(Subplot) Promoting the Show

Melanie and Barbie were sat together backstage, with some of the best hair stylists and make up artists in New York working their magic to make them even more beautiful than they already were, when the showrunner walked in clutching a clipboard and smiling broadly.

"Thank you for coming ladies! We are so excited to have you both on the show" she beamed "There is such a buzz about Naked Mansion and I know our audience are **** to hear from you both"

"I hope we don't let them down" Melanie fretted "I'm really not sure what I'm supposed to say"

"Just be yourself Mel. Can I call you Mel? I'm such a fan of the show and feel like I know you"

"Mel is fine" Melanie nodded. She always found it weird when strangers thought they knew her.

"We felt that you two would make for a perfect combination. Barbie is like the consummate professional who was made for TV, and Mel you are just so real and relatable. If you both go out there and do what comes naturally then you'll be a huge hit with our viewers, I promise"

"We're looking forward to it!" Barbie assured the showrunner as she placed a hand supportively on Melanie's knee "Thank you so much for having us on!"

The audience went wild as Barbie and Melanie strolled onto the set, erupting into rapturous applause mixed with wolf whistles and cat calls. Barbie immediately cosied up to the host in the seat right next to him, while Melanie placed herself at a slightly safer distance as he began to question them.

"I am so happy to have to have you both here!" the host smiled genially "There is so much I love about your show - the magical intrigue, the multiple romances, but most of all the twenty or so hot naked women"

The audience whooped and laughed.

"Thank you sweetie, I'm honoured to hear you are a fan. I love your show too!" Barbie was such a natural at this that it only made Melanie feel even more self conscious "We've just been overwhelmed at the reaction from the public to our humble little TV programme"

"I have to talk about the fact you are always nude. Like, literally always" the host continued "You are the first naked guests this show has ever had, but I didn't think our audience would recognise any of the glitches with their clothes on. Who came up with the whole concept of the nudity curse? And isn't it difficult to be quite so committed to it as you obviously both are!"

Melanie turned to Barbie with concern, wondering what they were supposed to do here. Talk about the Director? But her friend gave her a look to let her know she had got this.

"It's the Naked Mansion honey, we have to stay on brand. And we all just love being naked anyway!"

The audience went wild once more, as the host now turned to his other guest.

"And we all love you being naked, Barbie! But Melanie, I wondered if you felt the same way? Now, a lot of viewers consider you to be the show's most central character, if there is one, and your army of fans have always loved you because you seem so relatable. A part of that is you don't actually seem to like being naked all that much, is that accurate?"

"Well, I by no means consider myself to be at the centre of anything, all glitches are equal. And I'm a person, not a character" she began "And no, I don't think I will ever get used to being naked on TV. Take this show for example. How many people are going to be watching this now? Five million? Ten million? Even in my worst anxiety dreams I was only ever naked in front of my classmates or co-workers"

The audience laughed as the host continued his grilling.

"So I have to ask you about your love life, as it's been a huge talking point on the show recently. Because you were with Lexie but then, when she was out of action, you got together with James behind her back. Do you think that has damaged your reputation as the shows golden girl?"

"First of all, I have only ever been myself. I've never tried to be anyone's golden girl - weren't they a bunch of old women anyway?"

The audience laughed again. It seemed Melanie was a natural at this.

"Lexie and I are really good friends now. It was obviously unfortunate the way things played out, but when all is said and done, you can't help who you fall in love with"

As the audience applauded once more, Mel suddenly panicked that James would be watching this. She had never told him she was in love with him before. He had said it to her once, but they had been trying to take things relatively slowly. Unfortunately, the show was live and there was no going back now.

"Okay, you know I love you both, but I have a confession to make. My absolute favourite glitch is Tania"

There was a lot of cheering and a smattering of pantomime booing from he audience.

"I can't help it, she has that whole classic sexy British villainess thing going on, and it turns out I have a weakness for a woman wearing nothing but glasses. She is such a fan favourite too. She's coming back, right?"

"We're working on that, but you will have to stay tuned to find out" Barbie teased "Tania is still a glitch though, so I would guess we are going to be stuck with her whether we like it or not!"

"Finally, before you go, you guys have such a big following over here and nearly half of the glitches are American. Are there any plans to bring the show Stateside?"

"Absolutely, we are a truly trans-Atlantic collective" Barbie nodded "We have another mansion in Beverly Hills where we will all be living for six months a year, so we'll be crossing the pond together soon enough, but first of all we have a certain British witch to deal with!"

"Barbie, Melanie, this has been an absolute pleasure, In fact, I think any guy watching this will understand me when I say this has been my favourite ever interview. I really hope to have you both back on the show once the glitches come over to the US!"

"You were both sensational!" the showrunner assured Melanie and Barbie happily once they were backstage again "The reaction online has been hugely positive. I'm pretty sure you will see a nice ratings boost tomorrow!"

"Great work Mel, I always knew you were a little superstar in the making!" Barbie stroked her friends arm when they were alone together once more.

"I'm just glad it's over" Melanie replied "Now, let's get ourselves to the airport. I really need to practice my magic!"