Shay Mitchell is living her “dream” as the host of her first travel and culinary show Thirst With Shay Mitchell.
The series, which is now streaming on Max, follows Mitchell, 37, as she explores the world and sips her way through South America indulging in the latest drink trends. Mitchell exclusively told Us Weekly that the show began because of her “curiosity” and love of adventure — especially the idea of “being able to further explore cultures, history [and] human connection through drink.”
“You can learn a lot about a culture through the beverages that they have as well as food, obviously,” Mitchell told Us. “But this was really just led by my curiosity, and I think there’s a lot of different shows on food, but there wasn’t really anything that was specific to the beverages that accompanied the meals.”
Mitchell noted that the series is a “very different feeling” from the ones she’s experienced being on scripted shows like Pretty Little Liars and You.
“It’s exciting and nerve-racking at the same time,” she said. “I’m not playing a character. I’m really playing myself, and this is something I’m extremely passionate about in a different way.”
Over four weeks, Mitchell jet-setted to countries including Argentina and Brazil and toasted with locals over potato wine in Peru and espresso and beer in Colombia. She revealed it was the spontaneous moments that made the cut and also made the bucket list experiences more memorable.
“We’d land, we’d scout, we’d shoot. And even on the days when we were supposed to be scouting, I was shooting, a lot of the scenes that were in the show weren’t planned to be done,” she said. “Actually, some of my favorite scenes weren’t planned. And I had just gone off with my coproducer and we just shot some of this on our iPhone. So it’s kind of crazy. I learned a lot from shooting a show like this!”
While season 1 is just underway, Mitchell is already “manifesting” a return for season 2.
“I would love to be able to shoot more seasons of the show,” she said. “I think there’s so many more places we could go. Obviously, the world is a very big place. I would love to shoot season 2, possibly in Asia. I’m just gonna put it out there.”
Mitchell noted that she’s “so curious” about many other places — including ones she hasn’t even discovered yet. She added, “I’m very much rooting for season 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.”
As for a future season of the series, Mitchell shared that she has one travel companion in mind — her former PLL costar Ashley Benson.
“Just call up Ashley and see if she wants to come on season 2,” Mitchell said, adding that Benson, 34, is her “go-to buddy” for a drink.
While noting that she and Benson — whom she calls an “awesome, incredible” mom — have now brought kids into the mix, Mitchell said they’ll still grab a beverage. (Benson shared a pic of her baby with husband Brandon Davis in February. Mitchell, meanwhile, welcomed daughters Atlas and Rome in 2019 and 2022, respectively, with Matte Babel.)
Mitchell added, “When I’m back, we have plans to [go out].”
Thirst With Shay Mitchell is now streaming on Max.
With reporting by Andrea Simpson