Something Happens Behind the Scenes of This Popular TV Show That Might Surprise You

Jim and Elizabeth Carroll are the founders of a decades-old "marriage boot camp" aimed at helping couples navigate relationship difficulties, but the Carrolls are also known as the stars of a WEtv reality TV series called "Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars."

Elizabeth Carroll recently told The Church Boys podcast that faith is a driving force for both her and her husband. That focus is so important, in fact, that there's something that happens behind-the-scenes on the TV show that might surprise some fans: a specific opportunity for the Carrolls to share their Christian faith with the celebrity participants.

"We have a lot of freedom with that ... it was one of the agreements we made up front — that we would be able to share our faith and be able to disciple whomever," Carroll said. "And if somebody wanted to come to faith, that we would have the freedom to do that, but we would not have cameras on us."

She said that she and Jim are given a specific period of time during the two weeks that each season is filmed to ask celebrity participants if they want a relationship with God. If someone indicates that he or she would like to learn more, the Carroll will guide them.

"It seems like every season we have somebody have an encounter that blows our mind," she said.

Listen to her explain below (starts at the 34:30 mark):

Carroll added that she and her husband also include an optional call to faith in their bootcamp for the general public as well.

"That's the place where we get our greatest joy," she said.

Explaining the decision to appear on reality TV, Carroll said that she and her husband felt "called" to bring their counseling and marriage retreat skills to the small screen, where they help stars like Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett in the skills needed to find relational healing.

"We absolutely felt called to do this," Carroll said, noting that she and her husband went into the TV project with some noble goals. "There should be some way to further the kingdom with a healthy, positive message that is compelling enough to reach people who might not otherwise be interested in healthy relationships, healthy marriages etc."

She continued, "That was our heart and our hope. The reality of it is harder, but it's not that much harder than it is in a church either."

When not filming the show, the couple spend the bulk of their time running their actual Marriage Boot Camp organization, which aims to help any couple work through pain and division.

Carroll also spoke more generally about the most important elements that must be fixed in broken relationships, starting with "baggage and bitterness" and then moving on to reconnect the hearts of broken couples — something that she said must unfold before finding healing.

She also openly shared some of the differences between counseling people who choose to go to the couple's actual bootcamp and helping the celebrities who agree to appear on the show.

"In the TV show it is a story arc that starts at the bottom and goes to the depths of pain before we're able to give them some healing and relief," she said. "Every celebrity comes there with a different motivation [from] the people who come to the regular bootcamp... [but] by the end of the work we do for them, everybody gets a healing."

Find out more about the Marriage Boot Camp marriage retreat here.