Topic analysis

Our new reality show leaves nothing out

From the moment Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo met on Made in Chelsea, their relationship has played out in the public eye with audiences following everything - the good, the bad and the downright ugly. Their on-screen will-they-won't-they storyline evolved into the NearlyWeds podcast when they got engaged, later rebranding as NewlyWeds after their marriage. Now, they are sharing their next chapter - pregnancy and parenthood - in a new three-part documentary. Raising Chelsea follows the couple as they try for a baby, navigate the highs and lows of pregnancy and adjust to the early days of parenthood. For many, the idea of filming and broadcasting such intimate moments, including the actual birth of their child, would be unthinkable. But for Laing and Habboo, it was never really a question, and inviting cameras into such a personal chapter in their life felt to them like a continuation of what they had already built with their audience. "People are used to following our journey, so documenting this and having an audience come with us felt really natural and fun," Habboo says. Their commitment to creating authentic reality TV shaped how Raising Chelsea was filmed, and, rather than a traditional multi-camera set-up, "we only had one camera so it was very vlog style and there are lots of times I didn't know we were even filming" Habboo explains. She adds that she quickly "forgot the cameras were there", which meant arguments would unfold as they normally would, only for Habboo to then "worry about it afterwards". Laing, who is also the founder of sweets brand Candy Kittens, says that approach was intentional because "if there were three cameras and a set-up, it feels forced". "We wanted to capture everything and I wanted to make sure it was really real so you see everything," he says. "Even when things happened that were intense we kept it in because we made a deal." He tells the BBC that holding anything back defeats the point. "There is nothing off limits - I don't like the idea of a filtered version of ourselves, it's not true, authentic or real," he reflects. "Everyone has arguments, bad moments, good moments, feels up or down and capturing that is real life." They wasted little time in sharing those moments as the documentary airs less than four months since their son, Ziggy, was born. Their willingness to share didn't mean there weren't moments of hesitation about where, if anywhere, the line should be drawn. At times, they draw that line in different places - Habboo is more instinctively protective of what should remain private while Laing is more comfortable letting even the most personal moments play out on screen. "There are moments where it's a lot," Habboo admits. "You can even hear me in the show saying 'I'm not doing this' at certain points. "If I had my way there would be things off limits but I never get my way." When the pair started their podcast in 2021, the 31-year-old says she wanted "to put my best foot forward" so was keen that some things were edited out. "I didn't want people to hear the nitty-gritties of our relationship." But, she was rarely in the edit and "Jamie made sure every episode kept everything in, which was horrifying". Habboo got used to that pretty quickly, and the "reaction from listeners was that they loved it and felt connected, like they weren't alone". "So going into this, I thought we had to keep that authenticity," she continues. "I'm happy we did it that way because I love reality TV, I'm the biggest fan, but I feel like today everything is so produced and constructed which is a shame for the viewer. "There's not much authentic TV out there, so we wanted to create something real." That level of exposure comes at a cost; being so open means inviting opinion and criticism, and Laing knows that "you have to have thick skin if you're going to do this". It is something he says he has learned over time while Habboo "is still developing it". Laing laughs as he recalls one nasty comment that stuck. "Sophie thought she'd read the Daily Mail one day and the first comment was: 'Why does she look like an Afghan hound?'" "There are so many comments like that," Habboo says. "People asking what's wrong with my eyebrows. They're evil, they're so mean. I don't know what they're going to say when they see me pregnant." It is the willingness to show both joy and discomfort that underpins their documentary - Laing describes himself as "more anxious", while Habboo admits she is "worse on no sleep". There is playful debate over who does more nappies. "I do," Laing insists, met with visible disbelief from Habboo. Their differences continue in how they parent - Laing calling Habboo the stricter of the two - a claim that surprises her. "She has routine," he says. "I'd let him eat chocolate." Yet beneath the teasing is a clear sense of partnership and they reflect on how they have grown together. "I thought we were strong," Laing says. "But we've become even stronger." "So there's no divorce yet, we're saving that for season two." Raising Chelsea is available to watch on Disney+ now.