ABC Family’s original series, Make It or Break It returned with all new episodes last night and to kick off the season, read below what Candace Cameron Bure had to say about Make It or Break It in her recent interview with the TV blogosphere.
Is there anything you can clue us into about what we should expect this season?
There are some characters that are brought back that we’ve seen before. There are some brand-new characters that you’ll be introduced to. This season is following the wave of Kaylie having placed first at Nationals and then following the story of Payson, who is badly, badly injured and has been given a diagnosis to never compete again.
There’s fun, exciting travel on the show that you’ll see with the girls who are competing and, what’s brilliant that they’re doing, is really intertwining different relationships together. Some new characters will unexpectedly come together and I think… there, that’s it; that’s all I’m telling you.
Summer worked really hard to get close to Lauren in the first part of the season. Now that Summer and Steve are over, how is that relationship going to be affected?
It’s definitely affected in a positive way. I think that Lauren’s had a change of heart with Summer. Now that Steve and Summer, broken up she seems to be seeing things differently. I think the viewers will be surprised that her attacks, so to speak, will be directed to new people and not Summer so much.
Why do you think Summer has stuck by Lauren?
I think Summer is trying to represent what unconditional love is. I know that has a lot to do with her faith and God’s unconditional love for every one of us. I think Summer’s trying to live that out. It’s especially hard with Lauren because she hasn’t been nice to Summer. I think she’s been such a great example of being that love and the stability in her life that she sees that she needs. I think that Summer has really learned from her own past experiences in her life, having wished that she had someone like that in her life and now getting the opportunity to be that in someone else’s life.
What do you think she sees in Lauren that maybe other people don’t see?
I think there’s a little bit of that little-girl-lost type of thing that Lauren is so over top at times that a lot of times it’s really because the person is struggling so badly with their place in life or who they are or not feeling loved or accepted. It comes out in venomous ways sometimes. So I think that Summer can see that in Lauren that it’s probably a lot more insecurity than it is being a bad person.
What would you say Summer’s dreams are or her goals?
I think Summer really wants to get married and have a family and have kids. She’s a very smart, organized woman and I think she really has that A-type personality that probably thinks she can do it all and do it all well. I think she has a big future in store for herself, but she needs to find that man first, her husband, to get the ball rolling.
Have you created a back-story in your mind for Summer that you use in the role?
There’s a little bit that was shared on one of the episodes when she had a serious talk with Lauren about her past and just finding love in all the wrong ways and trying to be accepted by physical love and realizing that isn’t where it comes from. I’ve of course in my mind expanded a little bit upon that and having a back-story for Summer and even where she found her faith and drew upon that.
Having talked with the producers and the writers on the show; we’ve kind of created a little bit more, but there’s still room for more development with Summer’s character. I’m always looking forward to seeing what the writers are going to do and to have the opportunities to talk with them about seeing more things like that come out through Summer.
You are a Christian and on the show you are a character promotes Christian values positively, which is really rare in this day of media. How do you feel about having that role, and did you have to fight to get your character, Summer, to have those values on the show?
It was very interesting. I do hold a higher standard in some of the things I will do and won’t do. Some of that played into my character with Summer when we had created her, but originally I never asked if she was a Christian at all. That was something that after we talked, the producer decided it would be a great element to add to the show.
What are the similarities and the differences between your personality and Summer’s?
We’re having fun because the show is so new and the characters are still developing so I’m learning a lot more about Summer as we’re diving into this back 10 [episodes] of the season. Something that I am not that Summer is is organized. We’ll see that Summer’s got her stuff together; she’s a bright woman, and she’s organized and she’s put together quite well. I guess being a mom of three I feel pretty disheveled most days. I can’t remember my car keys or what I just walked out the door to get. I will just go completely blank. I think that’s one big difference.
Another difference is I’m happily married with three children and Summer is still looking for love. She’s never been married and obviously she just broke up from a serious relationship at the end of Episode 10. She’s still looking for love. There’re a lot of differences between us. But, I think the common factor is the Christian faith that we share.
Does it ever concern you that you’re on a family channel and we can’t exactly let some of our younger kids watch some of the story lines?
Absolutely; I’m a parent and my children are 11, 9 and 7 years old. Make It or Break It is on ABC Family, but it’s the 9:00 time slot and does have a rating of +14. Anyone that’s watching or any parents that are watching, which I hope parents are sitting down and knowing what their children are watching, would see that +14 in the upper corner of the television to know the rating.
Even with my children and me it’s a major concern. I’m very aware of what they watch. Because the network itself has the word “family” on it, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s for only younger children. I think ABC Family is very specific to different age groups within a family. The show itself, I TiVo because my kids want to watch it because I’m on it; they’re interested to see what Mom’s doing, but the show’s not entirely appropriate for my children.
I will sit with the remote in hand. There are certainly parts that my children can watch and that’s what we do. We sit with the remote and we watch the gymnastics parts and parts that I’m in that are fine, but when there are those teen conversations that talk about sex or things that are too mature for my children, we fast-forward through it.
Do you find yourself mentoring the Make It Or Break It girls? What is the relationship like?
They’re such sweet girls; I’ve been having so much fun getting to know them as people and as actresses and seeing what they do and their different styles, even their different levels of experience. It’s different for all of them. I try to be an example to them just by doing what I do, to be professional on the set and to know my lines and to be there when I’m asked to be there and not hold anything up. It’s nothing that I’ll sit down and talk to them about and to mentor in that way. They’re learning as well, but I think for me that’s the best way I can do that is just living that example for them. Hopefully they can reap some of my experience by seeing it.
Make It or Break It airs Mondays at 9/8c on ABC Family.