Preachers' Daughters Exclusive: Cast Leans On Family Strength Amid Daughters' Struggles
Preachers may not enjoy witnessing their children lie, abuse alcohol or disagree with their parents but the cast of "Preachers Daughters" insist that family needs to come together in love when they are faced with trials and tribulations.
In Lifetime network's "Preachers' Daughters," four families are living as examples for Christian and non-Christian parents trying to raise young women tempted by unwise decisions. Pastor Jeff Cassidy of Lake Bowen Baptist Church in Boiling Springs, S.C., has had to deal with his daughter Megan, 17, lying, sneaking out of their home, drinking underage and has made her take a drug test after suspecting that she may have been smoking marijuana.
While the associate pastor also has another son Zach, 19, who had an issue with pills that landed him in a rehabilitation facility, it seems that his home life is more intense than the new leadership position at his church. However, Pastor Cassidy told The Christian Post that he also had a past and is working on understanding his children.
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"Knowing that (cameras are) always there, you start focusing on things differently. It's been a while and you think I've never lived those things and I've never experienced what you experienced but I've had those emotions and those feelings so we understand," Pastor Cassidy told CP. "First and foremost I want them to know ..I'm not trying to dictate as much to them as much as I'm trying to educate."
Kolby Koloff, the 17-year-old who splits her time between her divorced mother and father, Victoria and Nikita Koloff, teams up with her mother to try to convince her older sister Teryn that her 3-year-old daughter Salem needs to be in church in the show's third episode. While the debate stirs up dissension after Kolby and her mother take a young Salem to church against Teryn's wishes, the former insists that overcoming these types of issues in front of cameras has strengthened her family.
"It actually made us stronger because some things we were able to open up about on camera since the cameras were like a safety blanket," Kolby told CP. "It just made us even closer and we've been able to talk to each other more about everything since the show started."
Victoria agreed with Kolby's sentiments, telling CP, "Honestly we have such a great support system amongst our family. Me and the girls are very close and our opinion number one is what does God think about us."
Tori Elliott, 22, told CP it is not easy watching herself abuse substances, party and get evicted for the world to see. Despite her struggles and mistakes, Pastor Kenny Elliott of Bethel Seventh Day Adventist Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., says it is important to continually love his daughter no matter what.
"The fact that Tori was getting older and becoming more independent given her faith I didn't expect her to go through what she went through," Pastor Elliott admitted to CP. "And as parents, not even as a pastor but as parents, we have to love our children unconditionally no matter what they're going through."
Pastor Ken Coleman of City of Refuge Pentecostal Church in Joliet, Ill, witnessed his daughter Taylor, 18, rebel against her parents during the show's first season. However, it seems he is focusing more on understanding his daughter instead of creating more rules for her to follow.
"I have to help her navigate her way through all the trials in life. It's a beautiful thing," Pastor Coleman told CP, hoping to inspire communication in families. "(Parents) can open up a dialogue and say 'what are you doing?' They might be mad at one point but they're going to be glad they spoke with their children or with their parent."
Taylor believes that she and her father have similar personalities, which has now changed the dynamic of their relationship.
"I learned that I have my dad's personality and that's probably why we clash so much because we're both headstrong, I'm stubborn and sometimes he's stubborn so we're both learning to work together," she told CP. "We're like 'ok we both have the same personalities so let's see how we can still maneuver our way through me growin up."
Adam Reed, the show's executive producer, insists that if some people stop judging the cast of "Preachers' Daughters" based solely on promotional clips and not watching the entire season, they will be able to identify with many of the situations that take place on the show.
"The key is to give everybody a chance and understand what their story and journey is, because it's a lot like the rest of our stories and journeys," Reed told CP.
