Made In Bondi is the latest reality show to hit our screens. Based on the British hit Made In Chelsea, it features a whole new raft of gorgeous young Aussies to get to know. But unlike the name suggests, the cast members aren’t exactly made in Bondi. Sure, they’re mostly residents of the beach-side Sydney suburbs and its surrounds, but it turns out only one of the 11 cast members actually grew up there. Juicy!
According to a report by The Daily Telegraph, only jewellery designer Emma Pillemer was actually raised in Bondi.
Instagram star Bella Salerno grew up in Europe, and jeweller Molly Paradice was raised in Scone, NSW. Public relations expert Billy Daniels and model Isabella Cicero were Perth locals before moving to Sydney.
Closer to Bondi, model and ex-athlete Lachlan McLean is from the Northern Beaches in Sydney, model Lawson Mahoney is an Eastern Suburbs kid and Pippa Hanan is close by in Paddington.
But truthfully, it’s not all that uncommon for non-locals to be cast in reality shows like this one.
Take 2012’s reality attempt The Shire. It was meant to focus on a group of local Aussies who lived around Sydney’s Sutherland Shire. However, it caused controversy after it was revealed that several of the stars didn’t actually grow up in the Shire.
The same thing applied to Netflix’s local reality show Byron Baes which featured attractive blow-ins from around NSW and Queensland.
Throughout Australian reality television history, scouting agents have had to cast their net wider than the ideal catchment areas. This is for a few reasons — the cast needs to have established friendship groups, be actually good on-screen talent and ultimately want to be on the show.
During the creation of Made In Bondi, rumours were going absolutely bananas that the casting process was difficult due to so many people not wanting to be featured. Back in July, a source said that “producers tried hard to get actual Bondi locals with a profile on board, however, they didn’t have much luck.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Made In Bondi’s casting director Alex Ristevski revealed that the characters on the show were found through the casting team going into the local area as talent scouts.
“Unlike other reality shows, we don’t do any advertising,” Alex said.
“We send our casting team undercover within the area to get a sense of who’s who. It’s through these meetings that you start to get a real sense of who is important, who has strong links, and who has friendship groups. We try to find genuine friends with great stories.
“You can find great-looking people, but do they have genuine connections and how will their story arcs play out?”
Although the cast may not have been made in Bondi, as the name suggests. I think the fact that they’re mainly blow-ins is indicative of the area. Bondi is full of people from all walks of life who have dreamed of living by the beautiful beach for yonks. You can’t blame them for wanting to live in one of the buzziest places in Sydney, if you ask me.
The post The Made In Bondi Cast Aren’t Actually Bondi Locals — Here’s Where They’re From appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
