It’s everyone’s guilty pleasure. Whether you’re watching suburban Moms fight or doing a series binge of selling old antiques, reality TV has something for everybody, but is any of it real? You won’t believe which of your favorite ‘real’ TV shows are scripted, staged, and reshot. Read on to find out which ones are totally fake…
Pawn Stars
This one shouldn’t be too surprising, as Pawn Stars is one of the most scripted shows on television. The only thing true about this show is that it really is Rick Harrison’s pawn shop, but he’s never behind the counter.
Not So Secretive
Additionally, all customer interactions are arranged beforehand. No one comes into the place with an item that the team hasn’t seen before. Kind of a bummer!
America’s Got Talent
Those audition rounds are anything but. In reality, there are tons of preliminary auditions before you ever get in the same room as the star-studded judges.
Who Gets Picked
The producers avoid picking anyone who doesn’t have the right image, sounds too professional, or won’t make for good and interesting television. You’ve got to have the right personality to sell the show!
Love It or List It
Though Hilary and David have great on-screen chemistry, they have nothing to do with the process. They’re just actors who know how to act like they’re selling the house.
Show Structure
And those big surprises with structural problems are all well known beforehand. And a lot of “lists” actually “loved” and still live in their renovated homes.
The Voice
While those singers really can sing, they might not be as hard-pressed as you might think. Apparently, the application form asks for the applicants most difficult experience.
Selling Sob Stories
The entire basis of the show is selling a good story, so the producers use the story told on the application and spin it into a tragic moment and reason to root for someone.
Duck Dynasty
The producers conjure up a lot of ways to create tense situations. The arguments are scripted between characters (yes, characters). Before the show, the guys were clean-cut, nicely dressed men.
Curse You!
The Duck Dynasty guys barely even curse. Apparently, a lot of those ‘bleeps’ are put in just to make them seem more aggressive. A crazy idea that actually worked!
The Great British Bake-Off
Every comment reportedly has two takes. One of them is positive, the other is negative. It was then up to editors to shape the show however they want.
No Surprises
The frantic surprise cake baking actually wasn’t much of a surprise at all, as each contestant was aware of the challenge three months in advance. Also, the cakes win based on which films the best. Go figure!
House Hunters
Before filming starts, the couple has already chosen a house. Those other ones are just fake fillers. But the hunt for that dream place makes it more relatable, and gives the audience a house to root for!
Making Money
The worst part? Their budgets are unrealistic for a reason: they’re made up by producers. If you’ve ever wondered how a kindergarten teacher and a stay at home parent can afford a million-dollar mansion, they can’t.
Love Island
Love Island is incredibly scripted. The cast is given lists of things to argue about and what to say. They also fake having sex on the show, just move around underneath covers for the cameras.
Behind the Scenes
There are also unseen cleaners and waiters on call for the islanders, an agreement that the relationships are just for the show, and £75,000 just for appearing on the show. Where do we sign up!
Jersey Shore
Make no mistake, these people really are that crazy. They’re just exaggerated. Those ‘grenades’ the group brought home? All of them were vetted by producers, not random clubbers.
Snooki Secrets
The worst truth is that no one ever called Nicole ‘Snooki’ before the show. She put it on her application as a joke! Unfortunately, the joke stuck around for a little too long, but she goes by Nicole these days.
Long Island Medium
Fake TV physics are a tried and true tradition. The truth is that like many other fake mediums, she does research on her clients a long time before appearing on the show.
Social Stalking
The way she figures a client out is through their social media accounts. People post a lot more than you’d expect, and she uses this knowledge to her advantage.
Fixer Upper
Chip and Joanna Gaines captured America’s hearts, but it wasn’t without some tricks up their sleeve. First of all, the new furniture isn’t for participants to keep. It’s just for the show.
Reshooting
Additionally, the reactions on Fixer Upper are constantly reshot for better angles, lighting, and sound quality. So if they look a little underwhelmed coming inside, it’s because they shot that scene five times already.
Naked and Afraid
Though contestants are supposed to live off the land, the crew provides the participants with medications, tampons, and supplements. Can’t be too afraid with that kind of help!
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
This show takes drama off the air and to the headlines. It’s all an act. The show orchestrates fights for the girls to get into as well as relationships. Two proposals on the show were staged.
Beach Front Bargain Hunt
Just like House Hunters, Beach Front Bargain Hunt is pretty much done before filming even starts. The buyers just walk through fake homes and pretend to consider them. What a hoax!
The Apprentice
Before he was President, Donald Trump was a reality TV show host. He often would “fire” contestants for seemingly no reason and it would be up to editors to put a reason together. Chaos lives in show biz.
Catfish: The TV Show
Instead of the victim seeking to find their catfish, usually, the catfish emails producers. They apply, sign release forms, and agree to be edited for the typical format.
Cake Boss
Though the cakes are real, the punchlines are staged. Though it appears that the customers trust the Cake Boss wholeheartedly, the reality is that all the cakes are discussed beforehand to make sure they like what they’re paying for.
Property Brothers
Before they were the iconic carpenter and realtor duo, they were regular TV actors. They do have some realty background, but Drew and Scott are pretty much just hosts.
Survivor
Survivor is almost entirely real. The bugs and the burns are all true to life. The only falsified detail is that the contestants sometimes get food off the screen, to ensure they have a somewhat healthy diet.
The Biggest Loser
Perhaps unsurprisingly, The Biggest Loser doesn’t exactly promote healthy living habits. The trainers are not properly trained, the contestants might be under the influence of drugs, and the scale isn’t even real!
The HGTV Dream Home Giveaway
This one is more real than you’d expect. HGTV does give away a big home for free but doesn’t help out with the high property tax. You owe almost half of the value to the IRS, so many of the winners are forced to sell.
American Idol
American Idol is a legendary singing show, but do you know the truth? The best singers are actually scouted out months before they audition. According to directors, many people don’t know if they get in front of the judges for being really good or really bad. Ouch.
The Real Housewives
According to New Jersey housewife Teresa Guidice, the show is surprisingly very scripted. The fights are all part of a bigger producer plan, and all the housewives are actors in crippling debt. Sounds like a bad time!
Deadliest Catch
The TV fishing crews make money from the producers, not from the fishing industry. They have no incentive to meet fishing quotas. They also typically splice together old storm footage to make the ocean events seem more deadly.
Storage Wars
Who would have thought that a TV show about storage lockers would be so successful? Not David Hester, who claimed the show planted items inside certain lockers. A&E gave no denial of this allegation. Interesting…
Bridezilla
The women who appear on the show have reported being pushed to make their scenes more dramatic and over the top. The more they throw a fit, the better for the ratings.
Breaking Amish
Although the Amish people pretend as if they have never met, they usually have been longtime friends. Others left the Amish lifestyle many years prior to filming. It’s all fake!
Ice Road Truckers
Remember in season one when the truck dropped through the ice into cold water? Yeah, that was done using miniature models. Yikes. Furthermore, the show is heavily scripted and ice road trucking isn’t as dangerous as they make it seem (but definitely still risky!)
The Bachelor & The Bachelorette
This dating show doesn’t usually create lasting relationships, as most winning couples ending up getting divorced or breaking up after airing. Also, the producers are pretty keen on making a series villain for fans to hate.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
One of the most heartwarming parts of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition are the thousands of volunteers who come to build the house. Yeah…those are actors. After filming, a real crew comes in to build the mansion.
Ghost Hunters
Here’s a shocker: the ghost hunting show is completely made up. They add in static sounds and weird happenings to make the show seem more plausible, but really, there’s not much there.
Hell’s Kitchen
Though he seems like the worst person to work for, Gordon Ramsey is actually a very sweet guy with a very fake show. The customers are paid actors and chefs are told to play it up for the camera.
The Hills
Young women from LA star in this early 2000s show, but even though it was said to be a reality show, it was famously very fake. In fact, it was very dramatized and edited for higher ratings.
The X-Factor
Like many game shows, these auditions happened off-air and months prior. The people are pre-selected to make for good TV, no matter what.
Mystery Diners
From 2012 to 2016, the Food Network aired this totally fake reality show. The “undercover stings” to monitor restaurant behavior were always set up, even the workers were actors.
America’s Next Top Model
Though the show has tons of loyal followers and tons of critic backlash, it plays up the drama, and even has one report of a contestant who says she wasn’t allowed to leave the show. Yikes!
The Real World
The Real World? Not so real after all. Known for changing the way we view reality TV, this was the first reality show to capitalize on carefully selected actors and clever editing to create drama.
The Amazing Race
Though the show gives pairs a certain budget, it helps out with the plane and travel expenses. Many people have criticized the show for not showing realistic costs of last-minute travel options.
Made
Teens with a dream come to Made with the hope of achieving their goals. Luckily the teens really are as talented as they seem, but the show is scripted and staged otherwise.
Basketball Wives
These women were all married or once married to famous basketball athletes, but the entire thing is staged. It’s all the formula of reality TV, creating problems where there aren’t any.
Cupcake Wars
Say it isn’t so! The surprise round has contests utilize their mystery ingredient, something like hamburger or beans, and it’s usually full-on panic. That panic is all an act, they find out about the ingredients months ahead.
Vanderpump Rules
From fake breakups to constant reshoots, this reality show isn’t as real as you might want to believe. Nothing is as it seems!
Undercover Boss
The boss often ends episodes of this show with promises to change the employee’s lives. It’s the most moving part of the episode, but many employees later reported that there was no follow up, and things remained largely the same. Disappointing!
RuPaul’s Drag Race
For fans of Drag, this show is a favorite. However, the soundbites are often taken out of context to create classic TV drama. The participants even say they were pushed or tricked into saying things that turned out poorly for them.
MasterChef USA
This famous cooking show is a total hoax. One contestant revealed that the show splices together things people say to create new sentences, literally putting words in their mouth.
Southern Charm
An unexpected Bravo hit, this show fakes the continuity of the story. Scenes are forced into a singular narrative regardless of when they happened. What is the truth?
Matchmaker
The late 90s dating show based in Toronto didn’t actually set users up on blind dates. They met at least once before filming, every time. They even received questions to ask their dates!
Pawn Queens
The short-lived show Pawn Queens starred two ladies who owned a pawn shop. The women really had never pawned before and auditioned like actresses for the 2 season show.
Cash in the Attic
This UK show invites antique dealers into old homes to find valuable and rare items. The trick? The items are all planted beforehand for the hunters to “find” and sell.
South Beach Tow
This Miami towing company is highly set up and staged for good television. Their rivalry with the other towing company was totally made up for the show!
Surprise Chef
Though wandering around a grocery store, meeting a celebrity chef, and having them cook for you is a nice idea, this show faked it all. Everything was pre-arranged and prepared by a different chef!
Tattoo Fixers
At the end of the show, tattoo artists show the fixed tattoo to the client for a big reveal. That big reveal usually has several takes until producers get the best reaction.
Bad Dog
Animal Planet’s pet training show wasn’t very popular or very real. The show crafted clever backstories for why dogs behaved certain ways but admitted there was no way of knowing. It was all for the camera.
American Pickers
This show is all about finding gold for the best price. These prices don’t come from haggling on the show though, everything is predetermined before filming. Also “Hobo Jack” was a nickname Jack made up for the show.
Mountain Men
These men live off the grid and off the land…or do they? Actually, the characters admit it’s all an act. They also have much more money than they show on the series.
Designed to Sell
Though this show promises to sell someone’s house quickly, people in the episodes stay in their home for a year or more. Contestants also report sloppy repair jobs and filming multiple endings.
Hunting Hitler
This one shouldn’t be surprising. Following the rumor that Hitler ran away to South America, the hosts investigate various locations and find clues of his presence. Yeah, all fake and planted.
What Not To Wear
The reveal on What Not To Wear was often refilmed over and over until the audience gave the right reaction: surprise, shock, and awe.
Divorce Court
Those who want to be on Divorce Court just have to ask. Regular, non-divorcing couples typically appear on the show and appear as an act. Don’t trust everything you see on TV!