A reality show has its upside obviously, but it really takes a lot out of you in terms of time and energy. I always thought it’s just people following you around with a camera and you just do what you do everyday. But it’s really not like that!

Everything is scheduled according to your personal and work calendars and events, and things that happen in between sometimes are unexpected and make good content for the show (like mom and her apam balik episode that got rave response, or when website crashed when I was at a Raya photoshoot). The shooting for a season can run for a couple of months so everything is cramped into the schedule. So in the past couple of months, my calendar has never been more packed. I had something almost every single day and had professional make up done on me every early morning. Some days, I had to change outfit 5 times because we were shooting for different episodes (yes, the events have been set for every episode, but things change all the time so the production team has got to be on point!) .

We’ve aired 6 out of 8 episodes for Season 1 and as the show comes to an end, I’m having mixed feelings. It’s been an amazing ride and I’ve never experienced anything like this before. Everyone was on some “high” pills, trying to finish each shoot, trying to capture moments that happen unexpectedly. From me, having the pressure of making sure I give good content to the show no matter how I’m feeling that day (getting excited during the interview to talk about events that have passed, is hard! Haha)…. to Iman making sure to organize everyone’s outfits, travels, bookings, my schedule…. to the production team shooting from day to night everyday, no matter the weather… to the editors who have to vet through hours of raw footage to cramp into a half-hour episode. My goddddd I think we all deserve a pat on the back because for a first time airing (and for a non-celebrity show), the channel was really happy with the ratings.

Now the show is coming to an end, and last week we shot the last scene and OMG we all cried buckets. Especially me. Not because of the show ending, but because I’ve grown really close to the production team. It’s crazy how a bunch of strangers can come together, spend time together day and night, and laugh and laugh about every silly thing. I seriously think the key to a good reality show is not just the content and production, but also the chemistry between the subjects and the BTS team. If I didn’t get along with the production crew, there is no way I could feel excited seeing them everyday.

We had a nice dinner together (well actually, they shot us having dinner and just had maggi in my house at 11pm bahahahah) and everyone gave a speech about how Love, Vivy has impacted them. Dean also gave a speech and for the first time ever, everyone saw him tear! He said he realized it’s not easy doing a reality show and it took a lot out of me that some days he felt so bad for me. Nawwwwwww! #suchasensitiveman

The next day, it felt so weird not having them with me with cameras and boom mic. We’ve been working together and filming for months so when it all comes to an end… it’s just kinda sad.

Ahhhhh, you guys don’t know how much you mean to me. You’ve seen the best and the worst, you’ve seen every moment and captured them so beautifully. #youaremyfamilytoo

We will officially upload all 8 episodes on YouTube once the season ends, so for those who didn’t manage to watch it, you can soon!

And then maybe a Season 2, we’ll see. 😉