By Max Franklin | Staff writer
Reality TV isn’t new; it’s been around for more than a decade and is just now hitting its stride. It has been slowly transforming from “hyper reality” (showcasing a fake life for a show) to accurately depicting life.
Some of these shows take place in unrelatable settings for those who live in the Midwest (California’s weather shouldn’t exist), but Kenosha’s own Hamidah Ahmad can be seen on Bravo’s 100 Days of Summer which is set in Chicago.
The show is about a group of six friends trying to make the best of the short midwestern summer in their jobs, social life, and relationships.
Ahmad has a supporting role on the show. In real life and on the show, she is in a relationship with former-Chicago-Bears- player-turned-businessman Ray Austin and appears periodically throughout it. Ahmad herself is an ice-skating instructor at the Ice Plex, as well as a model and actress.
Though this is the first Reality TV show she’s done, Ahmad has been in front of the camera before. She has appeared on the Disney Channel, Good Morning America, and other nationally- aired shows as part of “Disney on Ice.”
“I’m always running around doing auditions and then also teaching here while they’re filming,” Ahmad says.
She heard about the role from a friend, auditioned, landed the role and has enjoyed every moment of it.
Despite this being her first time doing a TV show, Ahmad said she couldn’t – and still can’t – prepare herself for it.
“You can’t prepare yourself for something like this,” she says. “It’s really best to just ad-lib and just go as yourself.”
She loved working with the cast. She knew some of the cast members as personal friends or acquaintances.
When asked if she liked reality TV in general, she answered affirmatively.
“I like reality TV,” she says. “You get to look at the life of someone who inspires you.”
Reality TV has really taken some strides in its content as everyone can see, and it’s something Ahmad noticed and commented on.
“[Reality TV] used to be just like a lot of catfights and bickering,” she says. “Whereas now it’s showing people who are doing something career-based and shows more of real life.”
She also notes that reality TV is getting more and more inclusive on including realistic women instead of the unrealistic stereotypes of before.
“Also showcasing more women now, and shows that women can be right up there with the men.”
Overall, Ahmad is having a whirlwind time with the show and absolutely loves it.
“It’s nice and simple,” she said. “I get to just be myself.”
To see what that’s like, be sure to watch 100 Days of Summer yourself on Bravo.