Nannies take on sizable family

Dave Brooks

Television producers for the popular Fox show “Nanny 911” taped their

season finale in Huntington Beach last week.

About 60 crew members, producers and nannies took over a small

cul-de-sac in southeast Huntington Beach to document the life of the

nationally known Silcock family.

The episode is scheduled to air at 8 p.m. May 16 on Fox. Network

executives are planning a robust promotional campaign for the

episode, which will air during TV sweeps week. Entertainment news

shows “Extra!” and “Entertainment Tonight” were granted access to the

tapings and plan to preview the show in coming weeks.

“Nanny 911” normally sends its famous trio of nannies into problem

homes to help rein in poorly behaved children, but the season finale

taped in Huntington Beach will have the nannies attempting to care

for the 24 disabled boys adopted by Ann Belles and her disabled

husband James Silcock, both age 42.

The Silcocks have been featured in dozens of national media

reports, from USA Today to “Good Morning America.” They’re famous for

legally adopting disabled boys and raising them in their suburban

home. All boys adopted by the couple carry the Silcock last name and

most attend public schools and local sports programs.

Their nine-bedroom home is run with pinpoint precision; a staff of

14 paid and volunteer adults coordinate a busy schedule of meals,

baths and medical support. The couple have taken in children from all

over the world including Romania, Estonia and Russia, but many of the

boys were born in California. Money to run and renovate the home,

Silcock said, comes from Social Security, the Adopted Assistance

Program, Medi-Cal and Medicaid.

Belles was inspired to be an adoptive mom after seeing the movie

classic “Oliver” as a child. Belles was unavailable to comment, but

in a 2003 interview with the Independent, she said: “Doing something

like adoption, being a foster parent, really is a lifestyle. For Jim

and I, it is a lifestyle that is very, very rewarding.”

Fox producers are trying to keep the details of the show under

wraps, but the basic premise of the episode differs from the typical

Nanny 911 show. Instead of sending the nannies to a dysfunctional

family, the famous sitters will be charged with a caring for a

relatively healthy family, albeit a very large healthy family.

“All three nannies participated in the taping of the show because

of the extraordinary circumstances of the family,” Fox spokesperson

Jill Hudson said.

During the taping, Belles and Silcock vacationed in an undisclosed

location while the nannies took a stab at caring for the large

family.

“The parents have never been away by themselves,” Hudson said.

Crews were on site taping the show from March 26 to April 5 and

paid the city nearly $4,000 in fees, according to their film permit.

Neighbor Heidi Clements, 24, said the taping seemed to go pretty

smoothly, although “parking was horrible,” she said.

“I actually saw several of the nannies when I was outside,” she

said. “It was pretty cool, because I had just finished watching the

episode on TV, and there they were, sitting in a car. One of them

waved back at me.”