After a brilliant viral social media marketing campaign, the controversial new reality series The Real Sidechicks of Charlotte has found a home! According to multiple sources, the show has been picked up by Netflix and is scheduled to premiere on January 1.
The show’s Instagram account announced the Netflix deal and premiere date last month with a weird video touring the inside of a very upscale lakefront home. Yesterday, The Jasmine Brand confirmed that Netflix would be the show’s new home. “Sources tell us that the potential Real Sidechicks of Charlotte series is heading to the popular streaming service,” the site revealed.
In case you missed it, the buzz about the show started almost immediately after an Instagram account was started with the show’s title and they posted this video featuring an alleged cat fight between cast members during a photo shoot:
Local and national news outlets picked up the story as speculation over whether or not the show was real was hotly debated. Bossip assessed the evidence and guessed that the show was a parody along the lines of BET’s Real Husbands of Hollywood. Here are their bullet point arguments:
1. If you peep the IG, none of the girls have been tagged in the pictures. And nobody in the comments say they know these chicks. If these women were real, wouldn’t they have IGs tagged?
2. No reputable site has written a story about the show.
3. No network has claimed that they are airing the show. Of course, this could just be a Youtube show but still.
4. It just all looks really fake. This is most likely a parody.
It’s still not clear whether or not the show is a purely scripted faux reality show or supposedly the real deal. As most of the internet has already pointed out, it seems unlikely that the show could function as an authentic concept given that the “sidechick” status of all the stars would instantly be put in jeopardy merely by appearing on the show. Regardless of the “reality” of the series, the cast members seem to be embracing the controversial theme of trying to eliminate the stigma associated with infidelity.
“A side chick is the fun girl,” one cast member explains to The Jasmine Brand. “We are a gift to your man when he’s ready to get away from you because you’re giving him a headache. So he comes here and we have a good time and I show him a good time and he shows me a good time in return.” Another cast member previously talked about the role of sidechick with The Jasmine Brand and explained it this way:
It’s not so much as what we want to be known as, that’s just how it goes. You might look at it as a sidechick, but I look at it as a main chick as well because I’m getting the same treatment, it’s not really the same qualifications of what you would call a sidechick because you just don’t like it because it’s “our” man.
The Jasmine Brand took things one step further and actually sat down with the entire cast of The Real Sidechicks of Charlotte for an interview! Here are the YouTube clips:
Since the cast obviously seems willing to embrace all of the negative attention being a loud and proud sidechick will bring, I’d like to offer up this slogan for the show: “You can’t spell ‘Charlotte’ without ‘harlot’.” (Pretty good/terrible, right?) I even worked up a little graphic embracing the slogan:
Being picked up by Netflix will potentially give The Real Sidechicks of Charlotte another tool to garner attention in that show producers will not be forced to edit out nudity and profanity. There have been other R-rated reality shows on premium cable networks, but none that fit the Real Housewives or Love & Hip Hop soap opera mold — so it will be interesting to see how audiences respond to actual breasts bouncing around and uncensored f-bombs. (Assuming producers decide to go the Full Monty route.)
One thing I feel I should point out is that there has been no confirmation from Netflix. The Jasmine Brand has a sparkling reputation for serving up quality tea, but until the streaming service confirms the deal I am sure people will still have their doubts about whether or not it actually happened.
And while they’re doubting, it appears as though the show’s producers just keep on hustling as their Instagram account recently posted a tease suggesting that the franchise may soon be expanding to include The Real Sidechicks of New York!
“Who’s here for this??” the caption asks.
While the ladies of New York City scramble to put their husband on lockdown, here are some Instagram photos from The Real Sidechicks of Charlotte cast to help get you more acquainted with the “other women” of the Queen City:
