In high school, I danced a lot. I was in the studio six days a week and also had singing lessons on one of those days. It was a lot, and it kept me busy. I enjoyed it but was lucky enough that my dance studio wasn’t like Dance Moms. Sure, there were some not-great body image things, and it wasn’t always the most positive environment, but there wasn’t any abuse as far as I was aware. When the show Dance Moms came on TV, I did watch it—and I was mindboggled by how these moms could put their kids through that abuse just so they could maybe make it as professional dancers. So when I read the synopsis of The Real Deal, which was an Amazon First Reads option, I was intrigued for sure.

Belle Simon was just 12 years old when she was one of six girls plucked from obscurity to star in reality TV sensation The Real Deal. Under the wing of dazzling star Donna Mayfair, she and the other five girls were meant to become world-famous actresses, singers and dancers.

But at 26, Belle is trying to live anonymously, away from being loved or loathed. The public eye has never fully shut, however, and when a producer offers Belle a big paycheck to join a reunion special for The Real Deal, she finds it hard to say no. If people are going to talk about that shocking final episode anyway, maybe this is an unexpected opportunity.

Everyone watching thinks they know what happened, but only Belle knows what really occurred away from the cameras and outside the editing room. Is she ready to go back and confront her past? And will anyone believe her if she reveals the truth?

This was really not my favourite. I was expecting this to be mostly fun with a little bit of trauma, but we really got bits and pieces of a story that hinged on some information we didn’t get until the end, which was underwhelming. And then the way that information is used once we know it was also underwhelming—and didn’t make anyone come out on top.

Despite there being six girls in the original cast, I kept getting them mixed up because we didn’t really learn anything about any of them except for Belle (and Faye, to a point), and even the moms didn’t play as big of an impact as I thought they would. At some points, there were so many things happening, and at others, nothing was happening, so there was a pacing/editing issue for sure. On top of that, Belle’s age kept changing…and that really bothered me.

Though the exploitation of people on reality television was an interesting angle, there was so much potential here for more. I wish I had more positive things to say…

2 STARS

“I suppose people told me I was, when I was twelve. That I was perfect for it. And so every time I felt not perfect for it, when I was growing up, it would make me feel awful. It just started to not be fun. It started to make me feel awful.” —Caitlin Devlin, The Real Deal