Role models for reality

Lisa Campbell goes on location with Britain's Next Top Model and finds its contestants as clued up on TV's tricks as the producers.

With the rise of the wannabe, finding genuine and interesting characters who will act naturally on camera is becoming an increasingly tough task for reality TV producers. As Big Brother executive producer Phil Edgar Jones recently told Broadcast, rooting out wannabes and finding people with depth was a key priority for this year, meaning a much more careful casting process.

Whether Endemol has achieved that is subject to debate but it is not the only problem for reality TV producers. Another issue is increasingly savvy contestants. It was something I witnessed first hand while on location for the filming of Living TV's Britain's Next Top Model, the final of which aired this week.

Each of the girls I spoke to appeared incredibly savvy, not just in how they chose to present themselves, but also their realisation of the producers' tricks of the trade, designed to make more exciting TV. "They're out to get you," says Katherine, one of the finalists. "I'm very conscious of it but some of the girls have been caught out. It can be hard when your defences are down and you've had very little sleep, but I've seen enough reality TV. I know what it's all about."

Adds Rachel, another finalist: "The crew or the researchers pretend to be your friend so that you confide in them, they give you a cuddle and tell you it's okay. They then go and spill the beans to the producers. I'm not stupid, I got that, but not everyone did."

And while all the girls mentioned how the editing process could manipulate or exaggerate aspects of their personality, none of them were perturbed. Says Ali: "I know I'll watch it back and think 'that didn't happen like that' but you just have to be yourself" - a phrase the girls frequently trotted out, despite there being little evidence of it on set.

Indeed, one of the girls had the amusing ability to burst into song/dance/tears the second she spotted a red light on a camera. All of which adds up to make the entire process much more challenging for both cast and crew.

On one hand, an awareness of the construct that is reality TV makes some girls more cautious, and hence more boring on TV. On the other, a knowledge of the potential power of reality TV and the quest for fame causes others to create a role they think the producers want to see.

They are challenges that managing director Martin Redman and executive producer Cheryl Price of Thumbs Up Productions are all too aware of. "Our job has definitely become much tougher," says Redman, "Contestants have been brought up on this kind of TV. So you get girls turning up to castings who say 'I'm a real bitch' or imply that they'll be whatever you want them to be. You also get the 'professional contestant' who will apply for every show going. It means we have to be much more rigorous in the selection process."

This takes the usual process of photos and application forms, with 300 seen face to face. The final selection is 14, with two on stand-by, followed by a 45-minute meeting with a counsellor. The challenge is to find 14 who could be models but who are different in terms of character and background.

Added to all of this is the tension between BNTM being a credible competition taken seriously by the fashion world and meeting the entertainment needs of the format. The team worked hard to make the show more aspirational this year, attracting several high-fashion brands and big names, and, according to Virgin Media TV managing director Johnny Webb, "the show's integrity has been key to its huge success internationally". But isn't there ever a conflict of interest between the panel, which wants a girl to stay in the competition for her looks, and the producers, who want someone else to stay as she makes better telly?

"The panel has the ultimate vote so that this remains a credible and brand-leading competition," insists Price. "And we're often on the same page. [Host] Lisa Snowdon is big on personality - if a girl is underconfident or is not delivering, she'll be eliminated eventually."

And, as Webb so neatly puts it, honesty is paramount because it's not just the contestant who has become more savvy, but the viewer: "The punter always smells the bullshit."