The Filming Process
The day finally came when I would leave for Scotland to begin filming the show. I would be in Scotland for around 2 weeks taking part in an amazing opportunity.
So we made our way to the airport. After saying goodbye to my family, my chaperone, 3 other kids and I began to make our way to the plane. We all instantly made conversation and were all very excited to begin filming.
Arriving in Scotland: Upon arriving in Glasgow we joined with the other kids who had come from other parts of the UK and began the long journey to our accommodation near Inverness. We all settled in well and we were assigned our rooms. Our accommodation was in a quite rural part of Scotland which meant service was scarce! This didn’t bother most of us as our days were jam-packed with filming. I loved the routine, we would wake up early and wait for the sent to our chaperone on our schedule for the day. This would also include school tutoring as we were missing some school
The start of filming: Throughout filming we were all treated as very important people! We all had a team who would make sure our costumes, hair and face were looking good and we all looked good on the camera. Everyday we took part in different challenges as part of the competition. These challenges would test your physical and mental strength and for each challenge we succeeded in we would be awarded ‘golden rings’. Each day was so much fun to take part in.
Examples of Challenges: All the challenges were super intense but also very fun. I did really well in all of them and maintained a good lead from the beginning to end. An example of challenge was jumping into a *freezing* gorge and use all your power to jump and grab the ring. There was so much adrenaline running through me and I was able to be the only person to grab 5 rings which I was very proud of and made me ‘one to watch’
I could possibly go through all the challenges we did, however the ‘Last Stand’ was the one to get into the Final. It was a challenge, but I gave it all I had and managed to win. Which meant that I would be returning to Scotland again in a few weeks for another 10 days of filming which I was super excited for.
Round 2: I flew back to Scotland for another round of filming. However, the accommodation didn’t go as smoothly as expected. The boys had the house they were staying in and the girls had their house. As I said, we were in a rural part of Scotland so service was scarce however in the first round we were able to get service. In the girls’ new house – which was lovely and had amazing views – there was only service on one phone which was mine! Which meant to contact anyone the chaperones and the kids had to use my phone. This was not ideal so we were moved to a hotel which we really loved and had dinner at the boys’ house they were staying at.
I loved round 2 as I made so many brilliant friends who some of us are still in contact with. The challenges were a lot of fun and tested you physically and mentally.
Filming was a lot of fun and the producer, Nick, even let me direct a scene which was a lot of fun and hard work! I enjoyed working with Aisha Toussaint who played Raven and was a brilliant actress.
This was an experience to remember and an incredible opportunity. I’m glad I auditioned!
Mutsa Pearl 