Class and British Reality Television

Abstract

In the spoof documentary Trinny and Susannah: What They Did Next (2004), Susannah claims, ‘This is a relationship that’s been going longer than 14 years.’ ‘It’s lasted longer than my marriage’, chimes in Trinny and the camera lingers on their sullen faces. In this ‘mock-umentary’ Trinny and Susannah camp up their class, celebrity and friendship through portraying themselves in country houses, riding horses, being massaged and reaping the benefits of an upper middle class lifestyle. They simultaneously laugh at themselves through their self-representation in career meltdown and friendship bust-up. Coined ‘the princesses of makeover’, they perform themselves as alcoholic, hysterical and heading for failure. Here, Trinny and Susannah take the class signifiers that were so evident in their UK television show (BBC, 2001–2007) and bring them to excess. This chapter examines how this excessive manipulation of classed subjectivities is employed as a means to generate conflict between women. I explore the affect of friend-ship and female sociality in the UK ‘social work’ television programmes (Skeggs and Wood, 2011, 42), What Not to Wear, Cook Yourself Thin (Channel 4, 2010–2012) and Wife Swap (Channel 4, 2003–2009). Not all these programmes are overt examples of girlfriend culture as they do not all represent friends. However, they do enact and enable the girlfriend gaze through their policing networks.

There’s a bit of jealousy there [ … ] a bit of envy. (What Not to Wear)