The Ridges: We're not desperate fame-seekers

Jaime and Sally Ridge are ready for a backlash ahead of tonight's debut episode of The Ridges. Photo / Supplied

Mother-and-daughter socialites Sally and Jaime Ridge say they won't be reading reviews of their hotly anticipated new reality show.

In a new interview, the stars of The Ridges - a six-part fly-on-the-wall reality show that begins airing on TV3 tonight - said they were anticipating a backlash from critics, but they were ready for it.

"For some reason people think we're desperate fame-seekers but 90 per cent of the time when we're in the public eye it's either for work or not of our doing. It's the media choosing to write about us," Sally told TV3's website.

"Jaime and I are normal everyday people like everyone else. What we do is a job."

Sally and Jaime, who make regular appearances on newspaper social pages and in gossip mags, said they had given up caring what critics said about them.

"I used to get really upset about it but it's like water off a duck's back now. I seriously don't care," said Sally.

Jaime agreed: "Personally I don't care what anyone says about me because I like my life and who I am and all my friends and people who know me always say, 'Oh, you're so different to what I expected'."

"I guess from a young age I had to put up with it so it's easy for me."

Jaime said viewers would be surprised by how normal they were.

"People have such a preconceived perception about us that's so far from the truth that (the show) was something we could do to show who we are ... It's also a fun show - light-hearted and not too serious."

An early review published in the Herald on Sunday's Spy column called the first episode - in which Sally renovates their new home and Jaime models lingerie - as "laugh out loud funny".

The Ridges screens on TV3 at 7.30pm. Read TV3's full interview here.

* nzherald.co.nz will have a full review of the show online at 8pm.

- nzherald.co.nz