It is three minutes to air and the hosts aren’t ready.

“Oh,” says Jessi Cruickshank, as she leans into her co-host. Then, she lays one on him.

“Ugh,” winces Dan Levy. “That brush is disgusting!”

Cruickshank laughs as she dusts more powder onto her co-host’s face.

“OK, you’re done!”

Sitting on stage in a room of fewer than 20 people, Cruickshank and Levy look at the cameras – they’re good to go.

As the second episode of the popular MTV (Canada) reality show, “The Hills,” ends, hosts Cruickshank and Levy are ready to dish the dirt with viewers – and four fans on the in-studio panel – on “The Hills: The After Show.” Created by the pair and their producer, Garrett Wintrip, the live show lets Cruickshank and Levy review storylines from “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills,” draw on people’s faces with a telestrator, and—if they’re lucky—talk to cast members over the phone.

“This show started off as such a small, little thing and then slowly, people started watching,” says Levy. “Then, after we got Breanna [from the third season of "Laguna Beach"] on the show and she invited us to go out and meet her, it just kind of snowballed.”

“Going to Laguna was like stepping into a television show. Unbelievable,” says the redheaded Cruickshank, smiling. “There was no difference between the show and reality. Like, girls were whispering about how I was talking to Cameron. We were immersed in the drama whether we liked it or not.”

And it’s drama viewers love to watch. The day MTV announced there would be an audience for the “After Show” season finale in December, the e-mail and phone systems shut down at MTV because so many people wanted to be a part of it. Over 500 “Laguna Beach” fans lined up outside to hang out with the hosts and special guests Breanna Conrad and Cami Edwards from the show.

“These shows kind of celebrate that wealthy, popular and very attractive crowd,” says Cruickshank of why she thinks shows like “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills” have drawn such huge fanbases. “But as people who didn’t necessarily live that in high school, it’s kind of fun to just look at it and take it all with a grain of salt.”

But surely, hosting the interactive “After Show” can’t be all that easy. During commercial breaks, Cruickshank goes over her questions and points, practicing so she doesn’t slip up—like calling a cast member “BJ”—on national television again. The hardest part of hosting the show?

“Working with this one,” Cruickshank says, smiling and nodding at Levy to her right. “He’s, uh, he’s tough.”

“Nice,” he laughs. “It’s such a natural thing and we have so much fun doing it that it’s not hard. It doesn’t even feel like work.”

Of course it wouldn’t, not when you’ve got four “After Show” friends and six glasses filled with a mysterious substance.

“I think that is the magic that is the ‘After Show,’” says Levy. “I think if we were to give that away, we’d be giving away what is the essence of our show.”

“We’ll keep the mystique in the martini glasses,” adds Cruickshank.

“Mm hmm,” Levy says as he leans in and whispers a secret. “It’s not always food colouring and water.”

Nice.


(Laguna Beach cast members Cami and Breanna appear with hosts Dan Levy and Jessi Cruickshank on last season’s Laguna Beach After Show)
All images courtesy of MTV






Related Stories: