Mariah Carey reveals the toughest part of exposing her life on her new reality show
Set to debut on E! Entertainment on December 4, "Mariah's World" will follow the singer as she kicks off her "Sweet Sweet Fantasy" tour of the UK, Europe, and Africa, as well as the planning of her upcoming wedding to Australian billionaire James Packer.
"I was, like, let's just show the behind-the-scenes, what it really takes to do a tour, what it really takes for all these people to get together and work together and become a family, and mainly watch how the music evolves, watch the process, and watch how the different personalities interact," Carey said during the Television Critics Association press tour on Wednesday. "But it's also I mean, it's my life, and I figured, if I don't document this right now, I'm not sure when I'm going to go on tour again. I'm not sure what I'm going to do."
Carey, who's used to being in total control of her image, said she found it hard to drop her guard while shooting the series.
"I was a little bit withholding in terms of the amount of access that I was giving, because I'm never sure who to trust. That's just the honest truth," she admitted. "I just didn't know exactly how things were going to be perceived. It was a lot of work to put the tour together and to get onstage, and it was not a lot of time, so I was a little bit less free with my personality and stuff."
Relinquishing control is still a work in progress, the singer explained.
"We are still in the process of filming and getting more real moments is the honest truth," Carey, 46, continued. "But, again, my goal was to make it something that can be a lasting piece of work for my fans and even just great footage for my kids and for myself to have."
At the same time, Carey said she doesn't feel one can reveal their true self over an eight-episode series.
"I don't know that anybody really knows the real me, because if somebody just sees me on TV or a video or this or an interview, it's not enough time to get to know somebody," the five-time Grammy winner said. "If you know somebody for 10 years and they are your friend, you kind of know the real them... Hopefully, they'll see other sides of me that they either find entertaining or does something good instead of bad."
Watch the first "Mariah's World" trailer below: