‘Reality’ shows often aren’t real
My husband and I had a great time touring houses for two episodes of said Elizabeth Newcamp in One thing you didn’t see on air? We were already living in the great houses we ‘found’ on TV.
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HEN PEOPLE learn that my husband and I have been on House Hunters not just once but twice, they always have a million questions. Once we are done explaining, though, they never like my answers and wish they’d never asked. This is because even though smart viewers know that reality TV is created and edited just as carefully as scripted TV, they still, in the back of their minds, think that there must be some baseline rules about the “reality” that’s portrayed. But there aren’t! So I’m going to tell you all about my experience with House Hunters International, on which we appeared in 2017, and House Hunters, which we filmed last winter and appeared on in June. My story might burst your bubble about the show. If this is not something you want, stop reading now.
The first thing you need to know is that in neither episode of House Hunters were Jeff and I actually...house hunting. One time we’d already closed on the house we “chose” in the episode; the other time we’d already lived in our house for a year.
House Hunters International is always looking for people who have moved abroad to feature on the show. I write a blog about our family and our travels, which made us perfect—we were already willing to share our lives publicly. We filled out an application, submitted some iPhone footage of each of us giving a house tour, and underwent a Skype interview with a casting director, focusing on how we might be in conflict while looking for a house.
The interview also seemed meant to ensure we weren’t a family of sloths or murderers, though maybe that would make better TV. Shortly after the interview we found out we were cast but then waited months with no further word. Jeff and I often wondered if we had been dropped. During this wait I found out I was pregnant. Months later, in a whirlwind, we scheduled dates to film. A cameraperson, sound engineer, director, and fixer would be in our town of Delft, in the Netherlands, for one week in mid-July 2016 oblige. In the episode, I hinted at the absurdity of the whole situation when Michael mentioned that he lived near a house we were looking at. “Oh, so we could be neighbors,” I exclaimed, while biking to tour our actual house, down the street from his...where my children were playing with his daughter, under the supervision of his wife.
In conversation with the production crew, you outline your “storyline” before you start shooting.
W to shoot our episode. I was now seven E LEARNED IMMEDIATELY that months pregnant. We would be paid a flat these shows are looking for conrate of $1,500 for our time. flict, so it’s important to be ready The five days of shooting were organized to fight a little with your spouse. We actuby location availability, not in any sort of ally really thought this was fun. Throwing chronological order. One day we would a few punches in a safe space on things that film seeing the town of Delft “for the first don’t matter can be really cathartic. The time,” and the next day we were all moved entire point of the show is to make it seem into our house as though we had lived there impossible that you will ever find a house. for a few months. Keeping up with where The show is intended to resemble a real-life we were in the story (and what verb tense house hunt, but exaggerated for TV. to use) was a constant battle. In one of my favorite shots, we pretended to purchase a heavy bakfiets cargo bicycle for the first time, and I rode off, over a bridge, pregnant, with the children nicely tucked in. In reality, my first terrifying ride had been a year before, crisscrossing the road to stay up and stalling halfway up the bridge. My
“first ride” on TV, though, was effortless.
Some things about the show are completely transparent. There is no wardrobe or makeup department. You’ll hear plenty of opinions on what you should wear, but everything is coming out of your own closet.
I learned that all my favorite tops have stripes on them, a no-no for the camera.
But I was surprised how even the littlest details could be fictionalized. When they couldn’t find a local real estate agent, the
House Hunters International producers needed a Dutch person who was willing to be on camera for $500 as our “relocation expert.” Our neighbor and friend Michael, who actually works in IT, was happy to So you take your real-world wants, and in each house you visit, you ham that up. In House Hunters International I mentioned that I wanted a bathtub, something that is nearly impossible to find in the Netherlands. At the producers’ urging, I soon became all about the bathtub. I hopped into available tubs to try them out and lamented through entire house tours about how I would live, with three kids no less, without a bathtub. I was pregnant, after all, and that tub was a necessity. In reality, a bathtub was on my wish list but not something that would have made me pass on a great house. If we were looking for a house. Which we weren’t, because we had a great one, with a bathtub.
The houses we toured for the show were not for sale. Our small city of Delft had very little housing turnover. As a result, we visited two properties that were listed for rent on Airbnb. They did, to be fair, reflect the types of homes and features you would find in Delft.