Star Penny Ayarzagoitia breaks down the new reality show, which premieres Tuesday, May 7.
Texicanas was a long time in the making, according to star Penny Ayarzagoitia.
The San Antonio, Texas-based real estate broker serves as the narrator of Bravo's new series, which showcases the lives of Latinas living luxurious lives in the U.S., while still holding on to aspects of their Mexican roots. "We're trying to adapt those worlds," Ayarzagoitia tells ET. "I think it will be different, showing that."
The mother of two doesn't shy away from her love of chisme, or gossip, as Bravo has teased, and her group of friends makes it a lot easier to keep up with. There's Mayra Farret, the perfectionist of the crew, Lorena Martinez, the social butterfly and Anayancy Nolasco, a self-admitted daddy's girl who often returns to Mexico, where she was born. Karla Ramirez, who has embraced the mixing of cultures by calling her half-Greek, half-Mexican husband "Grexican," is also a part of the cast, as is Luz Ortiz, who is all about rejecting typical Mexican female norms.
"You'd be surprised -- it doesn't take very long to get used to [the cameras]!" Ayarzagoitia says of how she and her real-life friends have adapted to becoming reality stars. "I think this was just natural for me and the rest of the girls to be part of a show because all our personalities are totally different."
It was her family that the broker was initially concerned about "exposing" on TV, but her husband and two young sons couldn't have been more on board with the series, which filmed early last summer. "My husband said if I don't do it, that I'd be crazy," she says with a laugh, adding that her kids quickly got used to having cameras around. "Even my parents, who are completely blind to all this, they've been very supportive and I'm very lucky, very blessed to have that support."
Ayarzagoitia's relationship with the Mexican traditions her parents instilled in her will take center stage on Texicanas. "My favorite thing is, like, breaking my Latina roots... that's what my mom would say. She's like, '[Gasp!] We would never do that, mijita!'" jokes the reality star, whose strongest example of defying expectations might be the stripper pole in her living room. Ayarzagoitia is proud to be authentically herself -- and fully represent the duality of being Texan and Mexicana.
"I'm able to share my life with other women that maybe go through the same things that I do," she says of the series. "I feel blessed that I'm able to portray my life and hopefully help somebody else out. There's things in our culture that aren't accepted, but yet here, they are. And so it's OK to blend the two, it's OK to mix the two. Hopefully, we'll be able to help other women or other families that are going through the same things that feel like it's OK, that's life."
"There's going to be a little bit of everything. You're going to see maybe a little drama, a lot of real-life stuff, and maybe some tears," Ayarzagoitia promises. "It's going to be exciting. It's going to be a plethora of a lot of things."
Texicanas premieres Tuesday, May 7, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.
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