Reality Redemption - Season 1

(Left to Right) White, Mason, Lynn, Grayson, de la Cruz and Dawson-Parker

**Season 1** is the first season of Reality Redemption that first aired on June 17, 2021, and lasted until August 19, 2021. It consists of ten episodes and is notable since it is the first season in the franchise to include a Reunion special.

## Plot

The ‘Adventures’ girls are back! Fan favorite, Sarah de la Cruz, is being joined by former co-stars, Olivia Grayson, Ariel Mason, Klarissa White, Fallon Lynn, and Eliza Dawson-Parker, on a trip to her villa in Ko Samui, Thailand. As the girls practically meet face-to-face for the FIRST time, there are laughs, tears, tantrums, and more, as the girls soak up the sun for four weeks.

## Taglines

**Sarah**: “Simple. My Getaway. My Rules.”

**Fallon**: “Fall on me and you’re sure to get a bite.”

**Eliza**: “I may be small but I am a firecracker.”

**Ariel**: “Holidaying is fun but depends who you choose to spend your time with.”

**Klarissa**: “Some call me Klarissa, others The Mole, but I like to be referred to as the star.”

**Olivia**: “Live in the moment since you never know what is around the corner.”

## Cast and Production

On January 8, 2021, at a LinkMe press conference, Sarah de la Cruz, alongside the show’s executive producers, announced that a spin-off to the biggest television series of the decade, The ‘Adventures’, was in discussion and would feature de la Cruz meet up with some of the stars she famously grew fond of - or infamously feuded with - and get to know one another while on holiday. She also stated her intentions for fans to get to know the “real me and my beautiful child”, while on the show as she believed these got “lost in translation” during the main show. Later that month, de la Cruz said she had great pleasure in announcing her best friend and “slightly shorter” star, Olivia Grayson, would be joining the show too.

Petra Mutragold was the third star to sign on to the show - with fans eager to see her relationship with her step-daughter, de la Cruz, following her romance with Roberto de la Cruz, many years her senior. Further details of the show were announced in March 2021 - with the idea that the show would be filmed over a four-week period and that it’s location would be Ko Samui, Thailand. Sam Parker, LinkMe’s geographical advisor, also confirmed that the show wasn’t only going to be a one-time thing as the cast “would evolve”, though the aim was to keep the “first few series” with *The ‘Adventures’* cast only, due to it’s previous huge success.

Fans were shocked when Klarissa White was announced to be joining the cast after the disgraced star was discovered as The Mole. Days later, Fallon Lynn announced her involvement with the series and the line-up was officially complete. However, when de la Cruz met with producers and said she would prefer Mutragold not joining the girls trip, producers broke the contract clause yet still paid her the entitled salary. Producers came out with the statement that as de la Cruz was the centre star of the original show and had organized her villa for filming, they wanted her lifestyle to be apart of it but not bring up any “unresolved dramas that remain best kept away from television”. They followed up with a statement that the cast would increase from five to six and that they were “in discussion” for who would fill the fifth and sixth spots on the casting line-up.

On May 1, 2021, Ariel Mason confirmed that she had signed a contract to re-join the franchise she “adored”. Eliza Dawson-Parker completed the first series’ cast when she agreed to do the show, lamenting herself as the “firecracker”. At first reluctant, special agreements were met to ensure she could continue her work commitments while away. Two weeks later, filming begun in Thailand, with all Covid-19 regulations in place (regular testing, distancing of the set crew, etc.) and lasted for a total of one month. Trailers for the show were released toward the end of May and confirmed the start date of June 17, 2021, with it filling the regular Thursday 9/8 slot. Lasting for ten weeks, the series concluded on August 19, with huge viewer ratings, almost matching the equivalent of *The ‘Adventures’*, despite criticism of the cast all “bullying” White. de la Cruz was particularly praised and the series has often been noted for “saving de la Cruz’s image”.

## Trivia

* White is absent in the episode, White Case, after leaving the trip early in the episode, Should I Stay or Should I Go?, after falling out with practically all of her co-stars.
	+ This also meant that White was reluctant to appear in the season finale, The Reunion, but did end up coming but arriving fairly late.
* This is the first season of the show.