Sorrow over apparent suicide of participant in RTÉ reality show

RTÉ bosses have expressed their sorrow following the apparent suicide of one of the participants in a reality tv show co-produced by the broadcaster.

British teenager Carina Stephenson was among the “settlers” who took part with the Hurley family from Dublin and three other families from Britain and Australia in the programme, The Colony.

The fly-on-the wall series, which followed the fortunes of modern day families left in the Australian bush with nothing but the tools and rations that were issued to settler families in New South Wales 200 years ago, was jointly funded by RTÉ, an Australian production company, SBS, and the History Channel.