On December 5 TLC will be serving up some southern-style reality show cooking with their take on Bravo’s successful Real Housewives franchise when they premiere Bama Belles documenting the lives of five women from the small town of Dothan, Alabama. (CLICK HERE to see the trailer and HERE to read the full press release from TLC)
Perhaps as an aide to those viewers unfamiliar with the Southern way of living the show offers a sympathetic fish out of water with New York internet entrepreneur Val Tignini, who relocated to Dothan after visiting her friend Amie while on a media tour for her website, ValSecrets.com.
To say “fish out of water” doesn’t seem right because they don’t make fish sexy enough to compare to Val, so let me change things up and continue on by saying this 26-year-old mermaid out of water was born in Brooklyn as a first generation Italian-American.
Valeria Tignini (She was an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, little baby girl Tignini! Sorry, I couldn’t resist) graduated high school in New Jersey and began her media mogulista career with SHA.com (She Heard it All). For various reasons, among them Val’s budding romance with her boyfriend of five years, SHA.com never really got off the ground, but the experience set Val up for more success down the road!
That success came in the form of ValSecrets.com, a site that “understands the need for women to have a way to connect and give each other advice on many situations, from the light-hearted to the earth-shattering, we are here to help women grow and learn from each other strengths, shortcomings and talents. …because learning from each other makes us all stronger.”
Here is the official trailer for ValSecrets.com featuring Val herself:
The site seems to be a vibrant community of women talking about all sorts of issues – sort of like The View with a lot more interaction. So if you’re a woman looking to have a conversation with a group of real women, or if you are a guy looking to get an accurate take on how the other side sees things, then head on over to ValSecrets.com and sign up! If you look hard enough you will find a video in which Val describes learning how to shoot a gun with the other ladies of Bama Belles!
Speaking of Bama Belles, here’s Val’s announcement that she will be starring in the show:
It should be a real blast to watch Val adjust to life in the South as she and “the girls” bond while fishin’, huntin’ and lawn mower racin’. But, Val won’t be the only Tignini transplant deaing with the Green Acres syndrome! She’ll be bringing along the love of her life, little Brigitte Bardot – or as her friends call her, BeBe.
Yep, Val and BeBe are all set to become the Lisa Vanderpump and Giggy of the South! I’m sure BeBe’s learning curve will be quite huge as she deals with farm animals, wild animals and some lesser polished canines than what she was used to in the Big Apple! Only time will tell if TLC allows BeBe to have her own dog blog like Bravo did with Giggy.
Here’s a Bama Belles preview clip featuring Val making an unfortunate comment about the lack of teeth in the people around her at a lawnmower race:
CLICK HERE to watch Val realize some Southern guys not only have their teeth but the whole package when she meets Josh, a real live cowboy and living Wrangler commercial! Yee hawt!!
Click to enlarge:
Be sure to tune in to the Bama Belles premiere on TLC right after Sarah Palin’s Alaska (I sense a rural state theme here!) Sunday, December 5th at 10/9c!
You can keep up with Val via these links:
Val’s Facebook: www.facebook.com/ValeriaTignini
ValSecrets Twitter: www.Twitter.com/ValSecrets
ValSecrets.com
ValSecrets Facebook: www.facebook.com/valsecrets
ValSecrets Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/ValSecretsFan
BeBe’s Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/BeBe-from-ValSecrets/169792583048652
And I thought a good way to wrap things up would be to unwrap Val! Here she is in an Italian Intimissimi Lingerie commercial shot in New York City in which Val falls victim to the burning gaze of some hunky dudes with a very suggestive firehose:
