Gist
Netflix’s “Byron Baes” Already Has Dedicated Online Haters
Netflix’s new reality show “Byron Baes” has us asking one very important question: do we actually need it? As avid watchers of “Love Is Blind,” “Too Hot to Handle,” and “Selling Sunset,” we’ll be the first to admit that Netflix’s reality TV game is difficult to ignore. But the streaming service’s newest drama series already has a dedicated anti-fanbase — including locals from the IRL Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia — and we have a feeling the new trailer isn’t half as juicy as the offscreen drama. Find out more about the new reality series here.
What Is “Byron Baes” About?
On Feb. 22, Netflix shared the trailer for the show, which features millennial artists, musicians, designers, spiritual healers, photographers, and “trendy hustlers” trying to make it big in Australia’s sociocultural epicenter. “Sh*t’s about to get interesting,” one cast member says. In a separate clip, he exclaims, “Give me another f*cking drink. This is a f*cking joke,” before storming off.
“We are a community experiencing significant challenges driven by influencer culture and rapidly shifting demographics of residents.”
Similar to “Hype House,” the series documents the glamorous lives of influencers as they “dream big, live wild, and hustle hard.” Given that Byron Bay, like Los Angeles, is a beachside city filled with socioeconomic complexities, it’s no wonder that locals started a petition to cancel the show’s production when it was first announced.
The petition, which currently has almost 10,000 signatures, reads, “We are a community experiencing significant challenges driven by influencer culture and rapidly shifting demographics of residents. We do not want to be cast as the perfect backdrop and magnet for social media influencers.” It continues, “Rather than using our region as a reality show punch line we want our Local, State and Federal government representatives and relevant regulatory authorities to focus on supporting our community to address systemic issues of housing affordability, coastal erosion, increasing unemployment, traffic management challenges, low high school completion rates and high levels of gendered and domestic violence.”
Who Is in the “Byron Baes” Cast?
“Byron Baes” features a surprisingly familiar cast, including former “Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise” star Nathan Favro; “Love Island” season-one contestant Elias Chigros; model and influencer Jade Kevin Foster; fashion designer Jess Bell and her sister Lauren Bell; boutique director Hannah Brauer, Silk Laundry sales director Saskia Wotton and her boyfriend, surfer Dave Frim; Amplify Live cofounder Alex Reid; businesswoman Elle Watson; and more.
When Will Netflix’s “Byron Baes” Premiere?
“Byron Baes” is set to premiere on March 9 at 12:00 a.m. PT. In the meantime, we’ll be streaming some of our other favorite Netflix nail-biters, like “The Tinder Swinder,” to emotionally prepare ourselves for the screaming-crying-cocktail-infused drama of it all.
