The reality gods are trying it again. Back in March, I voiced some thoughts about D.C. and reality shows. After learning that New York-based productions company Leftfield Pictures was scouting D.C. for another potential reality show I cringed. Word on the [internet] streets was the production company was looking to put together a D.C. version of Bravo’s Blood, Sweat and Heels. Naturally this concerned me (and others) as past reality shows with D.C. as the backdrop have…well only used the District as a backdrop as much of the cast didn’t come from or necessarily live in D.C. but the surrounding metro area and the representation of the District was “off.” As I said before, Washingtonians are very sensitive when it comes to this, especially native Washingtonians.
Though I did not identify them by name, I threw out some suggestions. I identified my suggestions via their chosen industry and career path and if you paid attention you may have known who I was speaking of. After reading Thursday’s Reliable Source, I can not help but wonder if Leftfield, or whomever in charge of casting, paid partial attention to my blog as it seems one of my suggestions is reported to be a member of the cast. Helena Andrews of the Washington Post’s Reliable Source reported what seems to be the line up for the yet to be titled reality show by Leftfield.
Cast mates for the supposed D.C. version of Blood, Sweat and Heels, is “a hodgepodge of who’s who and just plain ‘who?,'” writes Andrews.
The lineup:
Pamela Sorensen, a media consultant
Miss D.C. 2011 Ashley Boalch, who recently married a big time real estate developer
Maggy Francois, an event planner
Michele Hudson, an entrepreneur
Victoria Stiles, a make up artist
If you are in tune to the social scene of the nation’s capital, then you just may be familiar with some of the cast. I’m only familiar with Francois and Sorensen. Francois is a professional associate and I read Sorensen’s Pamela’s Punch, every so often and got to meet one of the contributing writers for the site at a PR function. The rest of the cast I’m unfamiliar with and took a moment to look them up. So far this cast seems like a good mix, but I still find myself a bit concern about how D.C. will be represented.
As I stated on my initial post on the matter, if this is to happen, I’m rooting for a fair balance that will go below the surface of what outsiders know about D.C. and present a local D.C. that will be new to a lot of viewers as it taps into the current diversity of the city and show a good mix of professional black Washingtonians.
Maybe I’m stuck on the fact that Blood, Sweat and Heels focused on black women. That is what initially drew me in as the promos seemingly showed something that is rarely seen on the tube; a group of successful black women pressing through the struggles and ease of continuously building their careers. Of course the show took a different turn. Sans the drama of the show, I loved that for the most part all of them did know each other before the show. I loved that while they have achieved much success, they were still gaining momentum and continuously looking for ways to continue to grow professionally. The show also sprinkled in a little bit of Sex and the City as it peeked into most of the cast members’ romantic lives. The only thing that turned me off was the poking for unnecessary drama as the cast fell prey to it and by the season’s end there was an invisible but visible divide of the “Louds vs. Prouds.”
Though the demographics for D.C. is changing and we may no longer be “Chocolate City,” there is still a good mix of professional black women, especially entrepreneurs, in and around D.C. My concern is that when it comes to D.C. and reality TV, production companies will continue to show an untrue balance that does not reflect the current D.C. It’s one thing to not feature true blue Washingtonians (natives and non-natives who’ve inhabited the city for more than 10 years), but to continue to present a view that D.C. is devoid of black folks – except for the sighting of one, two or three – that’s just…asinine.
To be fair, Leftfield did put forth a casting call. I would be interested to know who actually took a shot to audition. Maybe black women in the D.C. saw the call and passed to keep their integrity (and sanity) in tact. Maybe it is a situation where someone from the selected cast auditioned, was chosen and just as NeNe Leakes was the one to gather the initial cast of Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta and self proclaimed “Queen Bee” Mariah Huq gathered the the cast for Bravo’s Married to Medicine, someone reached out to their close contacts and gathered the D.C. cast.
Outside of Francois, the only other black member of the D.C. cast is Husdon. Via Hudson’s Facebook page:
“… Michele Hudson is a former Division I collegiate track star who continues to sprint towards even greater achievements. After earning her B.S. degree in Business Administration from North Carolina State University, she achieved immediate success with an NC-based intellectual property software firm which eventually relocated her to Washington, D.C. While her current day job as an IT Project Manager for the District of Columbia may occasionally keep her behind a desk , Michele’s “social butterfly” personality motivates her to travel throughout the country on a never-ending quest to discover new tastes, flavors, and exotic mixtures.”
For those unfamiliar with Francois, she’s an educator as well as an event planner. She has helped put on some of the D.C. area’s most spectacular events, including charity fundraisers and fashion shows. A couple of her biggest events are Baby Bash and Bling (which has stretched beyond D.C. with shows in New York, Atlanta and New Orleans) and the Beauty and Fashion expo which takes place every fall.
Of course Bravo is playing coy and is presently not confirming any new reality shows. “A source close to Bravo said the network is ‘always exploring interesting characters in exciting cities’ but that in the case of “Blood, Sweat & Heels: DC” it’s simply ‘too early to tell,'” reports Andrews.
By email, Sorensen responded to Reliable Source’s inquiry, “I’m bound by NDA CONTRACT to not say anything about this project.”
In the meantime, I will patiently wait for official word from Bravo. If this project does become really REAL, I will be watching to see how much (if at all) local D.C. is introduced and represented. Outsiders are already familiar with the District being the seat of the federal government. Being that this particular group mixes and mingles with local D.C. and the surrounding suburbs of Maryland and Virginia, this might be the closest thing to a near accurate representation we will get. I’m confident at least one cast member will have it right. The rest is up to those behind the editing, the evil reality editing gods.
Mahoganie: Musings East of the Anacostia River 
Posted on July 27, 2014
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