KENNEBUNK, MAINE: Lord Byron once said, Truth is stranger than fiction. Taking inspiration from the great poet's words, Lifetime has managed to churn out some very interesting thrillers based on real-life events that shocked the world. The network's latest offering, 'Let's Get Physical' is based on true events as well.
According to the synopsis provided by Lifetime, 'Let's Get Physical' is inspired by actual events and narrates the story of a fitness instructor named Sadie (Jenna Dewan) who by day, taught fitness and dance to soccer moms, but by night led a double life running a sophisticated prostitution ring with a customer list that included very prominent men in the community. After an anonymous tip, authorities raided her studio, leading to Sadie’s indictment and igniting a firestorm in the small town leading everyone to ask, who exactly was on the client list. While the network hasn't revealed the inspiration behind the movie, it's widely believed that the movie is loosely based on the story of Alexis Wright, a Zumba instructor based out of Kennebunk, Maine, who shocked the world by amassing a whopping $150,000 from her illegal prostitution ring. If you're curious to know more about Alexis Wright and her story that inspired 'Let's Get Physical', then keep reading.
RELATED ARTICLES
The TRUTH behind Lifetime's movie 'Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez'
Who is Lizbeth Meredith? The TRUE STORY behind Lifetime movie 'Stolen By Their Father'
Who is Alexis Wright?
According to Vanity Fair, Wright is a resident of Maine, who graduated from Topsham’s Mt Ararat High School in 2001, and in May 2005 had a son. Soon after having her baby, Wright split up with the father of her child. In 2010, after graduating from the University of Southern Maine's Lewiston-Auburn College, Wright decided to open a Zumba studio called Pura Vida in a small, quaint town called Kennebunk, which is known for being the Bush family home compound. She married her boyfriend named Jason Trowbridge in 2012.
She rented a 2,500-square-foot space in a small strip mall situated between a pizzeria and a nail salon to run her zumba studio. She also rented another space for her second business, a massage service business called, Sensual Body Work by Lydia,which she claimed would halp her earn some extra income. The town's residents recount Wright advertising for her massage business in skimpy lingerie. Even though it seemed like Wright was busy running her dance studio during the day, she was also running a secret prostitution business from her two rental offices. Her secret business drew in clients from all over Kennebunk.
The town's residents soon began noticing some very strange things, such as customers popping up at the business at odd hours, and some even complained of hearing moans and groans from her studios. When one of her rental office's owner looked her up online, he was shocked to find that Wright was filming pornographic content from the rental space. This led him to reach out to the police. On Valentine’s Day of 2012, police searched Wright’s home and office. They were left shocked when they realized just how meticulously Wright maintained records of her business. She noted down the names of all her clients, and detailed out all the sexual favors she performed on them alongside how much she charged them for it. She even videotaped the act without her clients' knowledge. The authorities estimated that she earned about $150,000 for her services in a little over a year and a half. She hid much of this income and evaded paying taxes by claiming she only made a few hundred dollars and even collected assistance from the state.
Through the investigation, authorities discovered that Wright had an accomplice, a 57-year-old insurance salesman and a private investigator, Mark Strong. As a private investigator, Strong helped Wright identify the clients she had sex with by searching their licence plate numbers by viewing her secret recordings. Wright and Strong were having an affair, even though both were married with children.
Where is Alexis Wright now?
In March 2013, Wright was was convicted of 14 counts of engaging in prostitution, one count of promotion of prostitution and two counts of theft by deception and state income tax evasion. She was sentenced to ten months in jail. In addition to her jail time, she was ordered to pay $57,000 in restitution and $1,000 in fines.
At her sentencing, Wright told the court she had been manipulated by her business partner, Strong, for whom she took video of her appointments with clients, so Strong could watch. He was convicted of 12 counts of promotion of prostitution and one count of conspiracy to promote prostitution and was sentenced to 20 days in prison.
She was released early from jail in November 2013 after serving six months of her ten month sentence, on account of good behavior. At the time of her release, her husband Trowbridge came to collect her from the jail. Since her release, Alex goes by the name of Alexis Sandra Trowbridge. Her current whereabouts are unknown.
Wright's scandal has drawn much media attention. Lifetime's 'Let's Get Physical' isn't the first time that her story made it to television. TLC released a documentary detailing out Wright's story back in 2013 titled 'Sex, Lies & Zumba'.
'Let's Get Physical' premieres on Saturday, October 15 at 8/7c on Lifetime.