Party People: Cara Matthews-Babeshows

This post by @Babe_TV from their now defunct Tumblr account talks about Cara Matthews’ appearance on Party People.  We couldn’t find any pictures from the time to back up what @Babe_TV is writing about but we did find some picks of Cara Matthews appearing on Babestation 2 so you can get an idea of what she looked like.  There’s also some interesting info for the Babestation history nerds about the evolution of the live babeshows so dig in, hope you enjoy.

This is a vision from the evening of Monday 2nd February 2009, shortly after 9pm, on the experimental version of Smile TV2 – Freeview Channel 46.  The programme is Party People, which at the time was running as an (almost) half-hour filler between 9pm and 9:27pm, after which there was a short break, and Party Girls would take up residence on the channel from 9:30 until 5:30 the next morning. Despite the difference in show titles, Smile TV2’s Party People and Party Girls were essentially two sections of the same broadcast, featuring the same models, on the same set. These programs should not, however, be confused with Channel 37’s long-running (Smile TV) version of Party People, which broadcast between 3am and 7am, and was shot on a different floor of the studio building. The depicted version of Party People, on Channel 46 (Smile TV2), was a flirt-only, daytime-rules portion of Party Girls, and it was short-lived, screening only from September 2008 to February 2009.

By this time, PP on Smile TV2 had just over two weeks left to air before it was axed, and it was fairly evident that the show had been struggling, as the £1.50 per minute call cost had been halved to 75p. The orange elements in the graphics (price revision and replacement telephone number) were simply plonked on top of the original information on the screen.

During this particular day (2nd February 2009), London’s transport infrastructure was crippled by adverse weather. It was the first occasion ever on which no red buses had run due to snowfall, and a number of rail routes were also closed. But that didn’t stop Camilla and Jodie, Smile TV2’s main hosts for the night, from presenting the show, and the duo were also joined by guests Tiffany Chambers, Rachel Cole, and on a true one-off appearance, Cara Matthews. Captures of this version of Party People are rare in themselves, but one featuring Cara making her only appearance, is very special.

Also very interestingly (if you’re a babeshow nerd, like me), Cara is actually taking calls on the bed rather than the couch, which was almost unheard of for Party People. I can’t remember another occasion when it happened.

Cara was a Babestation model, but she was popular on Channel 37’s Party People show. She came across as a really nice girl – modest, very charming, and down to earth. But on full night show sections she was powerfully sexual. Indeed, she returned for a steaming hot appearance on Party Girls in the early hours of the following morning.

But unfortunately, Cara didn’t figure in Freeview babeshow history for long after this memorable night. By the time Babestation went onto Freeview under its own name in spring ‘09, Cara had gone. She remains one of the reasons why these old babeshows are such a pleasure to revisit.