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Couple Featured on ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ Allegedly Kick Five Adopted Kids Out of New Home

Two North Carolina parents who were featured on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition are being accused of kicking out their five adopted children after receiving the fancy new house. Watch the clip above to see them on the show.

Devonda and James Friday of Lincolnton, North Carolina, were awarded a gorgeous new home in 2011 — featuring eight bedrooms, brand-new appliances, a study area with a desk and computer for each kid and a rock-climbing wall — so their seven children would have more space. Five of the children, who are all biological siblings, had been adopted by the Fridays recently when the show was shot. In the episode, the couple say they have fostered more than 30 children throughout the years and run a nonprofit called House of Hope.

Devonda Friday James Friday Extreme Makeover Home Edition
James and Devonda Friday on ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.’

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“James and I are able to give our children all the love they need, but right now we can’t give our children the house that they need,” Devonda said in a clip from the now-defunct ABC show.

The father of seven added, “We’re at the point where all our resources are exhausted. We’re going to continue to love them and provide for them, but Extreme Makeover, we desperately need you.”

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However, one of the five kids, Chris Friday, told WSOC-TV that after the cameras stopped rolling, his parents completely changed. “I felt like they were my mom and dad. I loved them like they were my real parents. I did,” he told the local station. “What they did to us was just wrong. [They] threw us all out.”

Devonda Friday James Friday Extreme Makeover Home Edition
Devonda and James Friday on ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.’

Chris claimed that he was sent to a group home because of his bad attitude a few months after the Extreme Makeover home was completed, but he was told it was only temporary. His sister Kamaya Friday said she was sent to a different group home a few months after Chris and was also told that it wouldn’t be permanent.

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Within a year, all five adopted children had been sent away from the home, Chris and Kamaya say. “My brother and sisters were 5 years old. How can they get that much trouble where they have to kick them out?” Chris said. “I know it was all about the money. From the first day, it was all about the money,” he alleged.

However, accused dad James said the children’s accusations aren’t true. “No one kicked Chris or Kamaya out of the home,” he told WSOC-TV. He said that the two older children wanted to leave, and that the Department of Social Services got involved with the three younger children. “That’s a DSS and social service matter,” James said.

According to WSOC-TV, there was a family court hearing in 2015 about the five adopted children, but the court records remain sealed.

Chris acknowledged the hearing, saying, “They went to court trying to get us all back, but I think it was about the money too.” Kamaya claimed, “The judge, he gets upset and is like, ‘You leave these kids’ life for a whole year, then try to come back a year later and say you want them back. It doesn’t work like that.’” 

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