Preachers' Daughters Exclusive: Lifetime Show Focuses On Missions Trips, Bolder Stories in New Season
The daughters of church leaders will do more than just find ways to rebel against their parents in the third season of Lifetime's hit docu-series "Preachers' Daughters." Now, the show is taking viewers on a missions trip to Cabo, Mexico where preachers' daughters and granddaughters will help change the lives of the less fortunate while overcoming their own issues with anger, substance abuse, rebelling and dating while strengthening their relationships with God.
Aside from Megan Cassidy, 17, and her father Pastor Jeff Cassidy who serves as Associate Pastor of Worship at Lake Bowen Baptist Church in Boiling Springs, South Carolina, eight of the nine girls featured on show are newcomers to the Lifetime series. Adam Reed, the show's executive producer, spoke about the change of format to the show that went from focusing on four families to nine girls leaving their homes to pursue missionary work.
"When we were talking with the network we all felt the first two seasons of 'Preachers Daughters' were great, and in watching them we realized that we were kind of missing out on something special," Reed told The Christian Post. "We were seeing four preachers' daughters separated from each other but all going through the same and different things. But wouldn't it be interesting to see everybody together?"
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That question sparked the concept of putting all of the daughters from different parts of the country in one house.
"It is more interesting to see preachers' daughters on the show all get together and see all of their different viewpoints because I think it just makes the show and the characters multi-dimensional," Reed told CP. "You're not just getting one perspective."
Reed said he hoped to have more girls on the show than in the past so that people could have more of a chance to relate with the stories they are watching on the small screen as the girls work out their redemption and faith in front of cameras.
While this season will focus on Cassidy trying to move away from the rebellious ways that got her into hot water last season, Nikki Erimetz, 19, is another South Carolina native who tries to balance her partying and studies while maneuvering through life with overbearing parents.
Cameras also followed Tyche Crockett, 22, from New Orleans, Louisiana, who has a strict upbringing from her pastor grandfather and turns to her younger four siblings for advice, and self-proclaimed "good Christian" Jayde Gomez, 20, who lives in Lakeland, Florida, with a desire to study her Bible and pray nightly while writing her own devotion book.
Kori Haynes, 22, is a McComb, Mississippi, native who feels judged by her church after having three children of her own and living a party lifestyle that she does not believe compromises her religious beliefs, while Cierra Vaughn, the 22-year-old daughter of a Chicago, Illinois, House of Judah pastor believes alcohol has been her biggest temptation.
Lolly White, 24, grew up in a tough South Central Los Angeles neighborhood and decided to leave her preacher father's church to worship elsewhere while 20-year-old Kayla Wilde of Newport Beach, California, moved out on her own and has been more focused on partying than her relationship with God.
Kristiana Flowers,18, is the youngest daughter of Rev. Kenneth James Flowers from Greater New Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. Kristiana knows what it's like to feel the pressure to be perfect, and spoke to CP about why it was important for her to join "Preachers' Daughters" during its third season.
"My story is one heck of a story. I really hope that it's an inspiration that you can come from anything," Kristiana told CP. "One of the reasons I came on this show was to share my story ... that even when things are super dark and you feel there's no way out, there's always a way out. I want to be a true living person right now, an example that God can change anything, He can bring you out of the darkness, He can do it all."
Kristiana and some of the other girls featured on the show were familiar with the concept of missionary work, but the Detroit native said she did not expect the experience to be so challenging.
"Being out there, you really become closer to God because you need God to help you through some of this stuff. It was one of the hardest experiences I've had," Kristiana told CP. "Now I see that I can affect other people as I get closer to God. Now I'm understanding some of the hardships that people go through and being in it was life changing."
The show is still packed with its fair share of drama but for Reed, the idea of including missionary work in the third season of "Preachers' Daughters" seemed to make sense.
"For us, it was a natural evolution of the series because mission work is something that actually happens in these girls' life. Some of them had been on missions before, some of them hadn't," Reed explained. "But they liked the opportunity and we liked the opportunity like, 'ok, let's get them out of their environment and let them go into a situation like mission work and see what those differences of opinions and similarities are.'"
Still, the producer understands that some may criticize the concept of the show before watching.
"There will be critics out there who go, 'oh the producers just put them together because they want drama,'" Reed told CP. "We wanted them to go on an actual mission, which they did, we wanted them to share their beliefs, which they did, and if viewers really stick through the entire season they will see an incredible transformation for each individual girl. Not only for themselves, but their viewpoints of the mission."
"Preachers' Daughters" season 3 will premiere on Lifetime on Friday, Jan. 23 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The show is produced by Thinkfactory Media.
