Last year, Jenna Talackova made national headlines when she became the first openly trans woman to compete in the Miss Universe Canada pageant after having been disqualified initially.
Since then, Talackova’s become something of a trans icon and has successfully parlayed her pageant run into a reality-TV show, which will be filming in Toronto despite the fact that Jenna hails originally from Vancouver. Sorry, Vancouver, we scooped you. If it’s any consolation, you guys have lovely beaches.
The move to Toronto isn’t just a reality-TV gambit but “a personal-growth thing,” says Mudd. “She wants a change, and Toronto, with its proximity to New York, seems to be the place where she at least wants to start the journey. I don’t doubt that she’ll live in 15 cities in the next 10 years.” Or as Talackova herself put it: “I think it’s more a chapter in my life where I want to play with my career more so than being in, like, a relationship . … I put too much time in relationships, too much energy.”
AdvertisementShooting of Brave New Girl will run into August. As in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Talackova will be living alone in an apartment in Toronto (“I hate living with people – well, I don’t hate living with people – but I like having my own space”), but much of her time will be taken up having adventures with friends like Miss Universe Canada 2010 Elena Semikina and Dajana Radovanovic, another Miss Universe Canada contestant from 2012. Who will be Rhoda and who will be Phyllis? We’ll see in September. [SOURCE]
If the opening title sequence doesn’t include at least one shot of Jenna Talackova throwing her hat in the air, I will be so pissed. Either way, this is pretty exciting. God knows we could use more trans visibility in reality shows, instead of a bunch of housewives throwing wine at each other.
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