Thelma's Gypsy Girls is a British reality television series produced by Firecracker Films for Channel 4 as a spin-off from Big Fat Gypsy Weddings in which dressmaker Thelma Madine, the "fairy godmother of Gypsy wedding dresses", trains a group of gypsy and traveller girls to create elaborate wedding outfits.
The series premiered in the UK on Channel 4 on 8 July, 2012.
The series originally aired in South Africa on DStv's BBC Entertainment channel from 28 February to 4 April, 2013, on Thursdays at 20h30. It later aired on BBC Lifestyle. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Thelma's Gypsy Girls premiered on BBC Lifestyle on Sunday 8 September 2013, at 21h00. New episodes broadcast weekly. There are six episodes in the first season.
Synopsis
Dressmaker Thelma Madine is the fairy godmother of Gypsy and Traveller wedding dresses. A self-made businesswoman, Thelma has created some of the most elaborate and spectacular outfits ever, as seen in Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, and now business is booming.
Thelma needs to expand to keep up with demand. So to give something back to the community that has made her name, she is taking on a group of completely inexperienced Gypsy and Traveller girls as trainees - many of whom have never worked themselves, or ever seen women in their family work a day in their life.
This is a project very dear to Thelma's heart; she has always wanted to pass on her skills and expertise. Thelma has seen hundreds of young Gypsy and Traveller women happily married, but she's also met girls who aren't content with settling for the "at home" role traditionally taken for generations.
Many are desperate to gain a qualification, make their own money and be more independent, and Thelma is determined to help those girls.
This series follows Thelma as she offers the girls real paid jobs for six months, with the hope that many of them will be skilled enough to be kept on permanently.
But with no prior work experience, and with some of the girls having literacy and numeracy skills of primary school children, it's a huge undertaking.
We follow Thelma as she invests in a brand new factory and crucially, for the first time ever, takes the brave step of employing 10 new trainees, all of whom are gypsies and travellers.
After an extensive search, Thelma holds an open recruitment day to whittle down the hopefuls and picks her 10 new trainees.
Hopefuls include 16-year-old headstrong Margaret from a local trailer site, who doesn't like being told what to do regardless of who's telling her; 17-year-old Kathleen whose domestic duties include looking after her 10 nieces and nephews; and 16-year-old Roseanne, who desperately lacks education and thinks Lady Gaga worships the devil.
For the gypsy girls it's the opportunity of a lifetime, for existing staff it feels like a serious setback and for Thelma it could be out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Can these young girls really learn to make Thelma's famous creations in just six months? Some can't even tell the time, so getting them to turn up for work in itself will be the first challenge.
For the girls, it's the chance of a lifetime - but Thelma has worked hard to gain the trust of the community. One false move and the dream could be over...
Seasons
Season 1 (6 episodes)
Channel: BBC Entertainment | Premiere: 28 Feb 2013 | Finale: 4 Apr 2013 | Thu, 20h30
Channel: BBC Lifestyle | Premiere: 8 Sep 2013 | Finale: 13 Oct 2013 | Sun, 21h00