December 30, 2005
Country band starring in own reality series
By -- Calgary Sun

The Wilkinsons have put themselves into the same category as Paris Hilton.

Don't worry, Amanda Wilkinson isn't carrying around a dog in her purse or starring in a sex video. The wholesome country trio are just blurring the lines of reality -- i.e. Hilton's Simple Life -- and are starring in a scripted reality show The Wilkinsons.

The show, which has mom Chris and sister Kiaya joining the singing trio of dad Steve and siblings Tyler and Amanda, premieres with two back-to-back episodes on Wednesday.

The CMT series follows the Wilkinsons as they carve out their music careers, and as they build a new log home in Ontario.

"It's a hybrid. They followed us for a month to find out who we really are ... and basically used our lives and heightened elements of our lives," says Amanda.

"It was me acting as Amanda Wilkinson and I am Amanda Wilkinson, so it was kind of trippy sometimes."

The 23-year-old says the family had many conversations about how far to blur the lines between reality and good entertainment.

"We wanted to make sure we were not completely dishonest. We didn't want to offend anyone, but it is on the edge."

They wanted people to understand they aren't a Canadian version of the Osmonds.

"We wanted fans to find out who we are as a family and as individuals. We're a real family who get on each other's nerves."

That said, the Wilkinsons are definitely far from the Osbournes, but the series does show them warts and all.

While the show is cute, it can get annoying -- viewers are never sure what is real and what isn't and some of the actors put in the way of the Wilkinsons fail to reach their goal of being humourous.

"It's not a reality show, the only real elements are us," says Amanda.

She tries to clarify things further.

Yes, they had nudists who lived across the street. No, her father would never make an important family decision without consulting them ("If he did, we would have kicked his ass.") Yes, Steve did have some medical issues during filming. No, not all journalists ask them how they met.

Amanda also admits the intensity of filming over seven months did get to them.

"It gets even crazier," she says of future episodes. " We were kind of losing it. It's their (the crew) job to get stuff out of you."

As for the future, Amanda will continue to build her solo career and is looking for a place of her own -- maybe in Toronto or Ottawa.