Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash.
Reality TV — we love to hate it, we hate to love it, but if there is one thing about reality TV, it is extremely entertaining. Reality TV is a guilty pleasure because it feeds our unnecessary need for a little bit of drama in our lives — as long as it’s not actually our drama, right? Some people like being even closer to the drama by applying to be on a reality TV show themselves — me being one of those people. Of course, I won “most likely to be on a reality TV show” through my sorority’s superlative awards, so I had to put it to the test.
For the past several months, I’ve been applying to different reality TV shows — “The Bachelorette,” “Too Hot To Handle,” “Love Island” and other less-known series. While I didn’t make the cut in all of the shows I applied for, I have made it to the final round of auditions in a certain show I can’t mention because of an non-disclosure agreement I had to sign as I made it further and further into the process. While the audition process is a little different because of COVID-19 precautions and producers working remotely, it has still been an intense and long process I definitely wasn’t expecting before going through it.
While you are able to just apply through the application the producers provide, I decided to take a route that may get me noticed better: directly emailing the casting producers. I included my basic information and explained why I would be a good person to include on the show. The next day, I received an email back from the casting producer telling me that she would love to meet with me over the phone. After a short phone call explaining the casting process to me, we set up a Zoom audition. She told me to come dressed to impress, and she asked me questions about my life, my childhood, my previous relationships, college and just about everything. At the end of the interview, I was instructed to do a little walk so that she was able to see my full body. From there, the casting producer edited the interview into a reel that displayed my personality into the best way possible.
I thought that was it, but little did I know there was way more to come. I heard back in about a month and was told I made it to the next step! I met in front of a panel of producers, so it was the real deal. Through my personal banter, I tried my best to create relationships with them in the short amount of time I had so that they wouldn’t forget me. I made sure to tell my most wild stories but also speak on things that are important to me. I wanted to make sure they saw all parts of my personality and life. Luckily, the producers loved me and sent me for their psychological testing.
Psychological testing is probably not something that people expect when applying to a reality TV show. This was the longest part of the process with two different parts to the testing. The first part consisted of a problem solving test and a personality traits test. These were monitored by a proctor and took about two hours to complete. The second part was a Zoom call with their psychological doctor who asked me questions about my life, childhood, mental health, physical health and other things to assess if they believed I was mentally fit and prepared to be on a reality TV show and in the public eye.
It doesn’t stop there — I was then sent to urgent care for a physical to see if I am physically fit to compete in a competition series. The doctors were very interested to say the least. After my physical, I had a full blood panel done at Labcorp to test me for everything under the sun: STIs, pregnancy, drug use, disease, etc. It’s hard to believe that they take it this far, but better safe than sorry, right?
I have been going through this process since January, and they still have not officially casted, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. For those who want to look into applying to reality TV, check out https://www.backstage.com/. New opportunities are always getting posted. My advice to anyone going through the process is to stay true and authentic to yourself and they will love you for who you are. Who knows — you might be seeing me on your TV soon.
Genevieve Shawcross is a fourth-year Media & Culture major with a minor in Journalism. GS918938@wcupa.edu