Season 11 Episode 12
Kaylene
Age: 21
Location: Barnardsville, North Carolina
Addiction: Pain meds (Percocet mostly) and Xananx
What’s memorable: Girl gets giddy when she’s high! At least when she’s not passing out. She seems really convinced that she’s super happy and loving her life. Her entire goal right now is to just have a good time and get away from all the pain she’s had in her life. I get that. But she is SO not seeing how it’s affecting the people she loves. Watching her mother and 7 year old sister go through the little girl’s penny jar in order to give Kaylene money for drugs is pretty awful and heartwrenching. And that intervention! Holy crap, the tears, they were rollin. There’s a reason why these things work – having someone you love dearly say the thing you’ve been wanting them to say forever, to show emotion that you didn’t know they were capable of, is an incredibly powerful thing.
Official Synopsis: As a child, Kaylene was physically abused by her father. Later, she and her mother began using coke together. Now Kaylene is a 21-year-old who oozes sweetness and charm but who is unafraid to die and will stop at nothing to get her next fix. After so many years of neglect, can Kaylene’s family finally step up and help her get the live-saving treatment she so desperately needs?
Original Air Date: March 2012
Interventionist: Donna
I just saw this episode and I was wondering if anyone had any updates on Kaylene and her family. She’s a beautiful girl and some things she went through really resonated with me. I bawled like a baby at her Intervention. She seems like someone I would probably be friends with in real life. I would love to talk to her and offer her kind words of encouragement and support, and to share with her my story. I truly hope things are better for her now.
I seen her today she is well has two kids and is still on methadone but I think she is better then she was
Edited to correct typos:
I second everything you said, Rain. I was really moved by her and hope her and her little sister and mom have had some healing and are healthy and happy happy. .
Am I the only one who thinks Kaylee is not a sister but Kaylene’s daughter?
That makes sense!
I got the same impression about her sister. it just seems like it was her daughter. The mother is so codependent it would make sense that she would go that far to protect Kaylene from having to raise her daughter. This story was so moving. I cried so much during this show! just wanted to move wherever she was living and take care of her and teach her about how to stay clean. But that’s my need to be of use to somebody else to feel as though I matter.
I’ve always thought that too
She was my best friend when we was kids. That is her sister. We was still friends when her mom was pregnant and had Kaylee. Kaylene has just always been close and good to her little sister.
Do you know how she is doing nowadays?
YES!!!!
That would be nuts, but now that you say it, it doesn’t seem hard to believe. But then again, she was born when kaylene was still 14. It happens but it’s very rare
Looking at her parents, they look a tad old to be having young children. Also, who names their kids names so close together – “Kaylee” and “Kaylene”. She didn’t start using til Kaylee was 2, ergo running around and getting all the attention. I don’t believe it’s as rare as you think, on my own I know at least three people who had daughters that became sisters and the little one was not told, but would have figured it out once she a)saw her birth certificate or b) learned that her “mom” had a hysterectomy before she was born. It’s messed up bit it happens.
The mother Deanna was in her late 30s when she had the younger daughter…not “too old”.
I myself have a sister who is 14 years younger than me. Mom was 38 when she had her, and I treated her like she was my own child, hell I still do!
Her story was one that got to me. Most of the addicts seem SOOOO miserable, and here she is saying she’s an amazing sister, and is just really happy…it got to me. I just wanted to give her a hug. Her Mom’s relationship with her was super co-dependent and I don’t think they probably got the help needed post Intervention to change that, she seemed like she would always be an enabler. I did a little snooping on FB and found her, it looks like she has a baby boy. Hope she’s doing better and is able to be a good mom. I always root for people to change…her case is no different. Hope she is healthy and happy!
Beeve…that was totally my first thought too!!
Updates? Does anyone know how
Is she doing? Beautiful girl, hope she is okay!
So she’s on methadone, BFD. She just traded one addiction for another. The fact that she only lasted nine days in treatment speaks volumes to the fact that she’s not really interested in a change. And southern families are all about going out of their way to hide closeted skeletons. I’m sure the sister is actually her daughter.
Plus, there is no middle class in the Southern Appalachians. You’re either filthy rich or dirt poor, and these people clearly are not the former. There is no work and no opportunities, and she does not appear to be educated. What else is she going to do except deal drugs?
That’s completely untrue; there absolutely is a middle class in the moutains. I grew up in Asheville (Barnardsville is not far away). There are definitely very poor people (especially the farther you get outside of the city), but I grew up in a middle class family and I had a lot of friends that were from middle class families as well. I’ve lived all over North Carolina, and the Appalachians really aren’t any different from the rest of the state in terms of socioeconomics.
I grew up in Asheville, too and I am from a middle class family.
What kind of mess was that? There absolutely IS a middle class there. It’s no different than anywhere else. Being in the mountains and raising children in small areas like that are perfect for the middle class. Maybe you watch too much tv.
You have got to be kidding. You are talking like the people that live in North Carolina are bass ackward hillbillies. There are plenty of good strong well to do and also struggling families here – I live close to the area Kayleen came from and I am insulted by your comment
If she’s taking methadone every day as prescribed and not taking it with any benzos, she wouldn’t be feeling high, then she’s not trading one addiction for another. Methadone can be life saving in life changing for an opiate addict. And when they’re ready, they should slowly start titrating down to come off of it.
Definitely her daughter. I came to the same conclusion…So many viewers can’t be wrong, and pretty easy to reach.
If all if the above examples re: ages of Kaylee and she mentions in the beginning that SHE was the one who named Kaylee….well, that and a bunch of other clues. I do hope she and her family are doing well.
Exactly! Her mother is a monster as well for staying with a man who abused Kaylene, broke her fingers, and had a child with his own 14 year old daughter! She then covers it up and spends her life trying to make up for it. Guilt trip much! Smfh Kaylene never stood a chance with that fucked up family. I just hope she gets away from them and that town. My heart goes out to her because she still is able to smile through it all.
She actually isn’t her daughter. I went to school with Kaylene and remember Kaylenes mom being pregnant with Kaylee.
Thank you for putting an end to ridiculous rumors here. Kaylene needs to get far far away from that town. She knows too many there and I imagine with not a whole lot to do, she will continue that lifestyle. She needs to go to college and use her magnificent personality in marketing or advertising. She is gorgeous and outgoing, and needs to keep busy. She would do excellent in sales….
Yes, thank you for putting an end to this ridiculous rumor! And to say (Lilaj) that her father is the one who got Kaylene pregnant… When I didn’t think that at all! You can really hurt someone’s reputation and family, by spreading such lies! Kaylene was just really close to her sister and loved her like she was her daughter, but that’s it & that’s awesome!
https://www.facebook.com/kaylene.banks?__nodl
It looks like she has a kid, maybe 2.
3, if you count Kaylee. Great lead; it looks like she’s still using, at least grass.
This episode hit me pretty hard. I know girls exactly like Kaylene. I live only a few hours away from where she is from and the person above who said there are no opportunities here is completely correct. Pain pills are saturated here in small towns. I hope Kaylene is able to stay clean, but honestly it’s hard being in a small town in the south.
She got back with her husband and now has two kids. I found her Facebook. It doesn’t have much but pictures.
I don’t remember Kaylene mom saying she did drugs w her. Anyway what was wrong with her mom’s face?
I just watched on Amazon.
No shit it looked like she was a meth addict with abscesses on her face
Spider bite
Looks like her grandmother, or “Me-maw” passed away in 2013.
http://www.blueridgefuneralservice.org/book-of-memories/1642434/Stines-Ruth/obituary.php
I know this is totally petty in the grand scheme of things but it absolutely drove me NUTS how they’re all constantly ripping butts, especially around the little girl – in her room and everything.. friggin gross. Smoke outside!!! Shit, even when I was a smoker I always smoked outside.. who wants to smell like an ashtray constantly, and let’s not forget about 2nd & 3rd hand smoke… JFC.
Well when you’re high af you don’t really care about that kind of stuff
Also, when you live in an area besieged by opiate ODs every day, where employment is a long-forgotten word, where access to healthcare is slim to none, and the ‘available’ resources are kind of a joke anyway, people just kind of give up on caring about things like that. I live about 30 minutes away from Kaylene; once you get outside of Asheville, NC, reality gets grim fast.
omg.. lol. I thought you were talking about farting. haha. I haven’t seen this episode yet.
LMAO….me too!
I’m sorry to be negative but the ending kind of made me mad. Her father says sorry, then next word gives an excuse. “I was young.” What a horrible excuse. You were a monster. You have scared her permanently emotionally and physically. You were a monster and you need help. But I guess it’s my place, and what’s right for one may night be right for another. Just made me mad.
Anyone have any updates on her? She seemed like such a sweet soul, she had a terrible childhood. The dad definitely needed help as well. I read she has kids, but is she clean of Methadone? I pray for this girl!
Just came to agree that Kaylee was Kaylene’s daughter. Explains the name too. Would love an update too, hope she’s doing well! Intervention should just do a whole season of updates.
She is not Kaylene’s daughter. Kaylene and I went to school together, and I remember when her mom was pregnant with Kaylee. Sadly she is currently still using.
The show stated that the 2 used cocaine together…it clearly appears that the mother has some kind of a “picking” addiction that comes with methamphetamine use. But Candy would have suggested that the mom go to rehap too if that was the case. Maybe the Mom just has bad skin? But in the earlier pictures the Moms skin was beautiful, so who knows?
I live near her as well. Its not so much the lack of jobs as its family traditions and education, the backwards, country folks, live some crazy lives. I think the dad was the root of all the problems. Any man who brakes daughters fingers need to be committed. What a sad excuse for a man. Its just disturbing, but to many familys around here its quite the norm. Men act all tuff but are actually a bunch of backwards pu#$ys. Alot lack courage to call in sick at work, they have their wives do it. Someone has to break the cycle.
Thanks for posting this Pace. The funny thing is that such men are likely to call a sensitive and intuitive man a “pussy”.
The relationship between Kaylene and her mom is twisted! Ugh… mom can’t get into a relationship because Kayline might get jealous? Yikes that’s messed up…
its a shame some of you are so disrespectful about Kaylee and say that Kaylene is her mother, I doubt that is true and it is very common for such age gaps in siblings. Secondly if you watch the show you can clearly see her mother has bandages on her face from obvious surgery. I pray this family as a whole finds love and happiness as they deserve. And people should get better manners, if you cant say anything nice you shouldn’t say anything at all, it is clear this family has been through enough they don’t need all the nattering opinions on top of it. Bless their hearts and their lives.
i immediately had the same thought as everyone else. that kaylee was her daughter. anyway, she seems so sweet and good hearted. i hope she is doing well!
I thought the same about kaylee and kaylene; hoe Ed, my sis and I are 15 yrs apart. I’m wondering was the mom “stoned” during this episode and did the mom ever get help? Mentally I thought the mom needed more help and the sperm donor needs to be given a “what fer!”
Looks like she took Banks as her last name back. There is a Facebook page that was active until 2016. In pictures she has 2 kids and is engaged. His page is also not really active since 2015. Her mother’s page is also active but mostly stuff she shares. Her sister had multiple pages but not much there either. It is like she has fallen off the earth. Hope she is doing well and still enjoying sober living.
Me too. I really hope she is sober. I agree with most of the comments on here. Something about this girl made me pull for her. She not only now completely adorable. She has a beautiful smile and just a beautiful charm about her. You couldn’t help but pull for this young girl to get sober.
The fact that you think her little sister is her daughter is neither here nor there. Who cares about that.
I’m just hoping and praying she is well, sober and happy.
I would love to hear a real update on her.
God bless…. good night
Kaylene is a beautiful girl. I hope she’s been able to stay sober. Her father should be in jail for the rest of his life and have his fingers broken one by one for the treatment of her as a child. He failed her and is an awful human. Too little too late for an apology.
I love this episode because I believe that Kaylene is a beautiful girl with a lot of trauma. I did a little research and it turns out that her mom has a drug problem as well. She was arrested in 2007/2008 for drug paraphernalia possession. So Kaylene’s trauma is not just the total fault of her father. The mother clearly has problems as well. Sad exposure for a child. I hope she’s doing well. She hasn’t been on social media for the past few years as far as I’ve seen.
I’m watching her episode and just cringing for that poor little girl. Found this online. Looks like she was arrested in March for drug paraphernalia. https://bustednewspaper.com/north-carolina/riddle-kaylene-dee-banks/20200301-061100/
I really hope that Kaylee is okay. It really broke and touched my heart seeing her give her big sister the money from her piggy bank. She was such a funny and intelligent little girl. My fear is that she would be affected by all of this. She would be around 16 now, if my math is right. Kaylee if you ever see this, I think about you often. You really touched my heart.
Kaylees Instagram is kayleebanks2580 she is about 16 now very beautiful young girl. Looks like she’s doing well
Spoke to Kaylene’s baby sister. Kaylee is doing well and is so big now. A very beautiful girl. She said that her sister, Kaylene does not have social media accounts. She also stated that she is still struggling with addiction, but she is currently pregnant with her fourth child. Wish them all the best.
This girl has a lot of charisma. She’s got a nice smile. She’s funny. I hope she can keep it together.
I thought Kaleen was the sweetest girl I’ve ever seen one intervention. She’s suffered so unnecessarily at the abusive hand of others I truly hope she has a wonderful successful life.
Bless her beautiful kind sweet heart
I 100% agree!! The most likeable and sweetest by far! My heart breaks to see her latest mugshot above. I was really hopeful she would get clean. Her father’s apology during the intervention, OMG how powerful! I cried my eyes out as if I was her family! But sadly too little, too late Dad. I think of Kaylene often and pray she gets the help she needs and stays healthy and sober. Hope her little sister is also happy and healthy.
Sounds like you’re putting her use and recovery on dad, when it was her own doing.
That’s what’s wrong with a lot of these people. They pass the buck and blame everything on everybody else, when in fact they are the ones that decide to shoot up, they are the ones that decide to drink, they are the ones that decide to ruin their lives.
@Bob that’s not what I’m saying at all. But you can’t deny her father’s physical abuse. Can you? Don’t tell me hitting her in the face for smacking gum too loud, or eating chips too loud won’t cause her to be f*ed up later in life. She was a young innocent girl. Don’t be so quick to blame the addict unless you’ve walked in their shoes. I also said her fathers apology was extremely cathartic for her which it was! You can’t deny that and Kaylene deserved it!
Too little too late is exactly what it is.
omg Luanne from King of the Hill on intervention. anyway i hope she is doing well the end of that ep was making me super emotional w her and her dad
I think of Kaylene often and wonder how she’s doing today. Her episode was so memorable to me! I stumbled upon this disturbing news article that I think may be about her little sister who was featured in her episode, also named Kaylene. The last name is the same. Her age would be about right today, and she looks similar to Kaylenes’ little sis on the episode. I pray this is not her, but even the area in NC matches up! How tragic! If anyone sees this or has any updated information, please post! Such a tragic story all around.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/6068607/pregnant-couple-cousins-murder-baby-north-carolina/
Sorry, here’s the link for the story I mentioned above!
wow, if that’s her that’s really sad.
How awful! IMO that is definitely her little sister. I remember her sweet little face just wanting to be with her big sister. Very sad.
so sad!!! her cousin is 10 years older so I hope it wasn’t ftom sex abuse.
Yes! I remember her sweet little face too when she gave her pennies from her piggyback to her big sister! Ugh! It’s truly heartbreaking! Sad to say, but I’m pretty sure it’s her. 😔
It’s not her sister! I don’t want to expose her new Instagram since she’s changed the handle, but Kaylee posted on it only 2 days ago at a concert with blonde hair and she had blonde hair at a Be The Sun Seventeen concert in Atlanta on August 30th so NOT in custody after supposedly being arrested 6 days earlier. The name and age are a strange coincidence there are actually A LOT of riddles down there in NC (learned from looking into this topic) so it’s not that unusual. I know the words of a stranger don’t mean much but if you dig hard enough you could find it, just please respect her privacy and don’t post the new Instagram handle. I suspect she changed it because freaks kept messaging her asking about her sister and bothering her, maybe even about this topic. Kaylee seems like she’s really happy,, she’s going to concerts and hanging out with friends a lot so I’m very relieved she’s enjoying life and has turned into such a beautiful young lady.
why would that be her though? isn’t her name Kaylee Banks and NOT “Gracie Kaylene Riddle” like the girl mentioned in that article? am I missing something?? lol. just don’t want to spread something this awful about a person unless absolutely sure
@Dharma I wasn’t spreading anything! I specifically said I was UNSURE I never said it was verified. And if you read the comment above yours, you can easily see why people could be confused and think it was her little sister.
That is not the same area of NC whatsoever. Harnett County is at least 6 hrs east of Yadkin County, where the episode was filmed.
I really loved Kaylene’s giddy & fun loving personality, even when she was using, I wonder what she would’ve been like when she was not using. I really was hoping that she was going to stay clean, so I further researched her when I noticed that the Facebook page that was linked on these comments had no recent action…but unfortunately, I found an arrest record from 2020 for paraphernalia. That’s really all I found. I didn’t research too long. I’m hoping maybe since then she’s been doing much better and is living a life sobriety. It only takes one step on the path of recovery to change your life forever! If any of her family or friends, know any information about Kaylene & her sister Kaylee, please let us fans know, as we are all hoping for their success. I will be thinking of you Kaylene. God bless you & your family!! ❤️
https://bustednewspaper.com/north-carolina/riddle-kaylene-dee-banks/20200301-061100/