Alix Earle was expecting filming her Netflix series to be chaotic. What she did not see coming was that it would bring her family closer together.
During a Wednesday appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” the influencer revealed that making “Earle Meets World” unexpectedly became a form of “family therapy,” encouraging her relatives to address things they might otherwise have avoided.
How Filming Became Unexpected Therapy for Alix Earle’s Family
Reflecting on the overall filming experience, which put cameras inside her family’s everyday lives, Earle said, “I would say as a whole, my family got closer, and it was really like we were in family therapy.” According to Earle, filming encouraged her family to be more open about issues they might ordinarily avoid discussing.
“Usually, you know, we just kind of like sweep things under the rug,” Earle told Jimmy Fallon. “We’re like, we don’t need to really, really bring up the issues right now. Like, whatever, let’s just all get along and have dinner.” Ultimately, she said, “it did bring us closer.”
Part of what made the experience so raw was that most of Earle’s relatives had never spent much time in front of cameras, unlike the social media star. “My whole family, they’ve just really never been around cameras or anything before,” she explained. “So to them, they’re just speaking freely, like everything is off the cuff.”
Earle believes that openness became one of the show’s strengths, describing the series as “an unfiltered version of our lives.” Despite being the family member most accustomed to sharing her life publicly, Earle has joked that her social media experience didn’t necessarily make reality television any easier for her.
“My family members, they’ve never really been in front of cameras before, so they were just letting it rip,” she previously said. “We just feel so good going into it, and it was really fun.” The Reale Actives founder even admitted that she “was probably the worst one on the show.”
More Than One Family Member Had Reservations
Not everyone immediately embraced the idea of putting their lives on Netflix. Earle’s younger sister Ashtin has described herself as the family member who was most apprehensive about signing on.
“I feel like I was the hardest to get on board. I was the most apprehensive,” she told TV Insider, recalling that her father had to remind her to sign the contract.
Once filming began, however, Ashtin came around. She also described the experience as “therapeutic,” saying it pushed the family to confront topics they would normally avoid.
Their father, Thomas “TJ” Earle, had reservations of his own. Alix revealed during her “Tonight Show” appearance that TJ initially told everyone, “I’m not really going to be a part of this.” That apparently didn’t last.
Alix told Fallon that her father’s reaction to filming ultimately “shocked” the family because he ended up enjoying the experience. “He loved it,” she revealed, before joking that her dad would “kill me if he heard me say this.”
‘Earle Meets World’ Shows an Unfiltered Side of Alix’s Family
For Alix Earle, putting her family in front of the cameras was also an opportunity to show viewers a side of their lives they hadn’t previously seen. She has explained that the family wanted the chance to tell their story on their own terms rather than have others define it for them.
“It feels good, even though it is scary letting people in a sense,” Earle previously told PEOPLE. “But I think our family’s done such a good job of coming together and really being like, ‘This is our story, this is who we are. We are not perfect all the time, but this is our reality.’”
“Earle Meets World” is an eight-episode unscripted series that premiered on Netflix on Sept. 4. It follows Earle as she navigates major changes in her career and personal life while attempting to maintain the unfiltered approach that helped build her enormous social media following.
The series begins after Earle’s second-place finish on “Dancing with the Stars” and later follows her as she prepares to launch her skincare brand, Reale Actives. Her blended family also plays a major role, including TJ and his wife, Ashley Dupré; Earle’s mother, Alisa, and her boyfriend, Todd; Ashtin; and Earle’s three younger half-siblings.
While Earle knew putting cameras around the family would capture some hectic moments, she didn’t anticipate what would happen when everyone began talking more openly. What started as a reality show ultimately gave the family an unexpected opportunity to communicate differently, and, according to Earle, become closer in the process.
