Esquire Network Capitalizes on Ryan Lochte Scandal With Reality Show Marathon

Esquire Network is making the most out of the Ryan Lochte scandal .

The reality show centered on the Olympic swimmer, who was reportedly indicted Thursday for allegedly lying about being robbed while in Rio de Janeiro for the Summer Games, will re-air Friday on the cable channel.

All eight half-hour episodes of the series, titled What Would Ryan Lochte Do?, will air Friday beginning at 6 p.m. ET/PT. The series originated on another NBCUniversal cable network, E!, back in April 2013 and centered on Lochte’s personal life after he rose to international fame at the 2012 London Olympics.

Related Stories

Related Story

Hollywood Reacts to Ryan Lochte Robbery Lie With Jokes, Outrage

According to local authorities, Lochte and three other swimmers lied about being held at gunpoint and robbed early Sunday morning while they were in a cab. Lochte shared his account with Today‘s Billy Bush several hours later during an impromptu interview that aired on MSNBC. He later spoke with NBC’s Matt Lauer about the alleged incident as well.

However, police had trouble finding evidence to support the swimmers’ claim. Rio officials later confirmed that they had not been robbed and instead vandalized a gas station bathroom and were compelled by security guards to pay for the damage. On Wednesday, a Brazilian judge ordered the swimmers to stay in the country, but Lochte had already left Rio to head back to the U.S. Two of the other swimmers involved were removed from their airplane and held back in Brazil several hours later.

Esquire has made similar moves in the past, airing a marathon of coverage from the O.J. Simpson murder trial timed to the finale of FX’s highly rated People v. O.J. Simpson anthology series.