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Archives for February 2010

Undercover Princesses: Dating Videos

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Dana Stevens | 16:28 UK time, Thursday, 25 February 2010

It's a blog exclusive today as you lucky bloggers get to see this video before anyone else. If you saw Undercover Princes last year you'll understand just how excited I am about this new show. Three real princesses come over to the UK, and more specifically the hotbed of romance that is Essex, looking for love. In a bid to find their own Prince Charming they embrace the British dating scene, trying speed dating, blind dates and clubbing. In this video the princesses introduce themselves and explain why they're hoping to find romance in England. I, for one, can't wait to witness the culture shock!

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Undercover Princesses starts on 91Èȱ¬ Three at 9pm on Sunday 7th March. Watch some clips from the series here.

Dana Stevens is content producer for 91Èȱ¬ Three online.

Filming Last Woman Standing: the best job in tv?

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Dana Stevens | 12:10 UK time, Friday, 19 February 2010

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Shivering here in London, I initially thought that the ladies on Last Woman Standing would be living the dream. Travelling to exotic locations and getting to see some amazing places sounds pretty good when Britain is icy and cold. But from the very first episode when I saw them taking part in the , I didn't feel sick with envy...just sick! Having piranha teeth cut into my leg to get the blood flowing is too much for me, never mind the wrestling. But it's not just the five women who had to brave the heat, insects and lack of loos but the production team as well. I wanted to know what it was like to film in such remote places so I caught up with series producer Sophie Todd to find out just how tough things were. Was it worth it? She certainly seems to think so as she loved it, piranhas and all.

Here are Sophie's memories of the filming trip:

Making Last Woman Standing has to be one of the best jobs in television. You get to go to some of the most incredible places on earth and film cultures that most people will never get the chance to meet. But it's not a glamorous job; foot fleas, infected bites, and chronic diarrhoea are some of the less charming experiences that the crew also encountered during filming.
In each location some of the crew arrive a few days before the athletes to give the locals a chance to get used to us and our kit. The Kamaiura tribe, who we filmed with first, don't wear clothes other than a belt that covers a section of their stomach. That often means when you were sitting on the floor talking to someone, another member of the tribe would be standing next you with their meat and two veg in your ear!

Washing means walking into the lake and splashing loudly to scare off the stingrays and piranha that share it. The first time was pretty intimidating as I had an audience of young women and girls who were determined to see if I had anything they didn't under my clothes. They had my bikini off in ten seconds flat and scrubbed my body within an inch of my life.
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The Kamaiura paint themselves with designs inspired by animals. I knew we were fitting in when they started to paint us as well as the athletes who were competing with them. It beats getting ready for work in London.
A lot of people ask what do you miss when you are away and the answer is not very much. It's amazing how little you need to get by. Most of the luggage we take with us is camera kit, tapes and batteries so there is no space for most of the stuff you think 'need' when you are at home. Obviously if a camera breaks in the middle of the jungle we are in big trouble so we take a lot of spare parts with us. Temperature, humidity and rain all conspire to ensure we spend a fair bit of our time patching things up.
And it's not just the technical side of filming that causes us a few issues. In order to get the close up action shots during the log running with the Xavante tribe, two of the DV camera operators had to be painted up and dressed as female runners and run alongside the teams. Now this wasn't too bad for Claire who had a sports bra of her own but for Chris it really was a test of his determination to get the job done! I'd like to say the rest of the crew gave him an easy time but they were pretty merciless with their comments. You have to be thick skinned as well as fit to work on this series.

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But the ultimate experience has to be that of the athletes and the cumulative test of taking on six challenges is one that most people couldn't hack. Watching them go to hell and back, through pain both physical and mental, through rituals and ceremonies and coping with living and eating like their hosts makes you pretty proud of them. And the best thing about doing our job? It's that our friends and family get to share our experience of Last Woman Standing on 91Èȱ¬ Three.

Sophie Todd is the series producer of Last Woman Standing.

Find out more about Last Woman Standing.

Watch clips from the programme.

See more videos from the series on .

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Nicola Roberts: The Truth About Tanning

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Dana Stevens | 17:32 UK time, Wednesday, 17 February 2010

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I have to confess that I'm guilty of obsessing about that 'healthy glow'. Sun beds, accelerators, fake tan, spray tan and tinted make-up - yes I've tried them all. Not to mention going out in the sun without sun cream even when I know I shouldn't.

So I was both shocked and moved when I watched Nicola Roberts: The Truth About Tanning and I've vowed to get the SPF out next time I'm in the sun.
In the programme Nicola takes a look at our obsession with tanning culture, the lengths we'll go to get that tan and talks to people who've been left devastated by the effects of skin cancer. So I went to meet Nicola to ask her some questions about the show....

So Nicola, how did you end up making the documentary? Was it your idea?

It was my idea. Basically what happened was about 9 months ago I became very aware of how wrapped up we are in the way everybody looks. I felt like it was getting out of control and there was so much pressure. Magazines are putting so much pressure on young people. Not just celebrities but young men and women in general. It seemed to be that your life would be better if you were better looking and that was very much the message. And of course if you can't keep up with that then it leaves people feeling very sad and I wanted to make sure people were aware of how bad it had got. There are more important things in life and I wanted to highlight that whole positive message of just being pleased with who you are really.

I wanted to use my personal journey that is what inspired me to make the documentary. I used to be really insecure about being pale and I used to really, really do a lot of excessive tanning. I used fake tan every day and I just couldn't let one ounce of my body be seen to be pale as I just thought it was unattractive. And I know that there are lots of women out there who feel like that and they'll go to any lengths to have a tan. It's not just about picking fake tan up anymore; it's the things like the tanning injections and excessive use of sun beds. People sometimes go on sun beds twice a day in order to be browner because they're that unhappy with the way they look. And I wanted to really document that and show that this is the length that society is pushing them to. And obviously knowing that skin cancer is the fastest rising cancer in UK it just seems to be getting worse and worse and I just wanted to put it all in one bundle and portray that in the documentary.

You show surgical procedures in the programme and some of it's quite harrowing. What was the most shocking thing that you saw or discovered while making the documentary?

I interviewed one lady, and witnessed her having surgery and before I was always under the impression that if you have a cancerous mole, I just thought it was very easy. You just kind of scrape it off and you carry on then with the rest of your life. And in actual fact she was having fistfuls of tissue, like body fat and meat, actually taken from her body and her lymph nodes removed. I didn't realise that it was as gory and intrusive as that. I was definitely under the illusion that you had the mole removed and then it goes off for tests and you carry on.
Also I interviewed a lady whose brother was just dying basically, because he had malignant melanoma and there was nothing they could do. And I just thought that was really shocking.

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The young guy from Wales, Tom, who features in the documentary, is clearly a tanning addict. Do you think there should be some sort of formal support for people to help them deal with the addiction?

If you go to the root of the problem, people like Tom are addicted because they need to feel better about themselves. So because Tom is so unhappy with the way he looks, he feels so ugly when he's pale. He's a young man, very much in the gay community who likes to go out and party and he just wants men to find him attractive. So if you can kind of go to the core of the problem and solve that, then people won't feel the need to be constantly going on the sun bed and picking up the fake tan bottle because they'll already be happy with who they are.

So how can we make that happen? Do you think that is down to other people in the media and role models, like yourself, being honest and not using fake tan as well?

Everyone needs a role model, but I think that for you to kind of put yourself on a pedestal and say I'm going to be a role model is just a bit much. I'm proud to be pale and I'm proud of who I am and I'm more confident now. And I've done this documentary to highlight the dangers and to try to send a positive message out, but I mean I'm not a hero for pale people or anything. That's just not what it's like. It's a bit ridiculous. It's almost like people are talking about it as if I've got green skin and I'm confident to be green. It's just skin tone; people don't need to be so obsessed with skin tone.

MPs have been trying to pass a new law to ban under-18s from using tanning salons and you were filmed attending . Is that something you are going to continue to support?

Yes I'll always support it as it's something I'm very passionate about. Fingers crossed the government do push it through and we'll be able to protect our children if they can't protect themselves.

And finally we've decided to encourage 91Èȱ¬ Three fans to reject the fake tan and post photos of themselves for our ....

I love the idea of a Facebook campaign. That's an excellent idea! I'd love it if we got loads of photos that would be brilliant.

Have a look at our on Facebook now to see our first photo, yes it's lovely Nicola of course. Just add your photos to our fan page and we'll add them to the album.

Find out more details about the programme Nicola Roberts: The Truth About Tanning.

Related links:

91Èȱ¬ Search+: Skin Cancer

(This interview first appeared on the .)


Joe Tracini (DK) answers your Coming of Age questions

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Dana Stevens | 16:29 UK time, Wednesday, 17 February 2010

Thumbnail image for 204808.jpgThanks for all your questions for Joe Tracini who plays DK in Coming of Age. It was really tough picking just a few of them but I tried to choose questions that quite a lot of you were asking. I managed to grab some time with Joe as he arrived at Elstree studios.

Alan Lea: Where do you get all your inspiration for your raps? Or are they written for you? If not, will you write me one :)

They are written for me I don't write them. Musically that's all me! I take a couple of minutes on my own in the corner, just listening to the likes of Chipmunk and Tinchy Stryder and taking as much inspiration as possible to make it musically pleasing to the ear. But I don't have as dirty a mind as our writer Tim Dawson! And if I had actually written them myself I'd be quite worried for my sanity!

Yungahh Tempzz: Where can I get the lyrics to your raps? Balamory!

As far as I'm aware unless someone has actually taken the time out of their day to create a site writing out all the lyrics, I don't think you can get them on the internet. What you're just going to have to do is record it, rewind it, play it and write it down line by line. And if anybody does that please put it on YouTube and let me know because I'd love to see someone who's taken all that time to learn them.

(91Èȱ¬ Three - We're launching our new 91Èȱ¬ Three website soon with a brilliant new blog so perhaps we'll have a word with the writer Tim Dawson and collect the raps together on there. Stay tuned rap fans....)

Georgia Keers:Ìý I love Coming of Age and you're so hilarious! My question for DK is why Balamory at the end of every rap? I love it but it's still strange...BALAMORY!

Hello Georgia, I don't have a clue! I don't listen to popular music, I listen to musicals and things from the fifties so I don't know where it's coming from. But all I can gather is that a lot of rappers have a tag and something that they say. And DK, being the silly little sod that he is, thought it would be cool to name a well known CBeebies children's programme. So that's all I can gather. Maybe it's his favourite show and he wants to spread the word a bit about people watching Balamory because it's very good. It's about a policeman and it's very accessible to the younger mind.

Samantha Pilkington: Where does DK get his tracksuits from coz they're just awesome? You guys are just wicked to watch :)

I imagine DK probably gets them from some sort of boot sale, some sort of very chavvy boot sale. And his mum probably goes down to JD Sports on Boxing Day and just buys them all. But I actually get them from the lovely costume lady called Sarah, who's a bit of a hippy and goes out and finds the nicest tracksuits she possibly can for DK to sport on a weekly basis.

Thumbnail image for 204819.jpgTodd Carruthers: What does DK stand for and where can I get a dinky DK?

DK stands for Darren Karrimore. Dinky DK was made by all the props team and he definitely got pretty broken by the end of that. So unfortunately you're going to have to make one yourself with some wellington boots, some PVA glue and some goat.

Lee Stuart: How on earth don't you burst out laughing in the middle of a scene?

Hello Lee, the answer is we don't, we do just laugh. Because we film in front of a studio audience if we find something funny we'll just laugh. And what's annoying is if we've been rehearsing it for a week we know if someone's gonna do something we find really funny. So we know it's coming and we laugh about four lines before it and our floor manager, Jo, she gets very angry because it can take twenty minutes sometimes. So yes the answer is we do and thank you very much for the compliment.

William Beech: How do you manage to do so many rude scenes in front of the camera crew etc.??!!!

Very nervously! I don't like getting naked and it happens so often. What they're very good at, is if people don't need to be there they keep as few people on set as possible. But when you have a scene where you are completely naked, covering your genitalia with grapes, there isn't much getting around it. But we were filming that in a college and it was open to students and they were blocking off the corridors. At the end of one of the scenes I walked out, covering me penis with grapes, and I just walked out into the corridor and there were a group of students, about seven of them, just walking towards me casually. I was too embarrassed to do anything so I just kept my head down and walked past them. It was very embarrassing and definitely not worth the money.

Dwain Holdcroft: What are the differences and similarities between you and your character DK?

The similarities are the fact that we both like women and we have the same face. But that's pretty much where they end I'm afraid. From meeting people I'm generally aware that people are quite disappointed when they find out that I'm not like DK. But DK has his tracksuits and his funky way of talking and his confidence, where as I'm slightly quieter at times. And I dress like a banker that's just left work.Ìý

Ãngæl Kayla: Will DK ever get a girlfriend as everyone else is in a relationship lol?

Hello that's a lovely name. DK might get a girlfriend, well I'd like to think he'd get a girlfriend. I know there was talk of it at the end of last year but we went a different way with it. I hope he does because he's a lonely little bugger. But at the moment everybody's quite happy with all the other relationship problems and DK just turning up week in week out, acting like a tit and then leaving.

Andy Grant: How did you get into acting? I really want to start! Got any advice?

I got into acting because I'm crap at everything else! I tried doing various different things, I even worked in a joke shop and just none of it worked. I started doing magic when I was two and I started doing magic professionally for four years. I won some competitions and finished doing that and then decided that I wanted to take the acting more seriously and I went to college and trained. And I've been pretty lucky actually. I've really, really enjoyed it but as I say it's really because I can't do anything else! So as long as people keep employing me doing this I won't go and work in Ikea.

Danielle Clough: I was watching Prove It the other week and I saw you were doing magic!! I thought it was brilliant! Ha ha it made me giggle. Just wondering if you still doing magic and just to say you're one of the reasons I watch Coming of Age! It's amazing :)

Yeah that was a fun day. I was about 14 and I had to travel up to Glasgow for one day. That was a very long, tiring day!
And thank you very much that is very kind of you to say. I do still do magic but mainly when I'm drunk. I don't do it as a job anymore; I just do it to keep myself interested. When I was little when everybody else was out playing football with the tennis ball in the middle of the street I was just sat on my own in my room playing with cards. I was very cool!

Kirsty Madhead Graham: You're class mate! How many series are we expecting off ya??

Hello, thank you very much and I don't know! As long as people keep watching them then I imagine they'll keep making them. We really enjoy it and we have a great time when we make it. We all get on so well and I know we'd all like to come back and do some more. So as long as people keep watching it then hopefully we'll keep making it.

Don't forget you can catch Coming of Age every Tuesday at 10.30pm on 91Èȱ¬ Three.

Welcome To The 91Èȱ¬ Three Blog

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Dana Stevens | 15:48 UK time, Wednesday, 3 February 2010

Yipee! Woohoo! Hooray! It's here!

As you can probably tell I'm just a little bit over-excited about the launch of our brand new 91Èȱ¬ Three blog.Ìý We're going to have so much fun I can hardly wait to get started. I'm going to be getting out and about to bring you interviews with 91Èȱ¬ Three presenters and celebs as well as lots of other people who are involved in our programmes.

We'll be catching up with some of the people who've been on 91Èȱ¬ Three in the past and giving you the chance to be the first to meet 91Èȱ¬ Three stars of the future.

I'll be sneaking around backstage, going on location and listening in on as many important conversations as I can to get away with to bring you the latest gossip, news and inside information.

But hey it's not all about me. We want to hear your thoughts on our programmes. Let us know if you rate them or hate them, if they made you angry, laugh or cry. So don't be shy, use the comments section to let us know what you think or if you have a question for someone involved with 91Èȱ¬ Three and I'll do my best to get an answer.

So what are you waiting for? Make us a favourite now. Bookmark us in your browser or just check back whenever you're online to see what we're up to.

See you back here soon.

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