TALI’S BABY DIARY
WE GO BEHIND THE SCENES WITH “MOM-FLUENCER” TALI
Instagram sensation, influencer and thought leader Tali Shapiro-Nudelman (played by Julia Anastasopoulos) is having a baby. She has gathered her wickedly observant documentary film crew, who brought us the glory of
Tali’s Wedding Diary in 2017, to film Tali’s Baby Diary. We chatted with
Julia and Anton Taylor, who plays Tali’s husband and father-to-be Darren, to get the inside scoop ahead of the baby bliss from Sunday 7 March.
“The show is set in the beginning of 2021. We don’t really bring 2020 into the story. We felt like we wanted to escape from it a bit. It’s been a bit of a challenge to shoot it that way, but we have decided to leave that out of the story,” reveals Julia. “We’ve kind of set it in a parallel universe where COVID never happened. We learn that Tali is pregnant in episode 1, and we follow her pregnancy until she has her baby. It’s a nine-month journey.”
“As with the world of weddings, in the world of having a baby there is a lot of comedy. You have to have a sense of humour because you meet the funniest people. And the world of having a baby on social media, we can only laugh at that, because what is portrayed is so far away from the truth. We really wanted to look at that and play with it. It’s coming from a real place, the ridiculousness of it all I experienced as a first-time parent,” says Julia, who had her daughter Zoe with husband Ari Kruger back in July 2018.
WELCOME TO BABY WORLD!
The baby news comes as a surprise to Tali, and it derails her plans for the direction she wants to take as an influencer. But once Tali comes round to the idea of being pregnant, it is, indeed, a blessed event. Get ready for the shopping spree of a lifetime.
“Oh my gosh, where do I even start,” Julia laughs. “I know this from my own pregnancy: you think you have to buy all this crazy stuff. You don’t need it, but you end up doing it anyway. But obviously Tali is the most extravagant person. Tali is so extra that she really does go for it. We’re talking all the baby gear, all the prams, all the accessories. She has a massive pregnancy pillow that travels with her throughout the season. She even gets a bigger car because, you know, now that you are having a baby, don’t you need a bigger car? So that’s what Tali buys.”
“In terms of production and art department, there have been some really funny things that have come into the show. The bee-themed baby shower has been an extravaganza. There are prosthetic bellies made of silicone, and realistic skin, it’s crazy,” adds Julia.
And if you’ve been even the tiniest bit adjacent to baby world, you’ll know that it all comes with a steep price tag. “We have pulled so many favours for this production,” admits Julia. “But luckily because Tali’s Wedding Diary (2017-2018) was a success, we were able to leverage off that and say that Tali is having a baby. We’ve done a lot of brand collaborations with Tali for real, and we’ve had so many major brands come onboard and let us borrow stuff. They’ve sponsored stuff, and we’ve had amazing fashion brands that have collaborated. It’s actually really worked out, because that’s what we’re doing in the show! She’s an influencer, she’s getting brand sponsorships, and it’s this kind of parallel world where we really are getting the brand onboard, so it’s worked out brilliantly. I could
not be more grateful. There’s going to be a lot of stuff happening on social media that’s based on collabs with these brands.”
TALI’S BIG MAKEOVERS
The glamorous Tali is getting an Earth Mother makeover. And it’s not just her. In Tali’s stop-at-nothing quest to conquer the world of Instagram mom influencers – the Momfluencers – she makes over her house too. “Tali, who is very into material things, tries to do a few things to pivot into the Momfluencer world. She feels the Momfluencers represent a more wholesome, natural kind of world, so we see Tali trying to infiltrate that world and try to become a little more wholesome, which is comedic to watch,” says Julia. “She transforms her look in one episode and her house in another episode. She does a whole house makeover to try and fit into this crowd. She gets quite elaborate with it. She eliminates everything that she thinks would be frowned upon by the world of the Momfluencers, like the coffee machine, because it’s singleuse plastic. And she brings in a lot of plants, which isn’t in her character at all. She probably won’t do well with plants, poor old Tali. She changes the couches, which are her wedding couches, and the artwork. We had a lot of fun with the art department on that set change day,” reveals Julia.
And while Darren is, in Anton’s words, “resigned” to having his life and house turned upside down, Anton was in awe of what the art department achieved. “You know when something crazy happens in life you’re like, ‘Oh, well. Of course, this is happening.’ Nothing surprises you anymore. That’s exactly like Darren,” says Anton. “But the art department, logistically, it was a triumph to have done it in the timeframe that they did. It deserves an award. I walked in and later I went downstairs and the house was transformed. I was like, ‘How did you do this in such a short period of time? It was like two hours! It was insane. It’s not like they moved a table. They properly redid the house. But as for the fact that Tali would do it? I was like (as Darren), ‘Of course she would,’” Anton shrugs.
THE (SUR)REAL WORLD OF MOMS
Tali is right about one thing. There are people out there who will nitpick every single aspect of any photo you post online. Especially if you’re a mom. Baby world on Instagram, is “A Thing”
Tali (right) is making sure that she’s the queen bee in the momfluencer world.
(capital T). “We were drawing from social media, actual influencers and the trends that are happening on Instagram, especially in the world of the Momfluencers, actual people we all seem to follow in our everyday lives as moms,” says Julia. “They have a curated look. It’s a lot of fun because we are making fun, and we are commenting on that world and how fake it is.”
This is motherhood portrayed as a sun-bleached fairyland. “Very desaturated colours,” describes Julia. “Very natural looking, with maybe some beautiful flowers and sunset. Perfectly photographed. It isn’t reality.” If you pull back the camera, Julia explains, “You would actually see that there’s a professional photographer. The baby is crying. You’re quite uncomfortable in yourself and your body. It doesn’t look like that at all.”
“No one can prepare you for it (motherhood) until you go through it. What struck me was how underprepared I was, and how much harder it was than I thought it would be. And I think that it goes through a similar journey. It’s portrayed in media, social media and movies as quite glamorous. You’ll be pregnant and gorgeous and you’re a goddess. With the baby I really found it to be the opposite. We definitely drew on that as well,” adds Julia.
“Darren wants to be a good father, I think he probably just wants to support his wife and he knows that Tali’s the star. He knows that the documentary crew is there for Tali. So he’s there to support her,” insists Anton as he
Sisters Michelle (34) & Victoria Newland (33)
They want the $1 million (R18 million) grand prize but they’re using the show for ulterior motives, says Michelle: “We haven’t spent a lot of time together of late and this will let us travel and bond.” Pro volleyball star brothers Riley (31) & Maddison McKibbin (29)
The bearded boys are packing more than just athleticism and competitive spirit: they’re fluent in Italian, Spanish and English, so communicating with people around the world will be easy. Father-and-son Jerry (60) & Frank Eaves (25)
Frank didn’t follow his dad’s footsteps into the NBA as a basketball star, but he is game for adventure. “The only thing that can stop us is the plane falling out the sky,” says Frank.
Dating couple Leo Brown (30) & Alana Folsom (29)
What they lack in brawn, Leo and Alana make up for in brains: he’s a senior data analyst and she’s a Harvard graduate and communications associate at tech college MIT. “We work to problem solve daily, this is a breeze,” adds Alana.
Best friends Nathan Worthington (39) & Cody Buell (33)
These best buds are what you’d call typical American country folk, but don’t let their accents fool you. They’re hard working and are always looking to have a laugh wherever they travel.
Sisters Kaylynn (30) & Haley
Williams (31)
The sibling estate agents go by the nickname Blonde Bandits, and while they are “fit and fabulous, ready for adventure”, they have a shared fear: “We lose things… often… so losing our passports in a foreign country is our biggest concern,” says Kaylynn.
Married couple Chee Lee (39) &
Hung Nguyen (38)
Development coach Chee and financial planning analyst Hung are prepared for anything and everything the show can throw their way. “We’re here to win and we’ve binged all 31 previous seasons – we have a formula planned,” says Hung, adding that “we never went on honeymoon, so this is our ultimate-moon.” Entrepreneur siblings Eswa (24) & Aparna Dhinakaran (26)
Aparna and her brother have been fans of the show since they were eight years old and saw the show visit Chenai, India in season 10 (2006). “You don’t see a lot of people who look like us in US reality shows. We made a pact then to get on the show and win it,” says Aparna. Olympic hurdler friends Kellie WellsBrinkley (38) & LaVonne Idlette (34) The super-star athletes have spent years building business and family after they retired “and we have an itch that needs to be scratched,” says Kellie, with her teammate LaVonne adding that “we’re ready to run – literally – if we need to.”
GOING GLOBAL
Phil was on-hand to celebrate a milestone achievement set in season 32. “We have travelled an accumulated 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometres). It’s a Guinness World Record, and it is crazy to think about – how many passports we have used, how much infrastructure has gone into filming this show.” There’s going to be a wait for season 33 though – while it was renewed in 2019, filming was suspended in 2020 due to COVID-19. “We were midway through filming when we were called back. I don’t know when we’ll finish,” says Phil.