High-octane fun and fear-defying challenges are all in a day’s work for the adventurous tweens on In Real Life, Canada’s newest reality show.
Hosted by young Canadian comic Sabrina Jalees, the show puts kids from across Canada between the ages of 12 and 14 into the driver’s seat of a whirlwind competition where each week they have to conquer an exciting “real life” challenge that tests their mettle. With challenges strategically set across all of North America, it’s like an Amazing Race for bright, resourceful kids.
The first two episodes have contestants racing cars and wrestling with alligators while later episodes have kids jumping out of a helicopter into a river and doing barrel rolls in a Russian fighter jet. It’s all safe and carefully monitored by support staff of course, but still no small feat for a group of young teens who’ve hardly been away from home in their lives.
For 14-year-old Ruby-Rae Rogawski from Fort Langley, B.C., being on the show was a life-changing adventure.
“It was so amazing, just the things we got to do and the experiences we got to have. I had a blast,” she said.
Rogawski says the experience of doing unique challenges and dealing with setbacks taught her a lot about herself.
“I think I’ve just learned to live with myself and realize that even though some things are going to go wrong it’s all about picking yourself up afterwards,” Rogawski said.
Jaicyea Smith, 14, from Toronto found the best part of the show was trying out different jobs, no matter how wacky or difficult.
“I learned so much. You get to experiment with different career options and it’ll definitely guide me in what I decide to do,” Smith said.
Kids weren’t told who they’d be paired up with before the show began and some pairs clashed right out of the gate. Teamwork was a big factor and those teams which learned to work together found greater success, Jalees said.
Seeing the kids conquer challenge after challenge was inspiring for Jalees and demonstrated just how determined they were.
“They were doing challenges that were things kids have probably never done. I think a lot of the kids really grew up and became more confident,” she said.
Show?time
• In Real Life premieres tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET/PT on YTV.
