June 12, 2017
It may have felt validating to mock New Jersey's reality TV affliction from across state lines, but it looks like the scourge will soon pour into our own backyard for a series about the troubled souls of Philadelphia's Main Line.
They do exist—digs at affluenza's blues aside—and Berwyn's Toni Filippone will be their motivational life coach when "Get Real Main Line" debuts on a network still to be revealed.
The show's development was reported here earlier this year, when Filippone explained that "Get Real" won't be about the gossip and drama we've come to expect and even crave from reality TV.
"I would never sign up for a show like that," Filippone said.
An unnamed "major network" is ready to back Filippone, who graduated from Conestoga High School in 1993 and is a vocal member of the Main Line's LGBGTQ community.
Last week, Main Line Savvy caught up with the "Get Real" star to discuss progress on the series.
A certified life coach, Filippone has assembled a cast of assistant coaches whose mission on "Get Real" will be to help struggling Main Line women turn their lives around. The group includes Filippone's wife and Berwyn caterer Meredith Coyle, who will serve as a nutritional coach, while other mentors have been placed in charge of image, fitness, career and spirit.
Filippone got her break in the reality TV world when she started working with "Real Housewives of New York" star Sonja Morgan, who attracted other high-profile clients to her growing personal training business.
The series will examine both the daily practice and the at-home experience of a life coach, featuring Filippone and Coyle in their own element outside their work. Filippone described the Main Line's social ailment as follows:
“There’s a false sense of stability on the Main Line,” she says. “I see people living to a standard that’s far beyond their means. It’s OK if you can’t have the Range Rover. It’s OK to downsize. It’s OK if you have a child that’s an addict. It’s OK to go back to college because you want your life back. I grew up thinking everyone else’s life was perfect in this area. It’s not.”
No date has been set for the debut of "Get Real Main Line," but the series expected to premiere by early 2018. Bravo TV briefly flirted with the idea of a Philly-based reality show in 2014, only to drop the "Real Housewives"-inspired plan upon further consideration.
Here's a clip from an early episode where Tori helps a client named Doree, who is attempting to recover from her husband's suicide.
