Two unscripted dramas starring Shattucks unfolded in sync this week.
Molly Shattuck was on Secret Millionaire just hours after Mayo Shattuck took Warren Buffett to Divorce Court.
Life is full of strange coincidences, but none stranger than this: On the same day that the Constellation Energy CEO broke it off with a billionaire, his wife was on national TV bonding with the poor.
Even the stars of these separate dramas were surprised by the convergence that made for an All in the Family teaser for Fox 45's 10 p.m. news.
"The Constellation deal takes a whole new turn and" - in a related story, the promo failed to note - "we talk to Maryland's Secret Millionaire."
"You couldn't have scripted this," Molly said by phone yesterday. "If you tried to plan this, it never would have worked. ... Mayo did say something pretty funny. 'Well, I figured you're going to get all the attention. I figured I needed to get some.' "
Molly was aware that things were brewing at the company. (She was sworn to secrecy, she says, so hold the SEC complaints.) But she thought all that would be wrapped up before her turn came on the Fox reality show.
"Things were building over the weekend. I know all this is happening and I think, 'There's no way this can all converge on Wednesday.' "
Sure enough, Mayo rebuffed Buffett on Wednesday just as Molly was promoting that night's show on live radio.
"I did 12 radio interviews in a row yesterday. And so I'm in the middle of these things. And you know how they queue you up for the next one? And I looked down on my BlackBerry, and I can see it flashing red. And it's Mayo."
He was messaging her with news that it was a done deal. An undone deal, really.
A big victory in the eyes of the Shattucks and most analysts because the company was sprung from a shotgun wedding. But Molly would have to wait to celebrate.
"I had, like, nine more [interviews] to do. I quickly put it out of my head and focused on what I was doing."
Presumably, Mayo was able to focus on his work, too, though he did make sure to get home by showtime at 8 p.m. - an early night for him lately.
On the program, rich people live incognito and on minimum wage in poor communities for a week, then give away at least $100,000 of their own money to someone there.
Molly worked in a grocery store and waited tables in Shenandoah, Pa., where she ultimately helped a woman who takes in lots of foster children, a young widow with kids and a tumbledown house, and a beauty salon owner who runs a food bank.
