Sweet Surrender by Mary Moody Page B

and television, but she was also a single mother with two young daughters; Lisa was a successful businesswoman who had survived abuse as a teenager, and later a period of drug addiction, a succession of miscarriages and, more recently, aggressive skin cancer. Lisa’s right-wing politics were also fundamental in her selection for the panel. There was a strong view from the production team that we needed to have lively debate on the show – that it would be ratings death if we were ‘in violent agreement’ – a term used often during the pre-production period.
    Our different physical appearances were another factor in the casting: a blonde (Zoe), a brunette (Libbi), a redhead (me) and a sultryebony (Lisa). Libbi’s weight loss and association with Jenny Craig was appealing to women viewers at home with similar issues, and she was confident and sexy on camera. Lisa and Zoe were both stunningly good looking. I was to represent older viewers, but from the more youthful perspective of a typical baby boomer. I wondered why there had been no attempt to include a multicultural aspect to the casting – I had suggested several fantastic Aboriginal women who I knew could hold their own in a lively debate. Libbi’s Jewishness was the only bit of ethnic variation in an otherwise very vanilla panel.
    The game plan we were presented with was simple. During the early weeks of the program we should establish our individual characters and personalities by gradually revealing snippets of personal information about our lives. Then, when we had the viewers charmed and ‘on side’, we should be more forthcoming about our views and engage in high-spirited conversations, taking totally opposing sides on the issues of the day. We could become heated and express our views passionately, but we must never, ever get personal or unpleasant with each other on camera. We were to portray the image of four good friends who were genuinely fond of each other but quite comfortable agreeing to disagree. Not particularly easy given that we hadn’t even met!
    Mia, Henrie and the executive producer, Tara Smithson, were busy organising a get-together that would be spread over several days so that we could relax and get to know each other. We had been asked to submit a short biography so we could discover a little bit more about each other before we were brought together for that first meeting. It would also provide the basis of a media release when Nine’s CEO, Eddie McGuire, and other network executives gave us the green light to proceed.
    I sent a fairly dry, factual summation of my career highlights and some brief personal details, as did both Libbi and Zoe. Lisa sent a long and involved first-person account of her life and her various triumphsover adversity that read something like a misery memoir. It detailed childhood abuse, overcoming adversity to build a brilliant career, and a passionate romance with her husband, David Oldfield, based around a shared love of military history, scuba diving and pistol shooting. It would soon make its way into the wider world of the media.
    Mia sent us an excited email detailing a three-day ‘love-in’, which would begin with two days of getting to know each other and workshopping our chemistry and conversation skills. On the third day, we would be given full hair and make-up, and a ‘screen test’ would be shot that would immediately be sent around the network for final approval.
    â€˜
The mantra I have in my head for this show? I learn something and I laugh . . . that’s the key
,’ Mia wrote.
    Our first meeting was in the boardroom. Déjà vu. I was a little late because of a prior commitment that I couldn’t change, so by the time I arrived my co-hosts were having a casual lunch of salads and sandwiches. It was the first time I had met the executive producer, Tara, who was bright and bubbly, but of course the most important mission was meeting