Speaker 1: I started reality TV in two thousand nine with Cheeks
Speaker 1: and Roxy, and I had to be convinced to do it.
Speaker 1: It was like pulling teeth. When the cameras are on
Speaker 1: their on and they're gonna catch whatever they catch, and
Speaker 1: when they're off, the mics are on, so they're listening
Speaker 1: to everything. We did four seasons of the Rivera's. Then
Speaker 1: the fourth season came around, I think because not enough
Speaker 1: exciting things were happening drama was being created at going
Speaker 1: with Stan, Happy Monday, everyone. Today's episode is going to
Speaker 1: be about my time and reality TV. I'm going to
Speaker 1: tell you, guys about my experience working in the industry
Speaker 1: and also about some of the lessons I've learned. Stay tuned.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a good one. This is Cheek Ease
Speaker 1: and Chill. Alright, guys, So I've spent several years in
Speaker 1: reality TV. Many of you probably know me from shows
Speaker 1: like Chicks and Roxy, Chickens in Control, I Love Jenny
Speaker 1: the rip Beras, or Cheeks Confidential. I've really enjoyed my
Speaker 1: time working on each of these shows. I started my
Speaker 1: career because so many people think that, well, my mom
Speaker 1: passed and they thought that I started my career after
Speaker 1: she had passed, and that is not true. I started
Speaker 1: reality TV in two thousand nine with Cheeks and Roxy,
Speaker 1: and I had to be convinced to do it. It
Speaker 1: was like pulling teeth. I was so used to being
Speaker 1: behind the cameras. I enjoyed it. I felt like that's
Speaker 1: where I belonged. I always felt that there was something more.
Speaker 1: There were things that I wanted to do. And there
Speaker 1: would be times when I would pretend to be singing,
Speaker 1: like you know, Gwen Stefani in the living room or Shakida,
Speaker 1: which were those were my two faves, And I'd be
Speaker 1: in the living room I'd been cleaning and I would
Speaker 1: sing and I would be like, imagine myself on stage.
Speaker 1: Or I would always hear a Lousels people like applauding,
Speaker 1: but I always just because my mom's career was always
Speaker 1: like on the rise, Thank goodness, I just felt like
Speaker 1: I'm okay with being behind the scenes and helping my
Speaker 1: mom with her career and helping my mom with my siblings.
Speaker 1: So when the whole reality TV thing started happening during
Speaker 1: that time, I remember one of the first ones that
Speaker 1: I really got into was newlyweds Nick Lash and Jessica
Speaker 1: Simpson one they had just gotten married. It was really
Speaker 1: cute to see like people on TV in a different way.
Speaker 1: This is when I think reality TV was born. They
Speaker 1: actually were the ones that started, one of the very
Speaker 1: first people that started that in the Osborne's. So when
Speaker 1: we were approached for a reality TV show, my mom
Speaker 1: and her manager then said, you know what, this is
Speaker 1: a great opportunity for you to spread your wings, for
Speaker 1: you to inspire girls, to show them what you do
Speaker 1: for your mother. And Roxy, who was the other co
Speaker 1: star on Cheeks and Roxy, Roxy was a radio host
Speaker 1: for Mega here in l A. And my mom basically
Speaker 1: had to convince me that was the only way, Like honestly,
Speaker 1: it was a conversation for like a few months, and
Speaker 1: I was like no, no, no, I don't want to
Speaker 1: because after Newlyweds and I don't know if it had
Speaker 1: to do with the reality show, but Nick and Jessica
Speaker 1: divorced and then I knew that the Osbornes were having
Speaker 1: little issues here and there. So it just kind of
Speaker 1: scared me because I'm like, I don't know, like I
Speaker 1: don't want it to cause issues, Like it's better to
Speaker 1: be private back then, right, And Anyways, when my mom
Speaker 1: told me, you know what, you can inspire other young
Speaker 1: ladies to be hard working, to go after their dreams.
Speaker 1: You know, everything you do for me, I want people
Speaker 1: to see that, and and it'll be to Latin as
Speaker 1: in l A chasing their dreams. So I said, okay, fine,
Speaker 1: Finally I said all right, And I was so shy,
Speaker 1: you guys, I had no idea what the heck I
Speaker 1: was doing. In the beginning, I was like, what is
Speaker 1: this cameras everywhere? And then with time, I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm a pretty fast learner, so I just started seeing
Speaker 1: them like flies on the walls, like there were just
Speaker 1: other people there. I stopped seeing them as cameras. You know.
Speaker 1: The camera men became friends and the sound guy and
Speaker 1: it just became kind of like a family because it
Speaker 1: was long as hours of recording, long hours. And I
Speaker 1: really do think Roxy because she was advanced and everything,
Speaker 1: you know, she was on radio, she would do red carpets,
Speaker 1: she would go to award shows, and so she really
Speaker 1: did walk me through being a star all on my
Speaker 1: own and kind of like stepping out of my mom's shadow.
Speaker 1: So she really did help me. And even when we
Speaker 1: were doing interviews for everything. I would just like, you
Speaker 1: answer everything, you know, you go ahead and answer. She's
Speaker 1: like no, she would push me. She's like, you gotta
Speaker 1: answer to girl, and I'm like okay. So I just
Speaker 1: started kind of just watching and learning, and I think
Speaker 1: I always had it in me. I was just shy,
Speaker 1: and I was a little afraid because I had seen
Speaker 1: it for so long how the industry can affect people.
Speaker 1: I mean, I live with my mom my entire life,
Speaker 1: and I saw how it affected her, how certain comments
Speaker 1: and things like that got to her sometimes. So I was,
Speaker 1: I think more scared of that. But anyways, that's how
Speaker 1: we started with Chickens and Roxy, and then from there
Speaker 1: we had a little fall out with Roxy and again,
Speaker 1: because reality a lot of it, what works is drama.
Speaker 1: So towards the end of Chickens and Roxy, which it
Speaker 1: did amazing, you guys, amazing. We were even on Bravo.
Speaker 1: Our ratings were the best on Mundol's back then, which
Speaker 1: is now one, and then we had a little falling
Speaker 1: out her and I on the show. And I kind
Speaker 1: of want to say that it had a little to
Speaker 1: do with the production company, to be honest, I didn't
Speaker 1: see it until afterwards. Then after that, you know, I
Speaker 1: got a lot of really great reviews, and they still
Speaker 1: wanted to see me and and my family. My mom
Speaker 1: would go on Chickens and Roxy very little Mama was
Speaker 1: an executive producer. It was Jenny Rivera Presents Chickens and Roxy,
Speaker 1: so she would come. She would do little cameos here
Speaker 1: and they're very like. She just wrinkled. And I would
Speaker 1: ask my siblings if they could come on, because they
Speaker 1: were a huge part of my life. So they did.
Speaker 1: They agreed, and then I wasn't getting paid obviously a lot.
Speaker 1: I think for the entire season, I got paid thirteen
Speaker 1: thousand dollars and it was like fifteen episodes, and it
Speaker 1: was a long, long, very long days. But it was
Speaker 1: an investment. So I just saw it that way. I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: if we prove ourselves in this first season, in which
Speaker 1: we did, then we can get more money the next
Speaker 1: season and so on and so forth. So I saw
Speaker 1: it as a business transaction, or like I was looking
Speaker 1: at as a as a businesswoman. Should I say any who?
Speaker 1: I couldn't pay my siblings, I couldn't pay anybody because
Speaker 1: I wasn't really getting paid that much I remember that
Speaker 1: the first thing I did when I got my paycheck
Speaker 1: with Chickens and Roxy was by my first expensive as mattress.
Speaker 1: I got paid thirteen thousand dollars and I spent thirty
Speaker 1: on like this badass mattress because I was like, no,
Speaker 1: I need to sleep, I need to sleep good. I
Speaker 1: need to rest because I was reading about all this stuff,
Speaker 1: how to read good and if you have good sleep.
Speaker 1: You know. I was like always into these holistic things.
Speaker 1: So I bought myself my mattress. My mom was like,
Speaker 1: what are you doing. And then with the rest of
Speaker 1: the money, I helped my then boyfriend by a car.
Speaker 1: So I was really left with not a lot, but
Speaker 1: a lot of experience, a lot of experience. I matured
Speaker 1: so much during that time with Chickens and Roxy, and well,
Speaker 1: Chickens and Roxy came to and end, unfortunately, even after
Speaker 1: it's amazing success. That's when they approached us Mundos and said,
Speaker 1: you know what, we would want to see more of
Speaker 1: the family. Let's do a family reality show again. I
Speaker 1: was like hesitant. I'm like, Mom, I don't know, I'm scared,
Speaker 1: like I don't want it to cause issues. So we
Speaker 1: all had a family meeting, and my mom said, this
Speaker 1: is a good opportunity for all of you to make money.
Speaker 1: You will all get paid, all the responsibility won't following
Speaker 1: your sister. So the kids were like, all right, cool,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get paid and you know, we can kind
Speaker 1: of tell our story. And Mom was like, the only
Speaker 1: way that I'm going to come out more is if
Speaker 1: you pay us the big bucks. So my mom negotiated it. Finally,
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, we had a family eating and
Speaker 1: we're like, we're not going to let this get between us.
Speaker 1: If someone is feeling uncomfortable, then we have to say
Speaker 1: it and we'll end it. That was like our biggest thing,
Speaker 1: and we were all on the same page. For me,
Speaker 1: it was like, if we don't have this meeting and
Speaker 1: we're not on the same page, I don't want to
Speaker 1: do it because to me, my family was always the
Speaker 1: most important thing and still is. So anyhow, we went
Speaker 1: with I Love Jenny. It fucking did amazing. We did
Speaker 1: two seasons and then they wanted to do a spinoff
Speaker 1: show because obviously I was making some money, I was
Speaker 1: saving and I wanted to open my own business. So
Speaker 1: I opened Blowed Me Dry, which is my very first baby,
Speaker 1: my hair salon, which was like a you know the
Speaker 1: dry bar. You know, they're huge when I started coming out,
Speaker 1: so I wanted my own spin on it, so I
Speaker 1: called it Blow Me Dry, the reality show. The producers
Speaker 1: knew that I was doing this, that I was opening
Speaker 1: up my salons, so they're like, okay, well, while we
Speaker 1: are on off season with I Love Jenny, let's do
Speaker 1: a spinoff show with cheekies showing the process of her
Speaker 1: opening up her salon. So that's what we did. That's
Speaker 1: where Cheeks in Control came about, and it did so
Speaker 1: good as well, um I was signed up to do
Speaker 1: another season. It was also replayed on Bravo, which was great.
Speaker 1: It did really well and that was fun. It was myself,
Speaker 1: my manager, my friends that I had. Then during that time,
Speaker 1: when we were on off season, that's when my mom
Speaker 1: and I started having the issues, and so my mom
Speaker 1: canceled my show. She told Mundos, We're not going to
Speaker 1: do another season of Cheeks in Control. Of course, I
Speaker 1: was devastated because I was like, how am I supposed
Speaker 1: to make money? Like I just got let go from
Speaker 1: my job with my mom. It was a really horrible time,
Speaker 1: but it really did help me. I had the salon
Speaker 1: at least with everything we had had made from cheeks
Speaker 1: in control, and I love Jenny. I was able to
Speaker 1: open my salon, so I felt a little better. I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: well I did this, you know, I have something to
Speaker 1: show for it. So I was a little happy, but
Speaker 1: of course I was sad. Anyways, the reason I'm telling
Speaker 1: you guys all over this is because people get confused
Speaker 1: that I started my career maybe my singing career, yes,
Speaker 1: but it's something that I always wanted to do. And
Speaker 1: I explained that in one of the episodes here on
Speaker 1: Chickens and Chill, but in reality, like funny, right, in reality.
Speaker 1: I started reality in two thousand nine, you know. And
Speaker 1: I was even my mom and I were on Latina
Speaker 1: magazine on the cover together in two thousand and eleven.
Speaker 1: So it's like I was already like on the road,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like I was already what
Speaker 1: I'm doing now. I was very fortunate that I didn't
Speaker 1: have to like quote unquote rent friends, like people that
Speaker 1: I had to pay to be on the show, like
Speaker 1: everyone that was on the reality show where my real friends. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: a lot of the people are almost all of them
Speaker 1: that were on the reality show with Us with Me,
Speaker 1: should I say, are no longer in my life? A
Speaker 1: lot of things happen, and that's a whole other episode, guys.
Speaker 1: But one that I do want to talk about specifically
Speaker 1: is Gerald. For those of you that don't know who
Speaker 1: Gerald is. Gerald was a friend of mine for a
Speaker 1: very long time, and he was a huge part of
Speaker 1: the reality show and he helped a lot because he
Speaker 1: was always with me. Honestly, helped me a lot with
Speaker 1: my siblings, with my businesses, my friends too. Also a
Speaker 1: friend that's no longer in my life, Ellen, she helped
Speaker 1: me a lot with with Blow Me Dry. She was
Speaker 1: the manager, so they all came out. We did the
Speaker 1: whole thing, like interviewing people for their positions and interviewing
Speaker 1: people for like management. It was just it was really cool.
Speaker 1: It was a really cool experience. And I don't know exactly.
Speaker 1: I think it was a series of things. There were
Speaker 1: things that I think I said that hurt him, that
Speaker 1: bothered him, that I apologized for and then I understood.
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, well maybe like you know, messing around,
Speaker 1: but it was I think a little too harsh. So
Speaker 1: I think that was like the beginning of the end,
Speaker 1: and there were things I think that were bothering him
Speaker 1: for a long time. I think he felt used with
Speaker 1: the reality. He felt like a cast member. I should
Speaker 1: be getting paid. That's the last I heard. I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: Like he lived in our house, like we helped each
Speaker 1: other out a lot. People always ask what happened with Gerald?
Speaker 1: In reality, that's the truth, that's really what happened. I
Speaker 1: think he felt unappreciated and underpaid, because we're not really underpaid,
Speaker 1: because he wasn't getting paid. He was just like invited,
Speaker 1: like ky Chicks, is going to do this today? Or
Speaker 1: do you want to come? Or sometimes he wasn't even invited.
Speaker 1: He was just a part of it because he was
Speaker 1: my best friend and he was in a lot of
Speaker 1: scenes with me, and he was funny and he made
Speaker 1: it funny and people loved him. So maybe he felt
Speaker 1: like I should have paid him, and maybe I should have,
Speaker 1: but it was really in that at that point, out
Speaker 1: of my control because I hadn't have a say in that.
Speaker 1: My mom was like the executive producer. I think he
Speaker 1: got paid a little bit. I'm not too sure the
Speaker 1: producers handled that, but not what he felt that he deserved,
Speaker 1: and we really never got to talk about it. We
Speaker 1: just drifted apart, and sadly we have no communication and
Speaker 1: it's been years and everyone always asks me about that.
Speaker 1: You know. I've always kept my circle very tight and
Speaker 1: I never really let people in when I was especially
Speaker 1: when I was doing the reality I do feel like
Speaker 1: some people try to come around to be on the
Speaker 1: reality show, but I was very protective of my space,
Speaker 1: of my sibling space, you know. So it was really
Speaker 1: like my true core friends that were on there. It
Speaker 1: makes me a little sad, to be honest, when I
Speaker 1: think about it, because I'm like, damn, we had a
Speaker 1: beautiful time, like especially with my friends and stuff like that,
Speaker 1: and they're no longer in my life. But I'm happy
Speaker 1: that I have the reality show to look back on.
Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, well we live those moments. It was
Speaker 1: nice and should just happens. You know, you just dripped apart.
Speaker 1: You change, you grow, and some people are meant to
Speaker 1: be in your life for a certain season of your
Speaker 1: life and then they're not meant to move on with you.
Speaker 1: So that's what it is. For those of you that
Speaker 1: always ask about Gerald, you know, I'm sure you can
Speaker 1: find on on Instagram. You can ask him. I have
Speaker 1: no bad blood towards him, like I wish him the best.
Speaker 1: I want him to do well, and I want all
Speaker 1: my friends to do well. Those that where my friends
Speaker 1: and are no longer in my life, but I'm grateful.
Speaker 1: I'm grateful that they were there, especially during some hardass times,
Speaker 1: and I've learned to accept it. I've learned to accept
Speaker 1: that ship happens, and you grow and sometimes you grow apart. Okay,
Speaker 1: so now let's talk about happy times. So a lot
Speaker 1: of great things happen on the reality show. A lot,
Speaker 1: Like I said, we got to go on vacation. We
Speaker 1: did a lot of extreme sports that I don't think
Speaker 1: I've ever done because a lot of Latin families don't,
Speaker 1: you know, do a lot of things we were able
Speaker 1: to do through the shows. Um, and I got to
Speaker 1: do it with my favorite people, my family, my friends,
Speaker 1: my brothers and sisters. One of my favorite episodes is
Speaker 1: when we went to Hawaii with my mom and it
Speaker 1: was like, I think, our very first family vacation, our
Speaker 1: first and our last. You guys, my mom wasn't one
Speaker 1: to vacation. She didn't know how to vacation. All she
Speaker 1: ever knew was work, work, work, And my grandpa is
Speaker 1: like that till this day. So my mom just I
Speaker 1: think took after him. So I remember being on vacation
Speaker 1: and they forced her to do things that forced her.
Speaker 1: But we're like, okay, we're gonna go do this today
Speaker 1: and she's like okay. Like, for instance, I think she
Speaker 1: was so scared. It was so cute to see my mom.
Speaker 1: Like my mom wasn't scared of anything. She was fearless.
Speaker 1: She was a badass woman, you know. But when she
Speaker 1: jumped into the ocean and she was with the sting rays,
Speaker 1: she was freaking out, like she said, what is this?
Speaker 1: I think it was just too much for her, and
Speaker 1: it was just so cute to see her laugh. I
Speaker 1: think we were like also swimming with like the dolphins.
Speaker 1: Those memories I'm never going to forget because I saw
Speaker 1: my mom in a different light, like a little girl,
Speaker 1: just so excited but scared, and it was our vacation.
Speaker 1: We were all together. It was just really really really nice.
Speaker 1: It's one of like the highlights for me. And there
Speaker 1: are certain things that I'm like, Damn, I can't believe
Speaker 1: I did that. I wish I wouldn't have come out
Speaker 1: like for instance, I don't know if those of you
Speaker 1: that have watched the Verras remember when we did a
Speaker 1: mud run. It was hard as hell. You had to run,
Speaker 1: you had to go through all of these obstacle courses,
Speaker 1: and well, in the middle of it, I had to
Speaker 1: go to the bathroom, and of course the cameras are there,
Speaker 1: and of course you have your mic on, and I
Speaker 1: had to go number two. And I'm the type of
Speaker 1: woman that if nature calls, I'm gonna handle business. I'm
Speaker 1: not the type that's like, oh, I don't use public questrooms.
Speaker 1: I don't like public questrooms. They're not my my, my favorite,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't prefer them. And you know, I
Speaker 1: do the whole toilet paper and the toilet seat covers
Speaker 1: and all that stuff. But anyways, we didn't have that.
Speaker 1: We were in the woods. You guys were in the
Speaker 1: woods doing this damn mud run, and memoi was I
Speaker 1: had to go to the bathroom. So I went behind
Speaker 1: a bush and I told the producers and I looked
Speaker 1: at the cameraman and I'm like, you're gonna stay right
Speaker 1: here and I'm gonna go handle business. And I thought
Speaker 1: they were going to cut it out, and I think
Speaker 1: I asked them to cut it out and they're like, no,
Speaker 1: absolutely not, we're not going to cut it out. And
Speaker 1: you know what's crazy. I was an executive producer on
Speaker 1: The Rivera's and I was like, no, we're not gonna
Speaker 1: cut it out. It was like, it's funny, we're not
Speaker 1: gonna show where. I'm like, okay, well, don't like I
Speaker 1: don't want to hear the noises because I was pooping
Speaker 1: in the woods. You guys with cameras all around. I
Speaker 1: hit of course. But anyways, that's one thing that I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I can't believe I did that on
Speaker 1: like national television. Always reminding me of something. She was
Speaker 1: a huge fan of the reality show. Okay, so she
Speaker 1: said that I didn't remember this, and it's probably true
Speaker 1: because I love white bees. So anyways, I guess I
Speaker 1: took off my underwear and I wiped my ass with
Speaker 1: it and I just I left it there. I still
Speaker 1: can't believe it I'm talking about. I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: that's not ladylike chickens, but it neither is pooping in
Speaker 1: your pants, so whatever. And then there's the ugly part. Guys,
Speaker 1: there's the ugly part behind the scenes of reality where
Speaker 1: I don't blame the producers or the networks because it's
Speaker 1: just what people want to see. And that's where I
Speaker 1: decided it's time to stop with the reality because I
Speaker 1: don't want it to cause issues between my siblings and I.
Speaker 1: After the last season of I Love Jenny, which I
Speaker 1: believe was the fourth season, my mom had barely started
Speaker 1: recording the fourth season if I Love Jenny when she passed,
Speaker 1: so we had to basically finish it. That was tough,
Speaker 1: and we took a break after I Love Jenny, and
Speaker 1: then people kept asking and asking you guys, we want
Speaker 1: to see you guys on reality again. We would get
Speaker 1: comments all the time. The network came and gave us
Speaker 1: an offer, and I talked to my siblings and again
Speaker 1: we're like, okay, this is an opportunity for everyone to
Speaker 1: make some money, to save some money, to start your
Speaker 1: own businesses, and so we all agreed, and that's when
Speaker 1: the Riveras were born. The core of the show was
Speaker 1: my siblings and I and then a little bit of
Speaker 1: like my extended family, and that kind of was an
Speaker 1: issue because again, people felt that they weren't getting paid
Speaker 1: I think enough for the work that they were doing,
Speaker 1: which I get but again that was kind of out
Speaker 1: of my hands. I was an executive producer, and I said,
Speaker 1: the only way I'm going to do it is if
Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer and I can watch that soaked
Speaker 1: and stuff before the air. Because I wanted to make
Speaker 1: sure that I took care of our family. That was
Speaker 1: the most important thing to me. So we did four
Speaker 1: seasons of The Rivera's so it was doing really good.
Speaker 1: The first three seasons were good. We were chilling, like
Speaker 1: there was a lot going on, so there wasn't really
Speaker 1: like it wasn't necessary to cause drama because everyone wanted
Speaker 1: to know what happened after mom and how we were
Speaker 1: handling everything, and it was just a lot selling the
Speaker 1: house and everything was on the reality show, just a lot.
Speaker 1: A lot happened, me getting married and engaged, and just
Speaker 1: a lot. And then the fourth season came around and
Speaker 1: she started getting a little weird. Not a lot was
Speaker 1: going on. It just the same old stuff. Jackie was
Speaker 1: living very far. She had her children should take him
Speaker 1: to school. It was getting a little frustrating for her
Speaker 1: having to drive all the way to the valley because
Speaker 1: the rest of us were in the valley or a
Speaker 1: lot closer, so she was kind of getting frustrated. Mikey
Speaker 1: and Jennica were always kind of like they're they're more
Speaker 1: like behind the scenes type of person. With Jenica is
Speaker 1: now more of like she's more comfortable and she's like
Speaker 1: in front of the camera, she's like a whole last
Speaker 1: influencer now. But then she was just shy and she
Speaker 1: was still trying to figure her stuff out, like she
Speaker 1: wasn't as confident as she is now. Then Mikey is
Speaker 1: very like, I don't give a shit about this. He
Speaker 1: was like, I'm here for the money. He was always real.
Speaker 1: He's like, I'm not gonna show my girlfriends. I'm not
Speaker 1: going to talk about personal stuff, so he was just
Speaker 1: upfront about it. I think everyone's just kind of tired.
Speaker 1: It had been so long, ten years of reality and
Speaker 1: then I think because not all like enough exciting things
Speaker 1: were happening, or it was just like I said, a
Speaker 1: lot of the same ship drama was being created in
Speaker 1: the last season. I started noticing and it started causing
Speaker 1: some friction between my friendships and myself again, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: I can't allow this to happen. I think at my
Speaker 1: bachelorette party, we were in Vegas that came out on
Speaker 1: the Rivera's the last season, and one of my friends
Speaker 1: threw a shoe out of my other friend and it
Speaker 1: was just crazy. It was just too much going on.
Speaker 1: Everyone was drunk, and that became I think one of
Speaker 1: the first thing that really bothered me where I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: how did why Why were the cameras rolling or you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, like why is this happening? And
Speaker 1: then things started happening between my sister and I that
Speaker 1: I think, like, I don't know if it was the producers.
Speaker 1: I don't know because I love the producers, you know,
Speaker 1: the producers that we worked with. I was working with
Speaker 1: them from the very beginning. So that's why I was
Speaker 1: like kind of thrown off. I'm like, what is going on?
Speaker 1: Like there was just unnecessary drama being created, and it
Speaker 1: started causing friction between my siblings and I and I said,
Speaker 1: a wait a second, like I'm not going to be
Speaker 1: chasing my siblings either for their schedules. It was just
Speaker 1: becoming a headache for me. It was causing me more stress.
Speaker 1: That's why I just decided I said, we're not doing
Speaker 1: another season, and of course they wanted another season. We
Speaker 1: were doing really well. The readings, thank goodness, were always
Speaker 1: really good with the reality shows, but it just wasn't
Speaker 1: worth it anymore for me. And there was this one
Speaker 1: time that Mikey and I had an argument on camera.
Speaker 1: It was some real ship and I asked them we
Speaker 1: were like in the middle of the argument, and I said,
Speaker 1: turn off the cameras, and they didn't because I was
Speaker 1: getting piste. I thought him and I are going to
Speaker 1: go at it right now, and he was pissed. He
Speaker 1: was fired up. And that's one thing with Mikey and I.
Speaker 1: We go like head on. Mikey is like when he
Speaker 1: gets mad, he gets mad, and so do I. So
Speaker 1: they didn't turn off the cameras, and I was really upset,
Speaker 1: like I'm an executive producer here like hello, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to have moments like this anymore,
Speaker 1: Like I just don't want she like this to happen.
Speaker 1: She was kind of weird in my relationship at that
Speaker 1: time as well. And I didn't want my wedding to
Speaker 1: be a part of the reality show. I wanted it
Speaker 1: to be very private. They didn't like that either, so
Speaker 1: I said, if you guys want that, it can't be
Speaker 1: a part of this reality show. Has to be something
Speaker 1: completely separate. And then I decided, I don't want that.
Speaker 1: I really want to have fun at my wedding. I
Speaker 1: don't want to have a mic on and have the
Speaker 1: cameras there. I just want to enjoy. And I invited
Speaker 1: the producers as my friends to come and celebrate with us,
Speaker 1: but they didn't like the fact that they couldn't be
Speaker 1: there recording it. Because of course the Lemundo really wanted it,
Speaker 1: but I didn't want that. So it was just I
Speaker 1: think it felt like we need to just call it quit.
Speaker 1: Everyone wanted to rest. Everyone was annoyed, my cibilians. Everyone
Speaker 1: was just annoyed at that point. I was annoyed because
Speaker 1: it was so hard to schedule the kids and it
Speaker 1: was just too many of us and I it's causing issues.
Speaker 1: My friend got upset because she looked like a total ass,
Speaker 1: you know, but there was so much that happened at
Speaker 1: that bachelorette party that she's like, I look like a
Speaker 1: total bitch, and that's not how things went down. And
Speaker 1: you know, things are cut in a certain way, and
Speaker 1: she wasn't able to do confessionals and explain. So I
Speaker 1: was like, you know, it's just it's not worth it.
Speaker 1: So that's when we said, okay, we're gonna stop reality,
Speaker 1: and everyone was on the same page. Everyone was relieved,
Speaker 1: everyone had made a good amount of money. That's when Jessica,
Speaker 1: I think it really did help her because the reality
Speaker 1: took so much of our time and energy physical and
Speaker 1: mental energy and emotional energy that we really didn't have
Speaker 1: the time or any energy left to dedicate to our
Speaker 1: personal dreams. So Jennica wanted to do other things. She
Speaker 1: wanted to become an influencer, she wanted to have more time,
Speaker 1: and so I said, you know, this is the wicked opportunity.
Speaker 1: You've made some money, you've saved it, and I'll start
Speaker 1: investing it. Jackie too, she wanted to focus on her
Speaker 1: singing career. Mikey wanted to start his own business. Now
Speaker 1: he has it. So I'm grateful for the reality show
Speaker 1: for so many reasons. And I'm also grateful that it
Speaker 1: ended because we were all able to just focus on
Speaker 1: ourselves and Johnny was able to go to school and
Speaker 1: it was good as mad as I was I think
Speaker 1: towards the end of my career as a reality start
Speaker 1: because of stuff that happened with the last season of
Speaker 1: The Rivera's I'm grateful because now, especially that my mom's
Speaker 1: not here, I still have these videos, these episodes to
Speaker 1: look back on and hear her voice and see her
Speaker 1: smile and hear her her laugh, and see those times
Speaker 1: when we would hug and on the reality show, we
Speaker 1: had this thing that my mom, my, sisters and I
Speaker 1: would like do the titty like we would touch our
Speaker 1: boobs together, and it was kind of like when something
Speaker 1: happy happened. And it's just moments like that that I'm like, wow,
Speaker 1: like I'm great full It's I mean, I wouldn't have
Speaker 1: that and I and there are times it's still hard
Speaker 1: for me. I think the last time I was watching
Speaker 1: some episodes was this past Christmas. We were in Mammoth
Speaker 1: and it came on. We turned on the TV and
Speaker 1: there it was. We were on television, which was so
Speaker 1: weird because we don't watch ourselves, or at least I don't.
Speaker 1: And I watched it a little bit and it just
Speaker 1: it made me sad. I cried a little bit. I did.
Speaker 1: I teared up, and but I laughed because my mom
Speaker 1: is so damn funny, and just to see how we've
Speaker 1: all grown up, even Johnny, Like he's twenty one years
Speaker 1: old now, and I remember him being a little boy,
Speaker 1: always upset, way like, always had his little Fucci face.
Speaker 1: And I, I mean, there were things that we did
Speaker 1: on the show, like I showed him how to really
Speaker 1: clean a toilet, Like these things were real. Johnny's face,
Speaker 1: Johnny's attitude, the things that him and I would deal
Speaker 1: with on camera, his room being dirty and us having
Speaker 1: to force him to clean it. All that ship was true.
Speaker 1: It's real. It wasn't stuff that we made up. And
Speaker 1: that's one thing I want to clarify, because honestly, I
Speaker 1: want to say, ninety five percent of everything that happened
Speaker 1: on all the reality shows that I was on were
Speaker 1: absolutely true, non scripted completely. The other five percent were
Speaker 1: re enacted moments, but like raising Johnny in front of
Speaker 1: cameras that was real, showing him how to literally clean
Speaker 1: a toilet because he was used to everything being done
Speaker 1: for him, and how upset he got. All of that
Speaker 1: was real. And just to see like, wow, he's a man,
Speaker 1: he's a young man now. It's crazy and I love
Speaker 1: the fact that we have those at home videos in
Speaker 1: our own way to look back on and to show
Speaker 1: my children one day that, you know, they had a
Speaker 1: cool last grandma. I know Jayla likes to see herself.
Speaker 1: She was like a little superstar herself. Who remembers the
Speaker 1: big Booty song. Jayla has a big old booty. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: big booty. That was like her little song that everyone's saying.
Speaker 1: And she was little. She was like a little superstar
Speaker 1: and now she's freaking twelve. You guys, it's just crazy.
Speaker 1: It was honestly a good run. I'm asked all the time,
Speaker 1: would you do another one? And I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't want to say no because I don't know. A
Speaker 1: part of me would be like, it'd be kind of cool.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of cool things that happened, like maybe
Speaker 1: following me on my you know, my tour, maybe that's
Speaker 1: kind of cool, something different. A lot of fun ship happens,
Speaker 1: you know, something always happens like on tour. But I
Speaker 1: don't know, because when the cameras are there, you can't hide.
Speaker 1: There's stuff that comes up and they want to get
Speaker 1: that spicy stuff, and I just don't know if I
Speaker 1: want to share and expose myself that much anymore. I
Speaker 1: think I did it for a chunk of my life
Speaker 1: because I said yes to Chickens and Roxy. I feel
Speaker 1: like it really did open the doors to I love
Speaker 1: Jenny and all the rest of the reality shows, and
Speaker 1: I'm glad that I was able to do that for
Speaker 1: my family and that my mom was able to do
Speaker 1: that for me. But yeah, I don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: want to say no, and I don't want to say yes.
Speaker 1: I know there are people out there that they're like,
Speaker 1: you know, I want to do a reality and I'm
Speaker 1: not going to tell you not to do it. Absolutely
Speaker 1: Like I'm the type of person and try it. It's
Speaker 1: better to try something than not to try it and
Speaker 1: live with you what if. I always say that, But
Speaker 1: it's not all glitz and glamb guys. For me, it
Speaker 1: was important. There are certain reality shows out there that
Speaker 1: get their hair and makeup done every single day and
Speaker 1: have a budget for that. We didn't have a budget
Speaker 1: for that because that's expensive to do your hand makeup
Speaker 1: every single day. So I was always like, I would
Speaker 1: just put on my scara and I like to just
Speaker 1: be me. I'm like, this is a reality show. I
Speaker 1: don't get ready every single day. You're gonna see who
Speaker 1: I really am. And that was important for me for
Speaker 1: people to see me cheek ease, raw, like this is
Speaker 1: who I am. This is the reality of my life.
Speaker 1: And that's how we did it. We were just the
Speaker 1: way I always say. I'm like, we were raw. We
Speaker 1: were super super raw. My mom. You guys know how
Speaker 1: she is. So but it's not glitz and glamb you guys,
Speaker 1: there's it's hard work. Let's say, when the cameras are
Speaker 1: on their on and they're gonna catch whatever they catch
Speaker 1: and there's no going back on that. It's very difficult
Speaker 1: to cut things out because then there are the networks
Speaker 1: that are like, no, we want this, and at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, they own the show. You can
Speaker 1: be an executive producer, but they have the last word.
Speaker 1: You are exposing your life. Sometimes you don't know how
Speaker 1: you act. And that's one thing for me. For a
Speaker 1: long time, I didn't watch myself because I wanted to
Speaker 1: be authentic, and I'm like, i want to be myself,
Speaker 1: and if I watch myself, I'm going to criticize myself
Speaker 1: and then I'm I feel like I'm going to think
Speaker 1: about it too much when the cameras around. And one thing,
Speaker 1: you have to know that when the cameras are on,
Speaker 1: their on and they're watching everything, and when they're off,
Speaker 1: the mics are on, so they're listening to everything. So
Speaker 1: it's that you've got to be careful because at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, you can be an executive producer
Speaker 1: like my mom and I were, but it was a
Speaker 1: conversation and sometimes discussions and arguments with the networks because
Speaker 1: they have the last word. So yes, it's it's great.
Speaker 1: You can make good money. Like I said, when I
Speaker 1: first started Chickens and Roxy, I got paid dollars for
Speaker 1: the entire season, long ast hours, a lot of hard work,
Speaker 1: a lot of money invested in clothing. You can't you know.
Speaker 1: I mean I wouldn't wear maybe sometimes like the same shirt,
Speaker 1: the same pants, but like you have to look different.
Speaker 1: And sometimes in one day you would record different parts
Speaker 1: of different episodes, so you would have to change three
Speaker 1: or five times, so it gets it can get pricey,
Speaker 1: but I did it as Okay, this is an investment
Speaker 1: because I want to inspire the people, other women, other
Speaker 1: Latinas out there, and then it just you know, a
Speaker 1: little by little, I got paid a little more. But
Speaker 1: by the time I had been in it for ten years,
Speaker 1: I was making pretty good money. I really was, and
Speaker 1: I'm grateful for that. I made really good money and
Speaker 1: it was good. So you can potentially make hundreds of
Speaker 1: thousands of dollars. Some people make millions. I'm very blessed
Speaker 1: to say that I did very well. But it took
Speaker 1: me a long time, and it took a lot of
Speaker 1: tears because there were things that sometimes I didn't want
Speaker 1: to talk about, especially when my mom was around. She
Speaker 1: was the boss, so if we were going to talk
Speaker 1: about something, I had no other choice but to talk
Speaker 1: about it, like you know, the sexual abuse. Then I
Speaker 1: wasn't as comfortable as I am now. So there was
Speaker 1: learn things I'm like, I don't feel comfortable talking about that,
Speaker 1: or even arguments that her and I had, or when
Speaker 1: she asked me to move out. That was tough, and
Speaker 1: that was we re enacted that, you guys. That happened
Speaker 1: off camera when my mom asked me to move out
Speaker 1: months before she passed, and we re enacted it. They said, hey,
Speaker 1: would you mind doing it again on camera? Just having
Speaker 1: like a little bit of a conversation about why and everything,
Speaker 1: and it was emotional. I cried as if it was
Speaker 1: the first time I was I had heard it. It
Speaker 1: was my heart. I was. It was just like, why
Speaker 1: do we have to talk about this, Like, well, it
Speaker 1: only makes sense. We're in the middle of recording a
Speaker 1: reality show. Your mom is asking you to move out.
Speaker 1: We have to talk about it. And those are the
Speaker 1: times I'm like, oh my goodness, But it worked out.
Speaker 1: When you're in the moment, you don't see it that way.
Speaker 1: Now I'm like, Okay, I get it. But we had
Speaker 1: that conversation in her office and I was just like,
Speaker 1: I was devastated. I was crying, she was crying. It
Speaker 1: was a beautiful moment, but it was. It was tough.
Speaker 1: So there's so much to be said about reality. And
Speaker 1: I don't want to talk down on it because I
Speaker 1: really don't. Like I'm very grateful for it. But I'm good.
Speaker 1: I feel like I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish
Speaker 1: with reality and I'm focusing on other things. And if
Speaker 1: it comes around again and the opportunity presents itself, then
Speaker 1: maybe I'll do it, especially if the money's right. Not
Speaker 1: everything is about money, but it has to be worth
Speaker 1: my time. It has to be something that's going to
Speaker 1: be inspirational to other people. There has to be a
Speaker 1: good mission behind it, and then I'll be like, Okay,
Speaker 1: let's do it. They offer one to us and want
Speaker 1: to say, like every year for the past couple of
Speaker 1: years have said you know what, not right now, it's
Speaker 1: not the time, so I don't know. Maybe next year. Anyways, guys,
Speaker 1: So this is fun. I hope you guys enjoyed it
Speaker 1: and you learned a little bit, a little bit about
Speaker 1: what it was to make a reality show, to be
Speaker 1: a part of a reality show, to be an executive producer,
Speaker 1: and just the truth behind the reality. So the reality
Speaker 1: behind the reality show. But before we go, I'm going
Speaker 1: to leave you with my weekly motivational quote. Memories are
Speaker 1: like antiques. The older they are, the more valuable they become.
Speaker 1: Oh that was nice, you guys remembering all those beautiful women's.
Speaker 1: A good thing is that I can watch them and
Speaker 1: so can you. I hope you guys have a really
Speaker 1: great day and great week. AMO seven. This is a
Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio and Miltura podcast Network. Follow
Speaker 1: us on Instagram at Mikeela Podcasts and follow me chick ees.
Speaker 1: That's c h i q u i s. For more
Speaker 1: podcasts from My Heart, visit the I Heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.