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Jamaican dancehall reality show hits Tubi streaming platform

Published:Tuesday | February 1, 2022 | 12:07 AM
The Season One cast of ‘Dancehall Divas’, from left, Simone ‘Simma’ Smikle, Asoya ‘Juicee Bunny’ Hall, Timeasha ‘Barbie’ Labbeaches, Danielle ‘DI’ Isaacs and Marlene ‘Sky Hollywood’ Deroux.
The Season One cast of ‘Dancehall Divas’, from left, Simone ‘Simma’ Smikle, Asoya ‘Juicee Bunny’ Hall, Timeasha ‘Barbie’ Labbeaches, Danielle ‘DI’ Isaacs and Marlene ‘Sky Hollywood’ Deroux.

New reality series Dancehall Divas is now on Tubi. Season One of the dancehall programme will begin streaming exclusively in the North American market on the streaming platform.

Dancehall Divas is the platform’s first title in the dancehall reality genre. Known for its large selection of nostalgic films, Tubi appears to be diversifying its offerings to include newer shows and originals in various categories, including black cinema.

The series features cast members drawn from the popular dancehall subculture. Like some well-known modern reality shows, it showcases associates and foes who come together to create the type of TV that audiences find entertaining.

Dancehall Divas is produced by LHDT Productions and filmed entirely in Canada. Whilethe cast is relatively new to the mainstream reality genre, the first season showcases the camaraderie and interpersonal relationships and conflicts among some of the women, who are part of the indigenous underground subculture of the dancehall lifestyle. Representing the most populous dancehall cities across the world, the women – also associates themselves – came together from London, Toronto, New York and Kingston, Jamaica, to make up the cast.

According to the creator and executive producer of the series, Heather Elliott-Whitehead, “The show has an international flavour because all the cast members reside in different countries. There’s glitz, glam, drama, grit and heart… everything that makes up a drama-filled reality show. Additionally, we see this as a great opportunity to expose millions of people to the series and the culture in an entertaining and relatable way.”

Elliott-Whitehead, who hails from Trelawny, also pointed out that this development has cemented a successful future for the franchise that is now in the process of producing a Season Two. She went on to note that even before the first season officially aired, some cast members had exited the show, making way for a revamped ensemble for subsequent seasons.

Tubi, a division of Fox Entertainment, is an ad-supported, video-on-demand service with more than 35,000 movies and TV shows, 100-plus local and live news channels, over 250 entertainment partners, including content from nearly every major Hollywood studio.

The streaming platform is available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Australia, and has over 40 million active subscribers.