Reality TV found a way into Clarkston.
For six weeks in February and March, camera crews and production teams from around the country were focused on the life of Clarkston youth Katarina Rea. The 16-year-old grabbed the attention of MTV and brought the international cable company home as she took her first step towards a spot in the entertainment industry.
Rea is one of the eight girls being featured by MTV in the new reality TV show titled ‘Tiara Girls.? The show debuts April 19, but filming wrapped up on Feb. 19.
‘Tiara Girls? follows beauty pageant participants in their daily lives as they prepare for an upcoming competition.
Though Rea has participated in pageants for several years, she has been trying to break into the entertainment business for a while.
‘I always look up casting calls all the time,? Rea said. While looking up information for a friend, Rea said she came across a casting call for the show.
‘We wrote an e-mail to every producer and I got a few interviews over the phone and then they were like ‘Okay, we’re coming next week,? Rea said, recalling how shocked she was when she heard the news.
A few days after the call, a production team and camera crew showed up at her door, ready to roll. For the next six weeks, everywhere Rea went ? eating, sleeping, exercising or just hanging out with friends ? the cameras followed. Every aspect of her life was filmed leading up to the Miss Michigan Teen Galaxy Pageant in Bay City on Feb. 18.
‘I wasn’t too crazy about it,? said Rea about the constant surveillance. Fortunately, Rea was home-schooled most of her life, so there were no worries about interfering with daily classes. Everything else, however, was fair game.
‘They go in the dressing rooms with you. The only thing they don’t do is go to the bathroom with you, but they stand right outside the door and wait for you,? Rea said.
Rea found the experience exasperating , not only because of the constant filming, but also the repetitive nature of ‘reality.?
‘We had to repeat everything,? Rea said.
‘If we spoke off the camera for a few minutes, they would say, ‘Save that conversation!?? said Trisha Rea, Katarina’s mom.
Trisha added that the crew would make suggestions for things for them to say on camera. ‘It’s not necessarily complete reality.?
‘They made me sound like such a brat,? Rea said, describing how she was given lines to read for a voice-over introduction that is supposed to play at the beginning of her episode. ‘They make you out to be this very… aggressive person. But at the same time they make you mad. They start drama between me and my mom. They’d start drama for the show,? Rea said.
‘They made her get on the scale everyday and they made me tell her to get on the scale every day and that’s something I would never do to her,? Trisha said. ‘But they made me do it and then she’d get mad at me and then she’d cry and then I’d cry because she got mad at me.?
(Skip this paragraph if you do not want to know the show’s outcome) In the end, Rea said she lost the Miss Michigan Teen Galaxy Pageant after ‘a lot of drama? that she attributed to the cameras being there.
‘A lot of people were upset about it and thought that if I were to place or win it would look fixed,? Rea said.
Regardless, Rea is moving on to the international level of competition in July under an honorary title.
In addition to thinking the pageant was rigged, Rea said once word circulated that MTV was following her to the competition, the entire pageant was changed around and made into a bigger production. According to Rea, the eight-person pageant was originally scheduled to take place in a high school in Bay City on Feb. 18 with no special introductions or grand performances, but that all changed once the pageant organizers knew MTV was coming.
‘When they found out MTV was coming, they totally used me for publicity,? Rea said, saying the pageant was switched to a large theater and made into a huge production. ‘They treated me like crap. All they would talk about was ‘MTV is here to watch our pageant,? and Hailey, the girl who won, made signs saying ‘MTV loves Hailey? like it was her show.?
For participating, Rea was invited to the Music Video Awards, which take place in August. Since filming stopped, Rea said she has received non-stop attention from multiple media sources. She may have lost the pageant, but she said she gained some perceptive on her friends and made some news ones.
‘I made best friends with (Michelle) the producer and I’m going out to visit her this summer,? Rea said ?(The crew) became part of the family because they did everything with us.?
Rea is still looking for new audtions, whether they are for modeling or television jobs, she hopes to work her way into the world of entertainment. Rea was frustrated by the whole process, but said if given the chance she would do another reality TV show. Even if reality-TV does not open the door for her to get where she wants, Rea said she plans to get there on her own.
Rea does plan to attend Oakland Community College in May, but is hoping to transfer shortly.
‘Hopefully, I want to go to a really good art school. I really want to go to the Art Institute of Chicago for the performing arts,? Rea said. ‘I want to get into the entertainment business, I don’t care where.?
Rea said she wanted to work in entertainment ever since she was little. Having been home schooled, she said she never had goals like other children and her mother always supported her desire to work in entertainment.
Trishia, who produces beauty pageants, also works as her daughter’s manager and said she always expected her to make here way onto television.
‘She always said ‘I’m going to be famous,? and I’ve always said ‘I’m going to help you get there.? so I’m her support system and that’s not going to change,? Trisha said.
For now, until Hollywood calls, Rea lives in Clarkston with her parents, Scott and Trisha, and her four brothers ? Carter, Conrad, Austin, and AJ.