Having retired from beauty pageants at the age of 6, Wood is now the star of her own show with a legion of adult fans. But is her fame exploitative or progressive?
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Everything about Eden Wood is exaggerated. Thick coats of foundation and nearly neon streaks of pink blush exaggerate her creamy complexion. Highlighter orange shadow exaggerates her eyes. Tutus in every color, sparkly fascinators, cowgirl boots, and tailored, strapless lamé dresses exaggerate her wardrobe. Slang words like “yo” exaggerate her speech. Sassy forearm waves ending in a snap exaggerate her gestures. Can upon can of hairspray exaggerates her hair.
If she sounds like the perfect reality star, she is — except for that nagging thing that defines her more than anything she wears, says, or does: she’s only 7 years old. You’d probably feel much more comfortable hearing the things she says come out of Real Housewife of Atlanta Nene Leakes’s mouth.
After becoming arguably the most famous child pageant star since JonBenét Ramsey through appearances on Toddlers in Tiaras, Wood now has her own show on the gay-targeted Logo network called Eden's World. “When I saw [the pilot] — of course I’m very familiar with who Eden Wood is — I saw it and I thought about it and I said, it’s great drama, it’s great heart, it’s a great story for us,” says Brent Zacky, Logo’s head of programming development and an executive producer of the series. Premiering after RuPaul’s Drag Race, the show’s ratings doubled from the first to third episodes. Zacky cites the relationship between Eden and her mother as one of the show’s greatest strengths: “If that was a weird, off-kilter relationship, I don’t think the show would have been appealing.”
The premise of Eden’s World is: Eden and her mom Mickie help aspiring child pageant winners prep for their contests, while simultaneously trying to jumpstart Eden's non-reality television entertainment career. They travel a lot, mostly between New York and the pageants in towns like Hudson, Wisconsin and Hattiesburg, Mississippi. There is a lot of fighting between Wood’s manager Heather Ryan and publicist Andrew Sullivan, both of whom are eager to score her the most deals, parts, auditions, fame, and, ultimately, dollars, thus “beating” the other. They trot her from Broadway audition to record label meeting to child pageant somewhere in flyover country trying to make her an even bigger success story. If it sounds very bizarre, that’s because it is. Mickie insists, "She’s such a normal kid, and I don’t want her to lose that. And if we can’t have this dual existence I wouldn’t be doing this. I don’t want a tragedy. I don’t want a child star.”
But the many possible outcomes for Eden — both positive and negative — are what make the show so fascinating. I gather the happiest ending looks something like this:
1. Turn Eden into a Broadway star with a recording contract. Ultimately move her from the stage to a screen (small or big would probably do) that involves scripted performance.
2. Get Eden endorsement deals and product lines. Everyone knows this is where the real money is for stars. Otherwise, why would Justin Bieber bother with the fragranced hair mist and purple leopard weekender bag?
3. Get Eden off reality TV without diminishing — and ideally, increasing — her fame. This will be especially challenging: Stars go from music/film/television to reality television, or from reality television to product lines, book deals, and more reality television. The other way around is a bridge none of them seem to have cracked yet. (Except for Analeigh Tipton from America’s Next Top Model, who has embarked on a bright acting career, though most people probably have no idea she was booted from that show to begin with.)
4. Not screw Eden up along the way. Which might be the toughest thing of all.
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“I got pregnant with Eden on a cruise when I was 40,” says Mickie Wood on the phone from her and Eden’s home in Taylor, Arkansas, which she seldom mentions without also citing its population of 566. She was a teacher for 25 years before resigning a year ago. “I always said if we had a little girl or boy I would homeschool before I had a clue that we’d have a little celebrity.”
It’s a good thing that was her plan, because Eden’s life has never allowed for something as mundane and scheduled as school in an actual school. She was born on February 18, 2005, and started competing in pageants when she was just two months old. She didn't become a big deal until appearing on Toddlers and Tiaras right after turning four. “I did not seek out Toddlers in Tiaras,” Mickie says. “Somebody in New York had seen Eden’s involvement in pageants and contacted us.” After a couple seasons of Toddlers & Tiaras appearances, Eden decided to retire from pageants at age 6. She even says in a promo for Eden’s World, “What made me want to retire was that I was ready to move on” — putting her in that rarefied strata of 6-year-olds who have retired from something and know the word for it.
Her work on Toddlers & Tiaras caught the eye of New York-based publicist Andrew Sullivan, 23, now one of the stars of Eden’s World. Captivated by her “quirky, funny, crazy humor,” he contacted Mickie and Eden, and began working with them in September of last year before New York Fashion Week. He helped Eden land a gig modeling for girls’ footwear company Cicciabella, and a slot in their Fashion Week runway show. (Sullivan also reps other reality stars and NFL stars, promotes for nightclubs in New York, and has a line of tee-shirts called Go Glitz or Go Home.)
Shortly thereafter, Go Go Lucky Entertainment production company began talks with the Woods about a show. The pilot taped in January, and Logo quickly snatched up the series, which premiered six weeks ago after Drag Race. This made sense as both programs include plenty of fancy pageant walking, fancy pageant dressing, and general over-the-topness — but in Drag Race, the sparkly people are adults, and in Eden’s World, the sparkly people are children.
