Bravo's Cyrene Tankard gives the inside scoop on reality tv!
Hi, my name is Cyrene Tankard. I am a former reality star of the show “Thicker Than Water” that aired on Bravo for three seasons. The reality show followed my family and I through our crazy lives and experiences. Although that was a fun fact that not many can say, I am happy to say that I am now a graduating senior attending Howard University. My major is public relations and I am minoring in political science. Since the show I have found an interest in working behind the scenes in the film industry, I have also grown fond of speaking to young girls, high school, and college students about pursuing dreams and building brands. I look forward to launching my new projects upon my graduation in May and to continue to grow and inspire worldwide.
I learned that fame doesn’t happen over night, I also learned that fame isn’t all that great. For one, it takes time to build buzz, to gain a loyal following, it’s rare that it’s over night. As cool as fame can seem there are definitely some downers, the trolls are the worst. You have all these random people telling you who they think you are and they just shower you with unsolicited opinions. I also learned that when pursuing fame you must separate your personal self from your “celebrity self” you are here to entertain, make nothing personal with fans, they respond to who they think you are not necessarily who you actually are.
Benefits: there are some pretty cool perks for being on reality TV, the flashing lights and the attention and the screams of your name from crowds is a real rushing feeling. To know that although you might have a few haters, there are tons and tons of people who just love and support you. The connections that it allows are great, being in the spotlight puts you in contact with other people experiencing what you are and it’s good to have friends in high places, always comes in handy. There’s also the free stuff, that part especially is dope, people definitely like to send stuff just so they can say you wear or use the product. Preferential treatment is another cool perk, I cant even begin to tell you how many flights I almost missed if it hadn’t been for a TSA agent recognizing who I am and letting me cut a line; now that’s love.
Everyone thinks they know you and your business and they feel like they can comment on anything. Because I was on TV as a teenager people associate me with still being a teenager when I’m definitely a grown woman at this point. People are nosey and they want to be your friend just because they feel like it will benefit them in some fashion, which is always a drag. People try and put you in a box and sometimes people are too friendly, sort of like a stalker, so you definitely have to watch out for that.
Before pursuing you should decide if this attention is really what you want and then figure out why and if you come up with a concrete reason with your morals and values still in tact then I say go for it. First it ‘s important to compile and organize your content onto some sort of popular medium so that people can view your impact and online presence. Then you should have built some contacts or done some research on the network or production company you are looking to work with and have some sort of pitch developed and sometimes the pitch will already be listed on the site and you have to see if you fit the description. After that send in your content, there might be a few no’s that fly your way but don’t take that as a final answer, continue to improve your content and resubmit and connect and develop these relationships with people in the area of your interest.
Would I do it again? Ahhhh, good question, I feel like if I had executive producing credits and a little more creative control and a higher paying check I would definitely be interested in doing a show. We’d have to have continuous conversations about development and details. I would be open to the conversation for sure.
Keep up with Cyrene on Instagram and her site http://cyrenelovette.com!
Come here her live March 10th, 2018 at Morgan State University at 2:00P on a dynamic panel featuring major players in the entertainment industry inspiring women to live the life of her dreams! RSVP here, its absolutely free!
