They came up with plans to prevent suicide and tackle climate change. Then on Day 4 of the reality TV challenge came a final twist: they made a video that exposed the world to their real lives.
I went to the launch of their “The Most Powerful Men In The World” documentary and was able to interview their host, former “Big Brother” host Julie Chen, and their co-host, former “The Apprentice” winner Mark Burnett.
The group was on their way to an interview on Day 5 of the reality TV challenge, held in Beijing but hosted by US-based broadcaster CCTV, when the car caught fire on its way to the venue. They left the next morning without a car and decided to share their story and video on social media.
You can watch the documentary here.
The video shows the group sitting around their dinner table at a small studio in Beijing. There was much laughter. Several guests commented on their “charisma and humor” and their “cheeky smiles” but one guest, a man of Korean origin, asked to see their “real stories”. It was the first time he had seen the group in their real lives, in their home, at their jobs, in a studio, where they had been filmed, edited together and made to look like they were in love with one another.
“He said he has watched CCTV all his life and they had never shown an Asian or North American. This was his first time watching them on television. He couldn’t look at them and didn’t know what to say so he said he loves them,” recalls Chen. But she says he was an exception and the entire group was surprised by his reaction.
“The challenge was to show the world that there are people all around the world who have stories like this but they don’t want to share them, because they’re afraid that others will think they’re fake, and they don’t want to be famous or the