Naked And Afraid
Naked and Afraid is a reality show about people surviving in the wilderness without any kind of technology or luxury. Contestants must sleep on the floor, hunt their own food, and can’t even wear clothes.
The truth is, however, that producers do actually offer contestants a lot of help. If anything happened to them, the network would be responsible, so contestants actually receive food, medical attention, and amenities to keep them safe and healthy.
The Hills
The Hills was one of the first reality shows to be exposed for being extremely scripted. There was too much drama to be real anyway, but people didn’t realize that everything was fake until the show ended.
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt revealed that they once had to shoot a scene where Heidi ‘suspected she was pregnant’ about fifteen times, and Spencer had to pretend to be surprised each time.
South Beach Tow
South Beach Tow is an extremely entertaining show on TruTV. It follows the employees of Tremond Towing as they get involved in very dramatic situations while on the job.
Although the company is a real towing business, everything else on the show is dramatized. It’s pretty clear that the people featured on the show are paid actors, but it’s still very entertaining to watch.
Duck Dynasty
Duck Dynasty was the most popular reality show on television for a long time. Watching the Robertson family run their duck-call business and get into all sorts of uncomfortable situations was something that viewers looked forward to every week.
The Robertsons, however, have been very open about the fact that everything on the show was 100% fake. Their real lives were never shown, and producers would just tell them what to do instead. Their famous beards and outfits were also just part of the show.
Undercover Boss
Undercover Boss features high-level executives who disguise themselves as regular employees to really see what is going on at their own company. This popular show has won two Emmy awards.
Unsurprisingly, the show is heavily scripted to protect the companies and their employees, and almost everything that you see is fake. It basically just serves as a way to give companies some publicity.
Project Runway
Project Runway is one of the most successful reality shows in history, and it is still going after eighteen seasons. The show allowed several designers to make it big, but not all of its contestants have nice things to say about it.
In fact, several contestants have come out and said that the show’s producers would try to stir up drama between them and guided the judges to make decisions based on what they wanted for the show.
Hardcore Pawn
Hardcore Pawn is about a family-owned pawn shop in Detroit, which welcomes a lot of unusual customers every episode. Not only that, but very dramatic arguments take place regularly on the show.
These strange customers are just paid actors, and all the drama and fighting on the show is scripted. As it turns out, owning a pawn shop is not as exciting as this show makes it seem.
Cake Boss
Cake Boss follows Buddy Valastro and his fantastic bakery, where he and his family make unbelievable cakes for all sorts of occasions. Unfortunately, a lot of it is fake.
Buddy is actually a very busy man and doesn’t even work at the bakery when the cameras aren’t around. Also, it has been said that many of the events featured on the show have been staged.
Ghost Hunters
Ghost Hunters is a very popular show that has spawned several spinoffs over the years. It is undeniably entertaining, but it is clearly fake.
Events on the show are greatly exaggerated for entertainment purposes, and even real paranormal investigators have criticized the show for portraying their profession incorrectly.
The Jerry Springer Show
This one should definitely come as no surprise. The Jerry Springer Show is infamous for its outlandish fights and crazy conflicts, which, although very entertaining, are obviously staged.
Jerry Springer himself, however, has always denied these claims. In an interview, he said: "Our show was reality because these people were bringing their real-life situation up on stage. When they get angry, they're really angry."
Storage Wars
Storage Wars is a show much like South Beach Tow and Hardcore Pawn in that it makes a very ordinary job seem way more exciting than it actually is.
When David Hester was fired from the show, he revealed that pretty much everything on the show is scripted, from the fights to the items found in the storage units.
Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore was an instant success when it first aired in 2009. It followed the shenanigans of a quirky group of friends who were always up to no good.
Although the relationships between the cast members were real, a lot of the drama was fabricated. Some of their neighbors even claimed to have seen them rehearsing their fights before the cameras started rolling.
Say Yes To The Dress
Say Yes to the Dress is a show about brides-to-be finding their dream wedding dress at the Kleinfeld boutique in New York City. Although what happens on the show seems pretty spontaneous, it is all carefully planned in advance.
The brides are chosen beforehand, and some dramatic situations are exaggerated for entertainment. Also, the boutique is closed to the public during filming.
The Bachelor
The Bachelor has been around for almost two decades, making it one of the longest-running reality shows of all time. This iconic show relies on a lot of fabricated drama to keep viewers engaged.
Producers are known to stir up drama between the contestants and the famous rose ceremonies are planned ahead. It has been said that the winners are chosen in advance as well.
Long Island Medium
Mediums have always been accused of faking their paranormal abilities. But no matter what you believe, there is no doubt that most of the stories shown on Long Island Medium were fake.
It has been repeatedly claimed that Theresa Caputo, the face of the show, was fed information about her clients through an earpiece by producers so that she would never get her psychic readings wrong.
The Apprentice
The Apprentice followed a group of contestants who would compete in a series of challenges to eventually win a generous sum of money and a chance to work with Donald Trump. At the end of every episode, one contestant would get eliminated - or fired.
However, it has been said that contestants knew when they were going to be fired. Not only that but also, the cash prize was apparently just for show, and there was no money involved.
Britain’s Got Talent
Britain’s Got Talent, just like its American counterpart, is a massive talent show that showcases people of all ages doing all sorts of amazing things. Although the people on the show are not actors, some aspects of the show are scripted.
For example, the winner of the 2015 competition was rigged from the beginning, with producers picking the winners, Jules, a dog trainer, and her dog, Matisse, beforehand. Matisse was even replaced by a different dog a few times.
Restaurant Stakeout
On Restaurant Stakeout, restaurateur Willie Degel spies on struggling restaurants with hidden cameras to see what he can do to fix them. This kind of setup often catches employees misbehaving, which can be very entertaining.
The thing is that employees know that they are being filmed, so the cameras aren’t really hidden. All the drama is rehearsed, and the show essentially just helps restaurants gain some publicity.
Dance Moms
Dance Moms, like most reality shows, was a mixture of real and staged events. For example, everything the girls did was real, but what the moms did wasn’t.
A lot of the fights between the moms were scripted, and the ones that were real were encouraged by producers. Dancer Maddie Ziegler said in an interview: “It’s hard to do a reality show when there’s so much crying and drama. The producers set it up to make us all yell at each other…The moms have a fake fight sometimes. Afterward, they just start talking and laugh about it.”
Cupcake Wars
Cupcake Wars is a show in which four contestants from different bakeries in the United States must face challenges to prove they make the best cupcakes.
These challenges always include ‘surprise’ ingredients, but it has been said that contestants know what they are in advance and can plan their recipes ahead of time.
Hell’s Kitchen
Hell’s Kitchen is probably the most famous show that chef Gordon Ramsay has been a part of. Unfortunately, the show has been rumored to be completely scripted.
That, however, has not been confirmed. One thing we do know is that the customers who ate the meals on every episode were actors.
Property Brothers
Property Brothers is a show in which brothers Jonathan and Drew Scott help couples find and renovate their dream homes. Many aspects of the show are actually scripted.
For example, the couples have already purchased their dream home before the show in most cases. Also, the brothers don’t renovate every single room in the house and only focus on the things that will be most interesting for viewers.
Toddlers And Tiaras
Toddlers and Tiaras was a popular yet controversial show on TLC. It showed the secret world of child beauty pageants and all the drama that came with it.
Of course, most of what happened on the show was scripted. It has been said that producers would try to stir up drama constantly to make it even more entertaining.
Survivor
Survivor is a competition show in which several contestants had to fend for themselves in the wilderness and complete difficult challenges.
It was revealed that many of these challenges were not only fake but also that body doubles would sometimes be used to replace the contestants. Former contestant Stacey Stillman also claimed her elimination from the show was rigged.
American Idol
American Idol is arguably the most famous singing competition in the world. While the competition itself is real, the audition process is not what is portrayed on the show.
The auditions that you see on the show are actually the second or third auditions that contestants go through. Sadly, bad singers are only called back for more auditions just for entertainment, as it is not the first time they are singing in front of the cameras.
Breaking Amish
Breaking Amish was a show on TCL that showed a group of Amish youths leaving their community and living like non-Amish people for the first time.
It was later revealed that the people featured on the show had actually left their community years before the show and were already living non-Amish lives for quite some time.
Catfish
Catfish is a show where the two hosts, Nev and Max, help people figure out if their online relationships are real or whether the person on the other side is not who they say they are.
While the show makes it seem like the people who are being catfished are the ones contacting the show, it is the other way around. Producers usually find the ‘catfish’ first and then contact their ‘victim’ to film the show.
Pawn Stars
Pawn Stars is probably the most famous of all pawn-shop shows. It follows the Harrison family as they run their business, World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, in Nevada.
Although the shop is real, the events on the show are mostly scripted. Because of the popularity of the show, the shop is more of a tourist attraction rather than an actual pawn shop, and the show’s stars don’t even work at the counter anymore.
The Real Housewives
The Real Housewives has been one of the most successful reality shows in recent years, so much so that it has spawned several spinoff shows. But the fact that it has ‘real’ in its title is a little misleading.
When former cast member Teresa Giudice appeared in court after being charged with bank fraud, she testified that the show was almost entirely scripted.
Keeping Up With The Kardashians
Keeping Up with the Kardashians is the reality show that skyrocketed the Kardashians and Jenners to fame, and it is currently in its last season.
The show follows the lives of the famous family, but most of the drama is scripted. According to Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries’ divorce documents, several scenes featuring the couple had been reshot or scripted.