Payson Keeler is a main character in the first, second and third seasons of the ABC drama series Make It or Break It. She is the top female gymnast at The Rock. She is portrayed by Ayla Kell.
Bio[]
She is best friends with Lauren and Kaylie. Payson's father recently lost his job, but was offered his old one in Minnesota, but Payson remains living with her mother and sister in Colorado. Payson has a rivalry going on with Kelly Parker, who had won the previous National Championship. They push each other in and out of first place. However, in the season finale, Payson's decision to not use cortisone after seeing Kelly Parker use it causes her to fall during her uneven bars routine and suffer a lumbosacral fracture. She is told that any more gymnastics would paralyze her.
Payson has feelings for the top male gymnast at The Rock, Nicky, admiring his similar work ethic and dedication to gymnastics. As a result of her fierce drive and dedication to win, her father believes that Payson has the ability to somehow 'box' each of her emotions, and completely isolate herself from that emotion if it is not needed. After a talk with her parents, she finally lets out her emotions, breaking all of her trophies as a result of her frustration about not being able to compete. She reveals her complete jealousy towards Kaylie for winning Nationals, although she later encourages Kaylie to act like a champion and believe in herself more. Coach Belov asks her if she would like to be his assistant coach, but she turns down the option which surprises her mother.
In the episode "Save the Last Dance," it is revealed that a doctor has come up with an experimental procedure that could heal Payson's back and enable her to compete in gymnastics again. Payson goes through with the surgery, but is scared to return to gymnastics. With the encouragement of Emily and Sasha, Payson begins to train again.
In the episode "Are We Family?", when The Rock is competing against China, Lauren sprains her ankle after a gold medal beam routine and can't compete bars, Sasha calls Payson to compete bars after Lauren's unexpected injury. At first Payson tells Sasha that she is terrified of bars leading the audience to think she won't compete, but with some encouragement from her team she fights her fears and competes bars. After her comeback, she petitions to be included on the National Team; however, she is denied. After she was denied Sasha tells Payson about being an artistic gymnast. However Payson doesn't take to the idea so well in the beginning. Sasha decides to take Payson to the ballet to show that anyone could be graceful. And so Payson goes to see the show and Payson decides she will try to becom more artistic.
Background[]
Payson is shown to be driven & dedicated to gymnastics. After her coach, Marty Walsh, leaves the Rock, she feels upset & betrayed, but she later approves of The Rock's new coach Sasha Belov.
During Nationals, Payson suffers a lumbosacral injury during her uneven bars routine which is believed to be a career-ending injury. Crushed that her gymnastics career might be over, Payson enrolls in regular school where she struggles to adapt & falls in with a group of slackers.
Payson's family is introduced to a new, experimental surgery which she undergoes. Her body changed and she now is undergoing training to become an artistic gymnast.
Payson makes the World's team and during her training, she develops a crush on Sasha and at one point, she impulsively kisses him, but Sasha pushes her away. Payson apologizes to Sasha for her mistake, but a tape of the kiss (which was edited to remove Sasha's refusal of Payson's advances) gets sent to the National Committee which results in Sasha retiring. Sasha later returns & everything appears to be well between them.
During Worlds, Payson falls on her ankle, but is able to do her last vault flawlessly and stuck the landing on one foot. At the end of the series, it's revealed that she made the women's Olympic team.
Personality[]
Payson is determined and hard-working but she never knows when to have fun. She is a focused girl who has her mind set on winning Nationals, and eventually the Olympics. To do this, she trains 24/7 while fighting a persistent back injury that later affects her performance in Nationals. She is the "mom" of her friend group. Payson acts very mature. Payson is not afraid to say what she thinks.
Throughout the Series[]
In the Pilot episode, Payson is shown as a determined and hard working top gymnast who is a force to be reckoned with. After placing second the year before, Payson is determined and destined to become the National Champion. During this journey, her family faces money problems and Payson's back problems catch up to her. She is illegally offered cortisone by Nicky Russo before Nationals, however she declines and continues her Nationals destined to become the National Champion. She falls during her uneven bars routine at Nationals and suffers a lumbrosacral fracture, which is believed to be a career-ending injury. During her time off, she is forced to go to high school by her mother. There, Payson becomes bullied for her back brace. She soon befriends Heather and Ike and becomes active in the schools prom comittee. She eventually begins to have feelings for Ike, only to end it when offered marijuna from him. In the episode "Save the Last Dance", her family learns that a surgeon believes she can operate on Payson's back and enable her to compete in gymnastics again. Payson goes through with the surgery and begins training again, but the changes in her body after her injury require her to start almost from scratch. With her coach, Sasha's, help, she develops a more artistic style of gymnastics and successfully petitions onto the worlds team . During her training she develops a crush on Sasha and impulsively kisses him, but he pushes her away and tells her it's not appropriate.
She was the number one dedicated power gymnast at the Rock but later suffered a lumbosacral fracture. A European doctor has operated on her with a new method of using cement to repair the bones. She was a Brilliant power gymnast, but has made the worlds team with an beautiful artistic routine by Sasha Belov. She developed a love interest with Nicky Russo, but later thought that Kaylie and Nicki were getting closer, so she gave up on him. When she went to high school for a period of time, she developed a love interest, but lt it go after fixing up her back to train again. She also kissed her coach, Sasha Belov, when they were training her to become an artistic gymnast. Lauren got a hold of the video, and sent it to Sasha's enemy, Ellen Beals. Ellen is out to get Sasha 'sjob, and hates his guts. Ellen later took away his job by telling the NGO about the kiss. But Sasha came back to coach, during worlds. She later met a guy named Max, who Lauren first got dibs on. So Lauren tries to get closer to Max, but realizes that Max really loves Payson instead of her. In the second season finale, Max gets the guts to tell Payson that he's bisexual, but Payson tells him that he should tell her later and that nothing can ruin this moment. Payson meets a boy names Rigo and they fall in love and Payson eventually loses her V-Card to Rigo. Rigo helps Payson throughtout her struggles in season
Notable Skills[]
Before back injury
- Shaposhnikova (skill she fell on in nationals)
- Tkachev
- Double Layout Bars Dismount
- Double Arabian
After Injury
- Illusion Turn
- Full twisting double back Bars Dismount
Relationships[]
- Friends: Payson's best friends are Lauren, Kaylie, and Emily as they have been training at The Rock for 2 years and plan on going to the Olympics together. She dated 1 boy, Max. Max ended up being bisexual before she met Rigo and lost her virginity to him.
- Kim Keeler: Kim is Payson and Becca's mom. Kim is the former manager of the Rock, though she quit after Payson had her accident. She now co-manages with Summer.
- Mark Keeler: The father of Payson and Becca. He lost his office job, but pretended to still be employed until Payson saw him delivering beer to The Pizza Shack while visiting Emily. Mark gets his old job back, but it forces him to commute between Minnesota and Colorado.
- Becca Keeler: Payson's younger sister, who also trains at The Rock. Becca is less focused on gymnastics than Payson. However, she has recently started improving rapidly. At The Rock's awards banquet she was named the gym's most promising junior. Payson has become jealous of Becca's rapid improvement.
Trivia[]
- Payson's signature colour is purple. She wears, almost exclusively, purple GK leotards.
- Her hair is almost always pulled into a bun - messy bun is only worn at practice but a ballerina bun for practice or competition.
- She was nicknamed "Peeson" Keeler at her old gym after peeing a little in her leo at a junior meet.
- Payson Keeler lost her virginty to Rigo in Season Three.
- Payson Keeler's ex- boyfriend, Max was bisexual.
- Payson Keeler's bestfriends are Lauren, and Kaylie.
- Payson is the most mature one of all the 'Rock' girls and the most determined and inspiring.
- Payson once had to learn Portuguese for a video interview before a meet in Brazil but failed miserably and was told to just to it in English.
