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Getting 'Reloaded' in Reality with Sharon Osbourne
by Troy Rogers
 After the success of The Osbournes, which helped to kick off a new wave of family oriented reality TV, Sharon, Ozzy, Jack and Kelly return to the airwaves March 31 on Fox for Osbournes: Reloaded. Unlike the original Osbournes reality setting that saw cameras follow Ozzy and his family around the house, Osbournes: Reloaded sees the "gods of metal" siblings take on an interactive variety approach, as they challenge audience members to kiss total strangers and propose marriage while Ozzy and Kelly take off to various locations, including a reality stint to work at a fast-food drive-thru. The Osbournes of old this is not. It's Osbournes: Reloaded.
Leading up to the March 31 premiere of Osbournes: Reloaded, we hopped on the phone to take part in a conference call with outspoken and straight-shooting Osbournes family matriarch, Sharon Osbourne, to get the goods on what fans can expect from the remixed and "reloaded" reality series, the family's return to television, the logistics of bringing everyone together, and whether after all this time Jack still has his police badge from his time in Indiana.
THE DEADBOLT: Was it difficult getting Ozzy and the kids to take part?
SHARON OSBOURNE: Oh, gees. I’ll tell you something: We were approached two years ago now, so it took a long time to actually pin it down - what we were going to do and get everybody together - because we have to work around Ozzy’s career. So we had to wait until he’d finished his world tour and all of that. But it was very difficult. Depending on what day of the week, one of them would fire themselves and not turn up. Especially, I thought the kids were bad enough, but Ozzy was worse. He would be - today he likes it, tomorrow he hated it. So it was, 'Is he going to turn up? Is he going to walk out?' Nobody knew.
THE DEADBOLT: That makes it exciting, I guess.
 SHARON OSBOURNE: Yes. One day there was only me there. So it was tough.
THE DEADBOLT: When you were putting it all together, what was the one part that you were really looking forward to?
SHARON OSBOURNE: It was actually working with everyone again. I had this romantic notion that it was going to be like it was six years ago. I thought we’re going to go back in time, but I was wrong. It wasn’t.
THE DEADBOLT: What can you tell me about the two kids that impersonate you and Ozzy?
SHARON OSBOURNE: Just young. They’re from stage schools in London and eight years old, and they’re absolutely adorable. They are just fantastic kids.
THE DEADBOLT: I wanted to know, is Jack still a member of the Muncie, Indiana Police Department?
SHARON OSBOURNE: Yes, very much so. In fact, he was there last month working.
THE DEADBOLT: I thought it would end when the show was over.
 SHARON OSBOURNE: No, because he wanted to keep his badge. So he never let it go. He goes back every few months to be able to keep his badge. You have to work so many hours, so he does. Yes.
Other Conference Call Highlights:
Sharon Osbourne on who gave her the drive to succeed:
"I think my father gave me a good work ethic. I’d been working since I was 15, so I have a very good work ethic. But it was basically survival. I like to think of myself as a survivor. And if I say I’m going to do something, I’ll really try to do it and succeed at what I’m doing. I’m very driven."
Sharon on what other variety shows she modeled Reloaded after:
"Well, for me, I used to love Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. To me, that was just ahead of its time when it was first on TV and just loved it. So that was my take on it, and the kids and Ozzy had never really seen variety shows. I mean, the kids being the age they are, there was nothing when they were growing up on TV that was vaguely like variety. So that was the take on variety. But yes, I mean you always hope that what you do is going to be successful and somebody’s going to ask you to come back and do it again. But that’s up to the public, whether they watch it or not."
Sharon on Fall Out Boy being on the show:
 "We chose them because we did a segment with a young girl that was a huge fan and we did a prank with her. So she was a huge Fall Out Boy fan and we actually took them to her house. I think it’s on the third show that that piece is. So they went to her house, they filmed in her bedroom. Then they came into the studio and performed for her, so that’s how we tied it in."
Sharon Osbourne on what’s next for her and the family:
"Well, Jack leaves next week to continue his Adrenaline Junkie. He’s starting off in New Zealand filming, and he works on that for four months of the year. Kelly goes back to England to continue her radio show with the BBC, and Ozzy’s in the studio. And I’m doing America’s Got Talent, so we’re all back doing our own thing."
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