Are preachers' kids really the best -- or the worst?
Lifetime is looking to answer that question and more in its new docu-soap Preachers' Daughters, which debuts at 10 p.m. Tuesday. The show aims to take a hard-hitting but humorous look at the lives of three preachers' daughters as they balance their parents' strict expectations and their faith with peer pressure and temptations.
At the center of the show are Kolby Koloff, 16, daughter of former WWE wrestler-turned evangelist Nikita Koloff (aka "The Russian Nightmare") and born-again Christian preacher mom, Victoria; Taylor Coleman, 18, daughter of Pentecostal Church pastor Ken Coleman; and Olivia Perry, 18, a teen mom and daughter of pastor Mark Perry.
"The show really feels like a unique look into this world that I think a lot of other people haven't seen before," executive producer Adam Reed tells The Hollywood Reporter. "A lot of reality shows nowadays feel overproduced or soft-scripted; in this, you see a lot of true reality playing out."
Reed says the concept was developed by some producers he works with at production company Thinkfactory Media, and he instantly warmed to the idea. During the course of his research, he also discovered that Preacher's Kid (or PK) Syndrome -- the tendency for preachers' kids be more rebellious -- really does exist.
"There is an insane amount of pressure, not only from the parent but also the church," Reed says. "As I started to get more into it, I found this world fascinating, and I hadn't really seen it explained or exposed before, and that really engaged me."
Reed says the show received interest from six different networks, but Lifetime ultimately won out, not only because of Thinkfactory's history with A+E Networks (A&E's Gene Simmons Family Jewels, History's Hatfields & McCoys) but also because the producers thought the show really had a chance to "stand out" as something completely unique on its schedule.
As for the stars, Reed says he interviewed more than 200 families during the casting process.
"What I like about these three families is that they have three girls who are at three very different stages of their lives, but they are all wrestling with the angel vs. devil on their shoulders to various degrees," Reed adds.
In the premiere, Kolby is forced to attend her mother's sex-education lecture after asking her parents if she can start dating, Taylor reveals that she fantasizes about becoming a porn star, and Olivia struggles with telling her parents she's not certain who the father of her baby is.
The Koloffs tell THR that they applied after seeing a post on Craigslist. Victoria actually thought it was for a possible TV interview that she thought could be a good experience for Kolby and didn't realize it was for a reality show.
"One thing led to another and we were chosen," Nikita adds. "We wanted the opportunity to share with the world a behind-the-scenes look at a family of preachers and show that we are just real people, we have the same issues as everybody else."
Adds Kolby: "I thought it was a really cool way to show that just because we are preachers' kids, it doesn't mean we're not going to make mistakes."
Victoria adds that there seemed to be new revelations and family secrets exposed "every time we filmed" -- EP Reed calls them "massive family revelations" -- while Nikita hopes there's a takeaway for viewers at home in that the Koloffs' experiences can make a difference in other people's lives.
Meanwhile, throughout the season, Taylor struggles with Ken's "pastor vs. warden" style of parenting, while some of her own secrets are revealed to her parents. As for the Perrys, Olivia's paternity issue is front and center as well as her own struggles to avoid her old partying ways.
"As salacious as it may all sound, what's most important and shines through all of these families is their love for each other," adds Reed, who hopes that the show sparks a constructive dialogue between parents and their teens watching at home. "They are dealing with the same madness and frustrations and drama that all parents and kids deal with. Even though some parents are more strict than others, the love in the families is evident through all the conflict."
In addition to Reed, the exec producers are Thinkfactory's Adam Freeman, Emily Sinclair and Leslie Greif and Lifetime’s Rob Sharenow, Gena McCarthy and Kimberly Chessler. Lifetime has ordered nine episodes of the series.
Watch a teaser, which is exclusive to THR, above.
