After facing the the criticism of bloggers who viewed her as a spoiled brat who had done the show to get publicity, Shayne was given the opportunity of a lifetime -- the chance to show America her "normal side" on a new E! reality show about her family, Leave it to Lamas. When we caught up with Shayne in summer 2009, she answered our questions about her family's new show and life after The Bachelor. Here's what she had to say.
Latoya: Tell us what went wrong for you and Matt.
Shayne: We made a go at it. We tried our hardest. We were in love and we were engaged…It was serious…We put all of our hearts and souls into making the relationship work, especially because we got so much criticism -- like I was doing it for so and so reason and he was doing it for this reason. And at the end of the day, we both did that show to find love. And we did essentially, but when you move in together and you realize that your lives are going in different directions and different paths, it doesn’t work out. It was sad and it was a decision that both of us made together…I don’t think Matt was really prepared to be engaged and maybe I wasn’t. But we remain very close friends and I love him dearly and it’s all good…
Latoya: What’s the new show like –- is it more about you or is it about your entire family?
Shayne: It’s the entire family -- my father, my mother, my sister, my brother, and me. It’s about all of us living in L.A., but you can say the focus is on me...So it’s about me and my relationship with my mother, with my father, with my sister, and my brother. And we all are in the entertainment business and we’re all a very close knit family.
I think America is just fascinated with watching a family open its doors and letting you see what’s really going on inside—the good, the bad, the ugly, the perfect. And my family is essentially giving our audience and open invitation on how we live, breathe, and manage our lives in Hollywood. And it’s entertaining to say the least, because my mom’s a firecracker. My dad is just the most amazing father figure any girl can ever ask for. We talk about anything and everything and you will truly see that father-daughter bond with us. I want girls to say, "I want to be like that with my father"...We want to give substance to it. We don’t want America to walk away and say, "Why did I waste my 30 minutes on that program?” We’re a family; we’re a loving family; we’re a new age family. My parents have been divorced, but we all get along. We all fight and there are trials and there are tribulations, but it’s entertaining. My whole family is a house of actors, so if you want drama, I guess go into a house of actors and you’ll get it.
Latoya: What is it like having cameras follow you around everywhere?
Shayne: My advice to my family about having cameras follow you around just in your daily life was just to act like they’re not there. We’re not trying to be characters. We’re not trying to play it up for the cameras. We’re trying to give the audience the real footage of what you get in a real family. The Osbournes did it well and it showed every level of what goes on in a family’s life and that’s what we want. You know when you watched the Osbournes, you got something from of it. And that’s what we want to give to our audience. Our whole family is just the most loving, endearing, generous people. And we want to share that with the world. And it’s scary because you see my weaknesses, and I’m not the kind of person who likes to share my weaknesses. I go through some hard times in my life -- some really hard times. But you see the beautiful things. There’s a balance, and there’s essentially entertainment.
