Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Big Top’s tiny tots
CIRCUS KIDS: OUR SECRET WORLD
C5, 9pm SOME kids really do get to run away with the circus – but it’s a tough life for the youngsters who live and work at a gruelling pace. This fascinating documentary series meets children, some as young as two years old, who have grown up under the bright lights of the Big Top. For the most part, they thrive on circus life and wouldn’t have it any other way. But with constant travelling, limited access to school (and non-circus friends), plus hard work and hand-to-mouth wages, it’s an unforgiving life off-grid – and you have to wonder if they are really enjoying themselves. Cameras join some of the circus kids as they navigate the opening of the 2017 season, which means working seven days a week from February to November, without a single day off. And it’s a sight to behold as rehearsals get under way, with teenage boys throwing knives, girls training for the aerial hoop and kids whizzing past on unicycles. They are certainly taught a tough work ethic. Even two-year-old twins Scarlett and Esmerelda must help out. Dressed as little clowns, they hand out slush puppies and balloons to customers. Then they go on stage to support their grandad’s Wild West act, swirling a lasso around to receive the biggest cheer of the night (they do look pretty cute). Elsewhere, watch out for Peter, aged 17, practising in the Wheel of Death. He’s the youngest stunt rider in Europe. Eva and Rosita’s circus parents decided to quit a life on the road and send the girls to school. But the pair enjoy their return in the holidays and see the circus as their real home. Rosita says: “If I didn’t have the circus, I’d probably just crawl into a hole and stay there forever.”