Shahs Of Sunset - A quick summary of Series One

As a reality show aiming to shed new light on the Persian community, you might expect it to be based somewhere a tad more exotic – but instead it finds its place amongst the multi-million dollar mansions of the Beverly Hill. Think high heels, tights dresses and expensive suits, and then imagine it all caught up in the necessity of tradition and the importance of family. More drama that Jersey Shore; more fighting than Real Housewives; more glamour than the red carpet at the Met Ball.

You’ll soon get to know all the main characters better than you know your own maid (oh, you don’t have a maid? Must not live in Beverly Hills…) but the first thing you need to realize that Reza in charge. Always the host and always the puppet master, Reza might have suffered discrimination for his sexuality but he’s risen to the top and he intends to stand there. It’s at his parties that the drama happens; and on his orders that it stops. He might seem confident, but his twisted relationship with his father underplays everything he does – something he attempted, finally, to remedy during the drama of Series One.

If Reza is King, then GG is the rebellious daughter who won’t listen to anyone, wears what she likes, and always wants to date the most unsuitable man. What she lacks in stature, she makes up for in pure, unadulterated sass, and if you don’t like her? She really couldn’t care less. Sorry.

The close of Series One saw romantic tensions between she and love interest Mike come to a head – but is she really the type to settle down?

Like so many other reality shows, Shahs focuses around the quest of its main characters to find The One. MJ, who is easily distracted and lacks the confidence of her co-stars, has been through plenty of failed entanglements, including a final, dramatically bad blind date at the end of Series One. In the end, she blames many of her failings on her mother – loudly, angrily and in the kind of fight that tears families apart.

While the others are primarily concerned with being seen, Asa is all about being heard – and not just because she likes to shout and throw drinks. A bohemian artist, Asa is a singer and a dancer and very much likes to occupy the spotlight.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, Asa doesn't much like it when the attention to falls to someone else, and you’ll soon learn not to look away. It’s dangerous when that happens, like taking your eye off a tiger about to pounce. At the end of the first series, Asa debuted her first single and looked set to take over the musical world – but have her dreams been realized?

In the end all you need to know about these beautiful people is that they’ve got money and they’ve got problems – and they’re only here to share one of them with you. You’ll come for the beauty, but you’ll stay for the heart. And GG. You’ll stay for GG.