If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably already devoured Byron Baes in one sitting.
The docu-series, which landed on Netflix on March 9, has been a popular hate-watch among reality stans around the world and focuses on a bunch of ~CrEAtivEs~ who live in the picturesque town of Byron Bay.
We know that with all reality TV shows, it can be extremely hard to tell what is organic and what is completely manufactured by the producers to get the best content possible — and this series is no exception.
To be honest, the cast of characters including “Australia’s most-followed male influencer” Jade Kevin Foster, the spiritual Hannah Brauer and the who-even-are-you?! Elle Watson, are so larger-than-life, it’s hard to take them seriously. And sometimes, their reactions to things are, well… not great.
So, it really does beg the question. Is this sh*t even real??
Is Netflix’ Byron Baes real?
If you ask the cast… then yes.
In an interview with Studio 10, Jade said it was “100%” true-to-life.
“If I’m going to be honest once again, the show is 100 per cent more real than all of the filler and Botox I have in my face, so that’s saying something! It’s not scripted at all,” he said.
“The cameras are on us all the time and they just found the best bunch of spinners that they could find because it just worked.”
During the same interview, Sarah Tangye, a.k.a St James, revealed that they got used to cameras following them around “pretty quickly”, but lol…that doesn’t mean a thing!
The Cast of Byron Baes Are 100% Who They Say They Are
Contrary to what people think, the cast are real people, with, ~rEal~ lives. While most of them live in worlds we cannot comprehend, they do have genuine feels.
Former Bachelor franchise star, Nathan Favro, even came out in defence of Elle — his IRL flatmate — on social media.
‘”f you’re thinking about messaging any mean or nasty things to Elle please read this first,” he wrote in an Instagram story.
“I’ve known Elle for a long time now and can safely say I know her better than any of the cast, and she is one of the most amazing, caring, loving, nurturing and compassionate people you will ever meet.
“She doesn’t deserve hateful or nasty DMs or comments on her posts. If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Please and thank you.”
The Backlash Against Byron Baes was Definitely Real
Back in April 2021 when the series was first announced, residents of the stunning beach town were in uproar over the series.
Before it had even begun filming, locals called on the streaming platform to cancel the show.
In an interview with The Guardian, an Arakwal Bumberin Bundjalung traditional owner, Delta Kay, said Byron Baes would “make a fantasy world about our little home town”.
“We have huge environmental issues, huge social issues here. I don’t want these influencers coming here and painting this fantasy picture that all is well in Byron Bay. It isn’t.”
We did, of course, see Elle’s lavish Coral Reef Charity event which focused on coral bleaching, however, she did get a full cast mould made of herself and frankly, it defeated the purpose…
Love it, hate it, love/hate it at the same time — one thing’s for sure, Byron Baes is some excellent viewing.
As for whether it’s real, we’ll never know, but this Tweet sums up our views of it perfectly.
Anyone who watches #ByronBaes is dumb, except me who’s watched the entire season in 2 days
— Michael McDermott (@FakeMichaelMcD) March 11, 2022
Want even more goss? Listen to episode 158 of the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto below!
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