‘Inmate to Roommate’: Bill Steel Certain A&E Series Will Make Him Famous – But Who is He Really?
Inmate to Roommate debuts with William Steel, aka “Bill” as one of eight inmates to be housed with families looking to help paroled convicts get a fresh start in life. But is this guy who he says he is?
Inmate to Roommate the Latest Creation from Sharp Entertainment
As A&E launches its new show on Thursday, August 18, 2022, here’s a little background. This is another reality TV trainwreck from the minds at Sharp Entertainment. They brought you 90 Day Fiance, Darcey & Stacey, Love After Lockup, Life After Lockup, and more.
Now, they’re expanding their prison show repertoire with Inmate to Roommate. Eight paroled convicts move in with people they “barely know” to try and turn their lives around and avoid recidivism (slipping back into crime).
Clearly, these people didn’t find romance behind bars. Otherwise, they’d be on Sharp’s LAL series. There seems to be at least one experiment that didn’t work out. The trailer has one guy telling their parolee: “we’re sorry we failed you.”
But remember that this production company is masterful at promo edits that seem jaw-dropping but maybe something else once seen in context. They may have a built-in audience, though, since they’re pushing this out after 60 Days In and with the LAL fanbase.
Mark & Sharna Oliphant Take in “Bill”
A lengthy promo for Inmate to Roommate shows that in Elkhart, Indiana, Mark and Sharna Oliphant are taking on a mission to welcome an inmate into their home. These two met on a Seventh Day Adventist dating site.
They’ve been married seven years. He’s 50, and she’s 58. They are religious vegans who both work in the healthcare industry. They’ll welcome Bill, whose name we doubt (we’ll get to that later). He’s incarcerated at Augusta Correctional Facility in Craigsville, Virginia.
The title card for Bill says he’s 57 and served 18 years for grand theft auto, escape, and possession of cocaine. But on Inmate to Roommate, he says he was a top thief who stole artwork and jewelry. He also says he served a decade for theft but then escaped.
He says he got extra time for escape but is trying to turn “all those experiences around into something good”. We’ll see Sharna head from Indiana to Virginia to pick him up. Then, Bill will move in with them after his release.
But there’s more to see from this parolee, who’s got a press company working for him. The CEO of TransMedia Group says Bill is “now knocking on the door of celebrityhood that’s about to swing open.” Hmm…
William Steel on Inmate to Roommate
As featured on Inmate to Roommate, William Steel says he’s been out of jail for a year. And he has two books to his credit. One is on Robert Durst and the other on Ghislaine Maxwell. Yet, when we search criminal records looking for him, there’s not much.
In another article about his My Bizarre Times with Robert Durst, he admits that his name is not William Steel but has to protect himself for fear of “retaliation”. He also wrote another book, after he got out, about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
No matter who this guy is, it seems like he made it through the experience okay because he’s still out, engaged to Dr. Mary E. Bass, a data scientist, and working with her to help advance the cause of those wrongfully convicted.
Check it out tonight on A&E as Inmates to Roommate debuts and check back at Soap Dirt for more.