A reality TV production filming at Bondi Beach has sparked outrage after placing a sign asking “non-attractive” people to stay out of camera range.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sign, displayed near the Bondi Pavilion, informed the public that filming was underway for FLEX, a \u201cmicro-reality\u201d series documenting the lives of eight \u201cgood-looking Bondi locals.”<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you enter this area, you may be captured on film,\u201d the notice read.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think you\u2019re fit and\/or attractive enough to get featured in the background, please make yourself known to our production team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you feel this, isn\u2019t you, please stay out of the shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Images of the sign circulated online after being shared to Reddit, where commenters quickly slammed the wording as offensive and elitist.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is proper f****ed up,\u201d one person wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow revolting is that verbiage? Imagine being so vain and self-involved that you would approach the producers and just what? Swish yourself in front of them? So cringe,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this show isn\u2019t a parody I will burst into flames through the cringe. Every ad I see for it gives me so much ick I almost feel ill,\u201d a third commented.<\/p>\n
Others took aim at Bondi\u2019s image, with one writing: \u201cThis is why I never go to Bondi,\u201d while another added: \u201cBondi are a vapid bunch, I think everyone will try and get in the back shot to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the production company behind the show has defended the sign, saying the wording was intended as a sarcastic in-joke.<\/p>\n
Ben Davies, founder of production company Ronde – the creators of Bondi Rescue – said the sign was deliberately written to play into the Eastern Suburbs\u2019 reputation for vanity.<\/p>\n
\u201cFLEX obviously features fit and attractive people, trying to navigate life, career, love and body image in the Eastern suburbs,” Davies told SkyNews.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a very strong association of the Eastern Suburbs with vanity and elitism, so it was a running joke for the Ronde team to lean into this perception during filming in a way that can drive a bit of conversation around what it is we’re making.”<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted the public to ask questions, speak to the producers and spread the word.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the backlash online, Davies said some locals embraced the joke – with several Bondi-run clubs approaching producers and \u201cnominating themselves\u201d to appear in the background.<\/p>\n
FLEX is being marketed as Australia\u2019s first \u201cmicro-reality\u201d series.<\/p>\n
Rather than traditional broadcast-length episodes, the show will feature one to two-minute instalments released directly to social media platforms.<\/p>\n
The series, launching on March 15, follows eight young \u201cstrivers\u201d navigating fitness culture, entrepreneurship and relationships in Sydney\u2019s Eastern Suburbs.<\/p>\n
Davies said the show will also explore more serious themes, including the relationship between food and body image and the \u201cfake it till you make it\u201d pressure faced by young people in affluent areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A reality TV production filming at Bondi Beach has sparked outrage after placing a sign asking “non-attractive” people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,27931,267204,191799,227582,134,267205,37689,27481,11252,2579,670,427],"class_list":["post-539177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bondi","tag-bondi-local","tag-bondi-pavilion","tag-eastern-suburbs","tag-entertainment","tag-flex","tag-mafs","tag-production","tag-reality-tv","tag-reddit","tag-sydney","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}