Come Monday, January 10 at 9/8c, VH1’s princess-rehab reality series You’re Cut Off! will return for its second season. As a bit of a preview, we spoke with the show’s resident life coach and host, Laura Baron, regarding the upcoming season. Below, she talks about the new group of girls, how their intensity differed from the first-season girls and, as someone invested in the show’s process, if she can appreciate the inherent fish-out-of-water comedy of the show.
Basically, I want to know in general how the season was for you. Was it more intense than the first? Less intense? Compare and contrast, if you would.
From a team perspective, it was more intense in that the entire production team understood ? and I experience this in my daily world — but we all understood the kind of impact we can make on these girls? lives. In the beginning, we believed it. After the first season, we saw it. It’s hard for me to say because I believe that the success of this show is steeped in our Season 1 girls being able to give like they did. So it?s very difficult for me to compare because the Season 1 girls gave us the platform for this. That said, the Season 2 girls gave on a level and came in on a level that did have a different intensity. They allowed us in much sooner, and as a result, it felt more intense.
Is it possible to compare and contrast the two groups of girls?
I think Season 2 was much more individualized. It is very clear that each girl brought their own separate bucket of challenges. The girls were responsive and reacted to each other, but there was definitely an understanding that individually they really wanted to own this process and that they really understood from a very individual and personal journey what this was going to mean. In Season 1 that definitely happened for them, but I think you felt more of the group moving and growing, whereas here, you saw sparks of each individual moving and growing at very different times.
I assume that at least some of them have been aware of the show or at least seen the first season.
Well, yes. The first day that I walked in, I was very aware that these girls had the potential of understanding what this program was about. And if they hadn?t seen the program, it didn?t take them long to understand how intense it actually was. And every girl that I had talked to since has admitted that in the beginning as Season 1 girls didn?t take it seriously, they didn?t feel like they were going to be cut off, and yet there was a moment. And they each had different moments. Their timing was very different and I think that is really the key difference between the two seasons. It really is that Season 1 had more a group thing to it and you saw a different dynamic. You saw growth with people in different times and different ways. Here it?s all individual.
Is that to say that there is a lot of discord between the group? Is there a lot of cattiness or fighting, even?
Because it?s such an individual process for them, I think the girls are challenged to make a stand in the house and have their voice heard. They don?t have their natural tools to distract them.
I know that you?re obviously, extremely invested in the process, and I also know that you watch this show very avidly. Is there any kind of cognitive dissonance in your appreciation of this show? So much of the entertainment value comes from watching these women act out and seeing the entitled princess get her comeuppance.
I not only recognize but appreciate their bold personalities. I love their sense of humor, I love the flavor that they bring and I appreciate that. I don?t mind when somebody comes back at me. I don?t mind when somebody comes back at somebody else. What that means is that they are moving forward, that they are thinking this through, that they are growing on some level. It?s not always in the direction that I want, but you often have to take a step back to move forward. And I love the humor that they bring with it. If you can?t have humor in your own journey, there?s very little value to it because you?re not going to stick with it. So as a TV show, I?m grateful that these girls do have such a way of expressing themselves. I also think it?s helpful for the audience. We can all relate to what these girls are saying. We might not want to say it in the same way, but that?s what makes them beautiful. They?re willing to be bold and they?re willing to be raw. Watching these girls is cathartic. And that?s the truth for the girls too: the girls see themselves and it?s a really phenomenal opportunity for them to reevaluate how they?re communicating.
Obviously part of the reason that they?re cast on the show is because of their difficult personalities. I know you came up against some direct insults in Season 1, particularly from Chrissy. Does that ever offend you personally, regardless of your expectations?
I am not superhuman and I would never claim to be. I don?t know if I would say that it?s offensive, because I know it?s a defense mechanism and I know they are stopping and impeding their own growth and their own process. What saddens me is that there?s only so much that I am willing to take and there is only so much that the group should have to take. Because in the end, it?s not gonna do anybody good. And if they?re not willing to own their stuff, I?m not gonna do their work for them, and that?s really the bottom line. If they’re not willing to work it, and they?re not willing to be respectful of the process, then I?m not going to allow one girl?s drama to kill the potential. And P.S. - more than anything personal, because I don?t take it personal, I don?t value that communication. I expect better, period. I think that?s what a lot of these girls are missing: strong expectations in their lives.
I wondered if we could go through the new girls and have you give me your first impressions of them. Aimee comes first alphabetically.
I think she is quintessential hard-shell, soft-heart.
How about Hana?
When I first got her, she was really guarded but excessively determined.
How about Jenn?
Let?s say fiery? That?s fun. And she gets it. She?s savvy, that?s what it is.
How about Jessica?
She is deeper than she gives you upfront. I knew that from the start.
What about Lauren?
She feels ready to launch. It seems as though she?s self-confined. She held back, she felt like she was behind a wall but she was ready. You could tell that she was.
Marcy is next.
She was such an interesting combination. I think she was self-assured yet vulnerable.
Nadia.
I already used vulnerable with Marcy…Nadia was brave but ironically delicate, yeah.
And finally Shakyra.
Limited is not the word but she was unreachable.
Is there anything else you can offer by way of a preview? Just what people should expect overall from the season?
I think that these girls really show that you can?t judge anybody by your first impression and that everybody deserves an opportunity to show who they really are. I think the greatest part about this season is that when you set expectations and you set boundaries, people rise to the occasion. It?s not always an easy task, but there?s always a reward.
Keep up with Laura via her official site and follow her on Twitter!
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You’re Cut Off! Season 2 cast reveal
Source: http://blog.vh1.com/2010-12-16/the-celebreality-interview-laura-baron-on-youre-cut-off-season-2/
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