{"id":354992,"date":"2026-03-19T21:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T21:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/354992\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T21:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T21:16:08","slug":"alex-cooper-on-producing-reality-tv-dating-shows-and-the-future-of-call-her-daddy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/354992\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Cooper on Producing Reality TV, Dating Shows and the Future of ‘Call Her Daddy’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u00a0There are two things Alex Cooper<\/a> loves to talk about: reality TV and Miley Cyrus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWith Unwell, founded in 2023, Cooper already has the massively successful \u201cCall Her Daddy<\/a>\u201d podcast, Unwell Beverages and a SiriusXM partnership. Now, through her just-launched Unwell Productions, she\u2019s executive producing Disney+\u2019s \u201cThe Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special,\u201d debuting March 24; the reality dating series \u201cLove Overboard,\u201d landing March 26 on Hulu; and reality series \u201cLet\u2019s Marry Harry,\u201d coming this year to Netflix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis has always kind of been the plan. This is a massive moment for Unwell\u2019s evolution into a fully integrated media company,\u201d says Cooper of stepping into the producing space. \u201cWe launched Unwell Productions because I genuinely believe nobody understands or engages or mobilizes the next generation like we do. We\u2019re taking that unparalleled consumer intimacy that we have at Unwell and getting to translate it into premium unscripted series for major streamers. It\u2019s a no-brainer for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLove Overboard<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLove Overboard\u201d combines both romance and strategy, but Cooper had no interest in reinventing the wheel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe were just trying to make something that had the elements of a dating show and a little bit of that gamification and merging it together,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s why this show, set on a yacht, sees four couples living lavishly topside \u2014 and the rest of the singles below deck, cleaning up after the others. The \u201cDownsiders\u201d get the opportunity to break up. Each week\u2019s eliminated single literally walks the plank and plummets into the ocean off Malta.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt adds such suspense and humor and chaos,\u201d says Cooper. \u201cI was so interested in exploring this luxury yacht life and people being able to date like the Kardashian lifestyle, which most of us don\u2019t get to experience. But also, will people fall in love underneath together and enjoy their life with the less glamorous things?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tCooper wanted to see whether contestants would fall enough for each other to agree to sleep on bunk beds, without the Champagne and caviar \u2014 while also turning some of the reality show tropes on their heads.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cA lot of dating shows have become really serious, and I think that consumers are too smart now, where they think, there\u2019s no way that these people who are trying to become famous are going to fall in love,\u201d she says. \u201cUnwell approached it with a more realistic approach: We want this to feel self-aware, a little chaotic in the best way, and the tone really was intentional. Other reality shows are so serious and intense that sometimes, it is a little hard to believe. These people just met each other three days ago. How are they already proposing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tScreenshot<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, Cooper also produces and hosts the upcoming \u201cHannah Montana\u201d special<\/a> \u2014 something she felt extremely qualified for as a self-described \u201cHannah Montana\u201d fangirl, and whom Cyrus deeply respects. And though she loves reality TV and did a documentary about her life and tour last year, she has no interest in having her own reality show.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI love watching reality TV. I love producing it, but I think that I have made now, at this point in my career, a pretty concerted effort to keep my personal life more private,\u201d Cooper says. \u201cI genuinely believe that I\u2019m getting to do what I love. I went to school and majored in film and television. This is something that I always wanted to do. This is more the lane that I feel the most confident and excited about when it comes to reality TV.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCooper may be taking on multiple other projects, but her biggest venture, \u201cCall Her Daddy,\u201d isn\u2019t going anywhere. In fact, it\u2019s only growing. This year, for the first time, the next \u201cBachelorette\u201d lead wasn\u2019t announced on \u201cGood Morning America\u201d \u2014 instead, \u201cThe Secret Lives of Mormon Wives\u201d star Taylor Frankie Paul revealed her news on Cooper\u2019s podcast<\/a>. And Whitney Leavitt and \u201cDancing With the Stars\u201d partner Mark Ballas performed their finale routine<\/a> on the podcast, followed by a tell-all interview.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd at Unwell Productions, the collaborations are just getting started.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe have a lot in development across many different genres. We have more dating shows in the works. We have true crime. We have some really fun docu-soaps and game-style shows,\u201d Cooper says. \u201cThe goal for Unwell Productions is to keep creating content that\u2019s fresh, entertaining and a little bit unexpected. But \u2018Call Her Daddy\u2019 will always be the mothership.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0There are two things Alex Cooper loves to talk about: reality TV and Miley Cyrus.\u00a0 With Unwell, founded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[53642,53643,93,61,60,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-354992","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-alex-cooper","9":"tag-call-her-daddy","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}