It's almost been a year since the reveal and release of Kira Bailey, the Girl of the Year 2021. I was a part of her reveal, so I figured I'd make a post all about the experience of being on the Good Morning America American Girl of the Year reveal!
I found out I was selected to be part of the reveal about a week before Christmas 2020. I was honestly shocked that I was picked since I was 15 at the time and most girls on the reveal are target-age fans of American Girl, but I was so happy! When I got the email, I screamed in the car because I was so excited.
Normally for the Good Morning America reveal, the girls come into the GMA studio in-person. Last year, we were in the part of the pandemic when the vaccine was only available to elite members of society and cases were at their peak, so it was a Zoom virtual reveal. I'm glad they did it like that last year because there wasn't any other way I would be able to participate since I don't live near the GMA studio in New York City and I'm at least six inches taller than a typical 10-year-old girl.
On December 31, 2020, I woke up at 5:15 am and woke my sister and mom up around that time too. I got ready for the reveal, ate breakfast, and then got on the Zoom call at 5:45 am for rehearsal. Yes, 5:45 am. But rehearsal did NOT start at 6 am like we were told it would be...
When I got on the Zoom call, there were about 20 other girls on there, all with their dolls. I didn't think to bring a doll, so I just was sitting there, feeling a little bad, but it was fine. Everyone was excited to see the new doll, and even though I had already seen her at that point thanks to social media, I was excited to see the reveal and, for the sake of the others, didn't say anything about her to the girls! :)
Once 6 am hit and we didn't get to start rehearsing, I and the other girls started talking about AG and other things. They were a little shocked when I told them I had over 100 American Girl dolls, but I think the fact that I was in high school shocked them more! The majority of the others were around eight years old, some seven, some nine, but they were all really cute and nice. I remember they were asking me about the Girls of the Year from when they were born. It made me feel a little old to tell a girl that Saige was Girl of the Year when she was born... I also remember that I told them about my filmmaking dreams, and one of the girls said that all the girls from the reveal should be in a movie together. I found that really cute. (And before you ask, I did NOT tell them about Rebelle. Too dark for their eight-year-old brains.)
We finally started rehearsing... at 6:30 am. The rehearsal was pretty simple, we just had to act happy and practice our reactions to the doll. They didn't show us Kira or her logo or anything like that at that point, just the place where she'd be. The girls who talked about the doll also practiced their lines, and after that, we got off the Zoom call for final preparations (even though I just used that time to go to the bathroom and pick out a doll... I picked out Grace because everyone was jealous when I told them I had Grace!) before we logged back on at 7:50 am.
It was hard waiting for the reveal segment to start. I don't think me and the others were allowed to talk to each other because it would mess with the sound system for the other things going on in Good Morning America, so I was so bored! I ended up just watching the screen of the airing of the show, even though it was just a long interview with stars of a Netflix show and nothing interesting.
Then, it was time. Kira was finally revealed, and I was SO HAPPY. I was even happier knowing I'd get a Kira doll shipped for free- even though I was getting one later at the store and I knew it was happening because it happens to the girls on the show every year.
After the reveal, I spent the rest of the day at AG and blogging, and for the first time since I was an elementary schooler, I didn't make it to midnight on New Year's.
I only made it to 9 pm because I was tired from waking up at 5:15 am and blogging all day.
My Kira from Good Morning America is actually still in her box and in my room- I made a point to not open her so I could have her for memories. She came on January 3rd, I believe!
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this post! I noticed that even though American Girl has been doing the Good Morning America reveal for years now, none of the girls that were on there ever talked about their experience. I'm glad to be the first one!