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TV Gymnastics with Chelsea Hobbs and Ayla Kell of 'Make It or Break It'
by Troy Rogers
 The
competative landscape of TV often looks like any
number of sports, as shows line-up to flip, tumble,
and balance their respective schedules to find
network glory. The same can be said about the
world of gymnastics as the competative road to
earning medals on the mats and beams across the
country is often similar to many sports. Now ABC
Family is tapping into the competative and dramatic
world of gymnastics in the new series Make It
or Break It, which premieres June 22.
Starring Chelsea Hobbs (Lords of Dogtown) in the role of gymnastics newcomer Emily Kmetko and Ayla Kell (CSI: Miami) who plays top gymnast Payson Keeler, Make It or Break It aims to score another high ratings victory for ABC Family among its teen audience with another unique series world filled with drama, heartbreak, family dynamics, and the heat competition.
Ahead of the the June 22 premiere of Make It or Break It, show stars and budding gymnasts Chelsea Hobbs and Ayla Kell hit the mat and running for a conference call to fill us in on making it and breaking it in the new TV world of gymnastics, their training schedule, how they would each describe the new ABC Family series, and what it's like to work with an acting vet like Peri Gilpin on a weekly basis.
Ayla Kell and Chelsea
Hobbs on how their characters interact:
 AYLA
KELL: Pretty much I’m kind of indifferent
to her, to be entirely honest, because I’m so
focused on gymnastics and what I’m doing. There’s
so much stuff going on with her, and I really
just want to train, but I’m supportive in her
getting her opportunity to compete and be a
part of the gym, unlike some other people.
CHELSEA HOBBS: But Ayla is also one of the only people that is warm to me upon my arrival, so I think that our relationship has a lot of growth ahead.
Chelsea Hobbs and Ayla
Kell on whether they experience body image pressure
playing gymnasts:
HOBBS: You know, yes, it naturally comes with the territory. But it’s also great because we have a lot of gymnasts on set, real live gymnasts on set all the time, and you see that every single one of them has different shapes, but they all work out and have a great amount of muscle mass. Some of them are bigger than others, and they’re just solid muscle. And so it’s nice to see girls that are healthy at least. It’s not something - if anything, we want to be bigger, not smaller, so yes.
KELL: When you’re hanging out with people who work out all day, it really just makes you want to work out. It’s not even about what you’re eating when it comes down to it. It’s really about the healthy, strong, feminine shapes that they have in spandex.
Chelsea and Ayla on how
much gymnastics training they had to do before
the show started:
 HOBBS:
Well, before the pilot, we had virtually hardly
any time at all. I was cast last, so for me
it was just a couple of days. So it was a lot
of watching videos and trying to pick their
brains, all the gymnasts, as much as possible.
And then they gave us actually about two or
three months after we found out the show was
going to series, so we had quite a bit of time
to do training. And I guess it’s more about
looking like a gymnast and walking and acting
like a gymnast. And we also have been doing
a lot of strength training. We’ve been doing
beam and learning how to jump on the bars, so
we’re slowly learning more and more every day,
but we still do have gymnast doubles."
KELL: We do what gymnasts do as conditioning. It is what it is. I’m not all of a sudden doing triple back flips, but I can pull myself up on a bar. Chelsea has got some awesome pull-ups, but it’s that kind of stuff that really helps us understand what we’re doing.
Chelsea and Ayla on how
their characters compare to roles they’ve had
in the past and whether they’ve played athletes
before:
HOBBS: I’ve played a dancer a few times. Definitely not anything like this. My character, as far as Emily goes, she’s similar to other characters I’ve played, but definitely I’ve never played anyone quite like Emily. She’s got a lot of depth to her and a lot of history, a lot of issues. So it’ll be interesting to see that all plays out, for sure.
KELL: I did professional dance for a long time, and I usually get characters who do something athletic, but it’s usually not this involved, not this much of the character. And when it comes to other character traits, I haven’t really played somebody who is so "one focus" and really sees nothing else, so it’s really exciting getting to divulge into that and figure out all the little nuances.
Chelsea Hobbs and Ayla
Kell on how they would describe Make It or Break
It:
 HOBBS:
I guess I would describe it as a one-hour drama
that takes place in the world of competitive
gymnastics. Because it has everything else that
all these dramas have, but it’s all based around
this athletic component, which is really interesting
and definitely changes all the motives and goals
of every character on the show, so it’s definitely
different. Yes, that’s probably the best way
I could explain it.
KELL: And the sacrifice that everyone around them has to go through.
Ayla Kell on working
with Peri Gilpin:
"She’s fantastic. She’s really inspirational, and what I love is that she’s willing to work with anything, and she asks you what you feel about the scene, and it takes you a second. Like when I first found out that Peri Gilpin was playing my mother, I was almost like a little sick, I was so excited, and it was just fantastic. Now I see her every day in hair and makeup, and it’s still astonishing that somebody who I watched on TV for such a long time is now playing one of my family members."
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