Those Were the Baes

Tampa Baes Power Couple Dishes on the New Reality Series from Amazon Prime.

BY RACHEL COVELLO

Watch out, Tampa lesbians! There’s a new group of Baes in town.

“Tampa Baes,” the new reality series released by Amazon Prime Video in early November, features everything you’d expect from lesbians – drama, divas, drinking, and dating.

The show highlights the lives of 12 Tampa Bay lesbians representing all corners of the region.

Scenes were filmed in various venues and restaurants in and around St. Petersburg and Tampa, including The Dog Bar on Central Ave, Caddy’s on Sunset Beach, While Lie in Ybor City, and Ferg’s Sports Bar and Grill in St Pete. A pivotal moment of the show occurs in Ybor’s Tangra Nightclub when the two “It” couples spar over infidelity.

While a handful of emotionally deep conversations took place throughout the show, including a memorable conversation about mental health between cast members Mel Posner and Cuppie Bragg at Fresco’s on the Water, the majority of the show was focused on the division between power couple Marissa and Summer, and self-proclaimed “Queen Bees” of the lesbian community, Haley and Brianna. Several cast members take sides, while others play Switzerland, trying to appease both parties. Overall, the show is a train wreck from which you can’t peel your eyes, like any decent reality TV show.

Watching this new series begs the question – “Is this really reality?” Afterall, the stereotypical Florida lesbian is curled up on a sofa with her silver-haired wife and gray tabby cat, watching this new reality show while sipping on wine, golf cart parked outside, and wondering where in Tampa one might find these hot, make-up clad women with perfect bodies, fake “cupps”, and fabulous hair, because, until their premier of Tampa Baes, nobody knew who they were.

Cast members Marissa and Summer, a COVID nurse and a med spa practitioner living together in Tarpon Springs, shared their take on the reality aspect of Tampa Baes. “I think that you're watching a condensed version of a few months of people's lives,” explains Marissa. “You know what I mean? It seems like a lot of drama and it seems like everything's happening at once, but we were filming these things happening over months at a time. So, our everyday lives aren't packed full of drama all the time, but you're seeing what has really happened.”

Summer adds, “It’s all real. I think everybody's emotions are heightened because we have to film together. So, we're together quite often when a couple of those people, we wouldn't hang out with on the regular. So, I think drama conspires that wouldn't have otherwise.” She continues, “But it's definitely not like you see reality TV and you think, oh, I bet the producers did this or they did that. And that's not the case at all. It definitely is us all being ourselves and reacting to things as we would react in real life. And the drama existed before the show.”

Although the power couple butt heads with the “Queen Bees” throughout the show, and seemingly the dueling duos become further divided, the two admit growing closer to other cast members. “If anything,” says Marissa, “we hang out with a few people more often than we did on the show, which was kind of nice. We created a lot of friendships.”

Summer adds, “We got really, really close to the Shiva. I think that the support that I felt from Jordan during the show really strengthened our friendship big time. I think that after Nellie and Allie and us hashed things out, we've gotten even stronger. I really value their friendship. And Cuppie – I get closer to every day, as weird as that is. I just adore her. And then, yeah, Mel, we've gotten really close with, there's like a core group of us that we all have our own group chat. We talk every single day, the eight of us. And it's been great.”

The couple juggled several challenges during the show, from living with parents while a home remodel was completed, to managing careers, changing clothes in U-Hauls, and showing up to social gatherings required for production purposes – all during a pandemic. “Every day it was a struggle,” says Marissa. Summer chimes in, “I think having each other helps. I don't think I would have been able to do it alone.”

When asked if they had any cringe-worthy moments while watching themselves on TV, Summer shares, “I thought that there were going to be some, yeah. I think that I can see cringe moments in other people's eyes if they don't know everything that was going on off camera as well. There were just a lot of things that weren't caught on camera and it sucks that people don't get to see the whole story.”

There were several touching moments shared with their families throughout the show as well. Viewers learn about Summer’s Native American culture and Marissa’s belly dancer upbringing traveling to Europe and Turkey. And the final episode unites the entire family in tears. We won’t spoil the moment.

Although the stereotypical Florida lesbian might not agree, the two feel they represent the region. “I think there are so many different types of, not only people, but lesbians and gays,” says Summer. “And there's just so many different types of human beings out there that I don't think I can represent anybody but myself. “

Marissa adds, “People want to stereotype us as one group. I think people view us as plastic and, like, fake looking. But I think that we're very different.”

Summer continues, “I feel like I have to come out all the time. So, I'm going through the same thing that I went through when I was 15 over and over and over again because people assume that, since I don't look like a lesbian, then I must be straight. So, I think that was important for people to see, too.”

Stereotypes aside, the reality is that these two are real local Tampa lesbians. And they represent a subgroup of millennial-aged lesbians living in and moving to the Tampa Bay region.

Marissa notes, “From the commentary that we've already seen, like the positive feedback that we're getting, I think we caught a couple of comments that were like, ‘I need to move to Tampa,’ but I mean, that would be great and everything, but I think the main goal is really just to just make being gay okay and a little bit more normalized.” She continues, “I mean a bigger gay community in general. It's good for Tampa.”

Although the season ends with a cliffhanger, the verdict is still out on a second season. My suggestion to the duo? Season 2 should focus on 55+ women living in Gulfport’s Town Shores. Marissa and Summer giggled in response, “Yes, totally!”

RACHEL COVELLO is the CEO and publisher of OUTCOAST™, a digital magazine and travel blog marketing Florida as an LGBTQ-inclusive destination to VISIT. CELEBRATE. LIVE. Her company off ers a variety of advertising, marketing and consulting services to companies interested in promoting their brands to a high-income niche market. She and her wife reside in St. Petersburg, Fla. Covello’s participation represents Gulf Coast and Central Florida inclusion