Does Big Fat Gypsy Weddings tell the truth about Travellers?

Big Fat Gypsy Weddings is back on TV next week, promising vast dresses, glitter and another look into the "secretive" life of Gypsies and Travellers. But is it representative of these communities, or has it been damaging? Jes Wilkins, the executive producer, and Roxy Freeman, a journalist who grew up in a Gypsy community, discuss. But first, asks Emine Saner, what can we expect from this series?

Jes Wilkins: It is very much the same show. Every episode we did last year touched on different themes, and we've tried to do the same again this year. So we're looking at education, the relationship with authority and the different challenges Travellers are facing, but with an eye on celebrations.

Roxy Freeman: The series was not an accurate portrayal of any kind of travelling community I've ever known. It was very sensationalist and not made to improve communications between travelling people and settled people.

JW: There is no one travelling community and we have filmed in communities all over the country and heard a lot of different voices. What we show in the series is very true to their lives. We have always had that emphasis on celebrations, and within the community there has been a trend for these big weddings. Beyond that, we are proud that we have tackled more serious issues. We have got our audience through the weddings and the big dresses, but we have made them stay with issues they might not usually stay with, such as illiteracy, domestic abuse and evictions from sites.

RF: I know lots of people from different Traveller communities and I've never seen a wedding on the scale of anything like those on your show. I think it is exaggerated for the cameras and the way the programme is edited makes a lot of the contributors come across as ignorant and it turns them into a bit of a joke.

JW: We have never said every wedding in the Traveller communities are like those in this show. We're not exaggerating them because we observe them.

RF: The narrator says something like, "This gets to the heart of Gypsy life", and it doesn't. There could have been a programme that was a lot more positive, rather than, "Look at these people. Aren't they funny?" It is about having a laugh, isn't it? People laugh at them.

JW: There is no question people are entertained by it, but I think people also feel they are learning a lot and are seeing a world they don't usually see, and are interested in the issues that come up. So many people have said we have created a positive reaction towards the community. Travellers have said people have given them a chance in a way that was different from what they had seen beforehand – prejudiced opinions based on what people have read in the tabloids. I think we've brought a human face to the people behind the headlines.

RF: I haven't found that – I've found people still have the same prejudices, but now they think there's this entertaining side as well. The number of times people ask me, "Do you spray-tan children in your family?" [In an episode in the last series, a six-year-old was given a spray tan for her first holy communion.] I've never seen a spray-tanned child, but people remember bits from the programme and think that's what everyone who lives in a caravan does. And it isn't. The whole grabbing thing [a supposed "dating" ritual, where teenage boys chase and "grab" teenage girls, who often look unwilling], I don't know anyone who's ever heard of grabbing.

JW: Lots of people have, and we have repeatedly come across people telling us about it. All we can do is film what we see. It provoked a bigger reaction than we could ever have anticipated. We set out to film what we find, and that's what we found. Some of those things are positive, some are unfamiliar and can be shocking to people. We didn't go out looking for things with any agenda.

RF: Did the contributors all know each other?

JW: No. We have made 14 shows, and there are three or four characters in each of the shows, so there are certainly people who might be at a few of the same weddings. But we filmed all over the country; we filmed Irish Travellers, Romany Travellers, English Travellers – a really broad range of people.

RF: I wouldn't deny that Irish travellers have lavish weddings, but this is way beyond anything I've ever heard of. If you are not targeting a particular community, it must be that they are increasing the extravagance for the TV cameras.

Emine Saner: Do you pay for any of the weddings?

JW: No. On many of the weddings we've filmed, we've only met them the day before, so they can't possibly be doing it just for us, because they've already booked the venue and had their dress made. We just turn up to document what we see, so I don't think things are exaggerated. A lot of the criticism has been from older people, and our show is in some ways about the clash between ancient traditions and modern fashions. A lot of the girls we film really adhere very strongly to a lot of those traditions – yet they are so influenced by elements of pop culture, and we see that in the dancing and the clothes. There are quite a few times when we meet the grandmother of a bride who says it wasn't like this in her day. We've created an interest beyond our series and, as a result, we've seen other TV programmes and newspaper articles around Traveller communities so hopefully we've played a small part in other people taking a wider interest in the community.

RF: But the problem is, the things that are very popular are the things that are more shocking, like the weddings.

JW: We've changed some people's opinions, but not everybody's. But we don't think we're creating that prejudice and racism.

RF: I think you have changed opinions, but people have changed from being scared of Gypsies and Travellers to being a little bit scared, but also thinking they're funny. I'm not convinced that's a positive change. Yes, [the lives of Travellers] is being discussed more, but racism is still rife. I don't think it should be that Gypsies and Travellers should be secretive, it's better to have communication, but I don't think it's the best approach to make it more of a joke.

ES: What would you like to see in a documentary about Travellers?

RF: I'd love to see something about the different Traveller groups that focuses more on the skills, artistic side, artists, musicians, the community aspect. Most travelling people have incredible skills with animals. Many people who grow up on the road don't have an education, but learn all sorts of other things. You did touch on the community aspect, and people are always lamenting how community spirit has died in Britain, but it certainly hasn't in Gypsy Traveller communities. I don't absolutely hate the programme, but it's not the sort of TV that appeals to me. Television has the power to educate, and I don't think Big Fat Gypsy Weddings does.

Big Fat Gypsy Weddings starts on Channel 4 on Tuesday at 9pm