SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Mainers are familiar with seeing one of their own on hit reality TV shows, or seeing their state as the location of one.
Hayley Smith-Rose has been "obsessed" with reality shows well before she came to Maine to study at the University of Maine at Farmington. From 'Jersey Shore' to 'Survivor' to the old days of MTV shows, Smith-Rose said she's binge watched them all.
After graduation, the Nashua, New Hampshire native had another passion: work at Hot Radio Maine.
It took a lot of messages to management, but Smith-Rose eventually started at the radio station working on the promotions team.
“But I think, as people started to get to know my personality a little more, they were like what the heck are you doing not being on air?"
Smith-Rose now plays the latest hip-hop hits from 7 p.m. to midnight during the week. But the love for reality TV drama was never tuned out.
She reached out to Netflix to apply to be on a reality show, but the casting was finalized for that show.
“We are casting for this [other] show instead, maybe that will interest you," she was told. “I’m doing all these interviews, and they keep calling me back, I’m like are you sure? Next thing I knew, I’m filming a reality show.”
The show, 'Surviving Paradise' debuts its first season on Netflix this Friday. The concept of the show was held as a secret to all cast members, including Smith-Rose.
“This show was not scripted at all, complete raw reaction, I can't stress that enough," she said. “This was as raw and real as it comes.”
When Smith-Rose and the 11 other contestants showed up for the first day of filming, they were dropped off at a luxurious villa and let loose. After "partying" all day, the reality of what they signed up for came crashing down.
As the trailer depicts, the cast members find out they are staying in the woods as the show starts, not the glamorous villa, and have to compete in challenges and form alliances to work their way back inside.
“That [reaction] was so genuine, I can’t stress that enough, I feel like in the moment all I wanted the world to know was how little we knew going into it," Smith-Rose said.
Being a New England native and having experience camping helped, she said. But she and the others went days without showering, or brushing their teeth and had to sleep outside.
Forming alliances with total strangers was one of the best memories Smith-Rose has of filming the show, which happened last summer. She said she loves getting to know the core of people's character which helped her trust, or not trust, cast members during the show.
As the show airs this week, Smith-Rose wants people to know the cast members are still people and they were in a game with a $100k cash prize, so it does get very competitive. Since filming wrapped, she said some of the cast members do still stay in touch, but added there may still be some bad blood.
I guess Mainers will have to wait until Friday to get the whole story.