By BILL BRIOUX
Toronto Sun

The final five band members will finally be named tomorrow night on the hit reality music series, Popstars.

 Unfortunately, one of the original five was already named -- in a Brampton court.

 Twenty-one-year-old Marla Joy Berman, a finalist on the making the band reality series, plead guilty last month to stealing a handbag last summer from fellow contestant Dayna Herman during the show's original star search.

 Berman racked up $2,311 on Herman's CIBC Visa card.

 Popstars executive producer Michael Geddes confirmed for The Sun yesterday that Berman is off the series, and that a previously rejected finalist has replaced her.

 "It really threw a curveball at us," said Geddes, also one of the judges on the series. "We're ready for reality as reality show producers, but we weren't ready for this."

 Geddes said he learned of the incident only after the police charged Berman with the theft.

 Berman was one of five young women chosen to form an all-girl band after an intense, cross-Canada talent search. The remaining four finalists, plus the last-minute replacement, are all being sequestered in Toronto, where they are being groomed for a recording career and an eventual concert tour. Their names will be made public on tomorrow's show.

 Geddes said the robbery came to light shortly after the final five were chosen last fall.

 "We found out about it third-party," he said. "It was an issue with the law."

 Naturally, the news rocked the other finalists.

 "They were just completely bummed out because it concerned someone who was living under their roof," Geddes said. The turn of events provided an unexpected second chance for the newest member of the group.

 "Within a short period of time, she was told she's not in the band -- and then she was told we'd like to have her in the band," Geddes said. "Quite frankly, it was a roller-coaster ride of emotion (for her)."

 Geddes said the shake-up hasn't hurt the band.

 The producers have scheduled a press conference in Toronto on Monday to introduce the newest band member, plus the other four finalists -- and to field further questions about the theft's impact on the band and the series.

 Last Sunday, 635,000 viewers tuned in to Global in Ontario, roughly 1.3 million viewers nation-wide. Global communications vice president David Hamilton claims that, outside of sports, Popstars is the highest-rated and most-watched Canadian-produced show on any network in Canada.

 In fact, the network has extended the current series by three episodes, bringing the total order to 16. Global and Lone Eagle Entertainment are also set to announce that a second season of the show has been ordered.

 This isn't the first time a legal matter has threatened to derail a Canadian reality series. Last year, a husband-and-wife couple on History Television's Pioneer Quest was disqualified after the husband was charged with sexual assault the morning that the series was launched. The couple was quickly replaced.

 Similar events have plagued --or boosted -- U.S. reality shows. Most recently, a couple was thrown off Temptation Island after failing to disclose that they had a child.

 In every instance, the ratings have only increased as a result of the mishap.

 "It's not scripted and it's certainly not contrived," Geddes said. "That's just the way the cards fell." (More on: Popstars).

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