstwhile "Desperate Housewives" star whether she thinks the kids are being pushed into appearing on the show, where they're often decked out in racy getups and made to perform suggestive numbers.
"I think they don't know what they are doing," Williams says. "But when the child is screaming and saying, 'I don't want to do this, I don't feel like doing it'-- when they are using special juice to get them hyped..."
"Go-go juice," Cooper chimes in, referring to a supposed mix of Mountain Dew and 7UP that parents serve the girls to get them all hyped up.
"Yeah, that's not my world," Williams continues, "and I would never have my kids do that."
Williams joins the growing chorus of "Toddlers & Tiaras" detractors. In March, JonBent's Ramsey's father, John Ramsey, called the show "very bizarre" and said he regretted letting his late daughter compete in child beauty pageants.