Fame at her fingertips—Ridgeite stars in new reality show

Seventy-four year-old Emileen Hanna, owner of the Capri Nightclub in Bay Ridge, is starring in a new reality show called “Forever Young.”

How exciting!

Hanna was one of 10 cast members to be chosen from thousands who auditioned to be on this “spring break with a twist” premiering on April 3 at 10 p.m. on TV Land.

Hesitant at first because of her husband’s passing, Hanna thought she was initially going to be interviewed about her twin grandkids—due to the name of the studio.

It turns out she was really auditioning for a reality show that takes five people over the age of 70 and puts them together with five people in their early 20s, all living together for a period of three and a half weeks.

“I thought it was going to be difficult because of the age difference,” Hanna exclaimed, but instead she found lifetime friends and compatibility, she says, which was shocking to her.

Mother to three sons, Hanna has gotten numerous calls already from people in the neighborhood who have seen her and recognized her in the commercial previewing the show.

Her son, Gary, considers her to be “local and a real perfectionist,” adding that his mom is “funny without really trying to be funny.

She is the typical New Yorker—loud and very classy,” he remarked.

“I was very happy with all of them,” the surprise star told this paper of the show’s cast members, “especially the younger ones,” who shared their lifestyles with her.

In one instance when discussing how many relationships they each had been in, one of the younger cast members blurted out: “80!” Hanna said that she almost was ashamed to say that she had only had one relationship her entire life.

“My generation thought differently,” she confessed. “I’m a little on the prudish line. I have a lot to learn.”

Despite it all, “It turned out to be an unbelievable experience!” concluded Hanna, adding that she became “like sisters” with an 82-year-old who was also a part of the show.

“We’ve kept in touch,” she noted. Whether via emails, phone calls or texting, the tech-savvy grandma who once taught computers has used every possible method to interact with her new friends.

How can Hanna be described?

“A grandmother, a hard worker, dedicated to my family; very responsible, and very dependable,” she said about herself.

Her neighbors may tune in to see the Bay Ridgeite in the spotlight, but, as for Hanna, “I’ll be hiding under the bed,” when the show airs, she laughed.