‘Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard’ stars Preston D. Mitchum, Jordan Emanuel on breaking into reality TV

The two stars caught up with theGrio and reflected on their experience making the reality TV series.

In case you missed it, “Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard” is one of the best new shows on Bravo. TheGrio caught up with series stars Preston D. Mitchum and Jordan Emanuel earlier this summer, and they broke down their experience diving into reality TV, showcasing Martha’s Vineyard on a big scale and more.

As theGrio previously reported, “Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard” is an official spin-off of “Summer House,” Bravo’s popular TV series that follows a group of young professionals every summer as they vacation in the Hamptons. While recent seasons have seen attempts to diversify with additions such as Ciara Miller and Mya Allen, the cast remains predominantly white. “Martha’s Vineyard” is a change of pace for the series, with an all-Black friend group taking on the popular summer vacation spot.

“We decided for a variety of reasons to sign up to have our lives filmed,” Mitchum said when reflecting on his experience recording the series. “We go to the Vineyard often as a friend group and it was a really unique moment to reconvene with each other after our friends’ wedding but also just kind of showcase who we are.”

“It feels so surreal, really,” Emanuel added. “We did this last summer and already went through it and now it’s out for everyone to see.”

Unlike other Bravo shows like “Real Housewives,” the “Summer House” format is slightly different, with 24/7 surveillance footage while cast members are in the house. Speaking to the learning curve, Emanuel humorously recalled a moment when she came out of the shower “without her wig” on. “The camera was right there, I was like, wait a minute!”

Mitchum said learning “where to stand” and staying in the frame took some days, but that it felt comfortable. “After a while, it got comfortable because they [the cameras] were there,” he added. “They aren’t going to just disappear.”

The show also presents an opportunity in reality TV to shine a light on a destination deeply connected to African-American history, and that’s not lost on Mitchum. “I don’t want to use the cliché ‘representation matters,’ but the reality is, it does,” he explained. “The bigger question is, what are you doing once you have the representation that matters? What are you doing after the fact?”

“In many ways, we treat the Vineyard as its own 13th character,” he added. “This idea of the beauty of the Vineyard and what it means to go to a place like the Vineyard with such a huge history in Blackness, African-American history and segregation.”

In addition to what the show means on a representation level, it allowed the group to come together and pave the way for genuine connections. “When there are 12 personalities in one house, people get closer and people spread apart,” Emanuel explained. “But ultimately, we all became one big dysfunctional family.”

The entire first season of “Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard” is available to stream now on Peacock.

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