Here Are The 10 Most 'Fake' Reality TV Shows of All Time

These 10 Reality Shows Were Scripted

It's common knowledge that reality television is not always... 'real.' Producers can often contrive images and even reconstruct dramatic events that occurred outside of the camera's frame; anything can be essentially prepared and organized like any other scripted show. Some reality TV shows even take it to the next level. In other words, these are scripted shows in every way but name; performers are cast as 'real people,' and plots and situations are created around them. Although these programs are often characterized as guilty pleasures, viewers should take their narratives with a pinch of salt. So, let's talk about ten surprisingly 'fake' reality shows of all time.

1. 90 Days Fiance

Every season of 90 Day Fiancé follows many engaged couples who are traveling together for one of them to get a K-1 visa and immigrate to the United States. The caveat is that before the 90-day window granted to them by the visa ends, the pair must be married. But it's also important to note that to add additional drama, the production crew writes a lot of scenarios. As reported by Blasting News, Mohammed Jbali, one of the show's performers, even shared a video of himself receiving coaching and going over the schedule for shooting a scenario in which he files for divorce from his fiancé, who got a green card.

2. Long Island Medium

Theresa Caputo is a self-declared psychic whose life and profession are chronicled in Long Island Medium. Caputo's vibrant blonde hair, feisty demeanor, and the gift of communicating with the dead are her most well-known attributes. The Daily Mail claims that Ron Tebo, a private investigator, has even referred to her as a "vulture preying on the most vulnerable." Tebo asserts that Caputo uses "cold readings," a technique that induces participants to corroborate nebulous assertions. It is reasonable to assume that the psychic is probably not as omniscient as she would want her audience to think.

3. RuPaul's Drag Race

Contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race demonstrate talents like lip-syncing and famous impersonations. The program is most renowned for its amazing lip-syncs, sardonic remarks, and forceful appearances. Former competitor Jaremi Carey said in an interview with Vulture that the program creates plots by adding soundbites that have been taken out of context. Because he was promised a redemption narrative, Jaremi, Phi Phi O'Hara, came back to RuPaul's Drag Race. Jaremi was not the only member of the cast and crew who said that RuPaul's Drag Race was a phony reality program.

4. The Real Housewives

The program claims to be true, even if it may portray a world that is unfamiliar to most viewers. All relationships and exchanges are real. Observers who happened to catch the New York actors during their Southampton shooting stated that the procedure resembled what they would see on a movie set. The actors, according to Jezebel, would halt their conversations to wait for camera setups and record many takes of the same "scene." The show follows wealthy ladies in their daily lives as they travel across many US cities. Apart from their extravagant trips and wild shopping expeditions, the ladies often quarrel over imagined slights and constantly put one other down.

5. Basketball Wives

The lives of ladies married to well-known basketball stars are chronicled in Basketball Wives. Among the cast of the show were Jackie, the wife of Doug Christie, and Shaquille O'Neal's ex-wife Shaunie. Matt Barnes, a former cast member, said that his greatest regret is being on the program. He said that the program is a phony reality show that is entirely planned and written. Tanya Young, a basketball wife, supports his assertions. Young describes in-depth how producers set women against one another and create division among the group in a thorough piece from The Daily Beast.

6. Bridezillas

Even the smallest setbacks have the power to send blushing brides into disbelief and elicit amazing emotions. The prospective brides can come out as conceited, demanding, and unyielding. Not every bride has been happy with Bridezillas' treatment. Cynthia Silver, a former participant, claims as per Salon that she was duped into thinking she was taking part in a documentary called Manhattan Brides. Furthermore, Julia Swinton-Williamson from the second season of the show allegedly had a similar experience and sued the program for deceiving her.

7. Southern Charm

A cast member spoke out about her doubts regarding the show's veracity despite its popularity. In an interview with Inquisitr, Danni Baird said that sequences were added to the story long before they happened. Additionally, rumors have it that the most turbulent pair on the program lived in Florida during the first season's shooting rather than Charleston. Viewers may wonder how much of their connection is shown on the program and how much of this purported reality series was staged due to their murky background.

8. Storage Wars

As reported by ABC News, a previous cast member of Storage Wars sued the program for being phony. The A&E series about storage locker auctions, according to its former star Dave Hester, broke the Communications Act of 1934, which forbids manipulating television competitions. Hester claimed, among other things, that the auctions were staged and never captured on camera in real-time. He said that A&E often placed artifacts and "surprise" discoveries in the storage lockers, which the actors would then bid on and "discover." In response, A&E said that Storage Wars was exempt from the Act's purview since it did not need any "intellectual skill," "intellectual knowledge," or "chance," and that it was thus protected by the First Amendment.

9. MasterChef

Promising amateur cooks fight for the title of MasterChef and a cash prize of $250,000 on the program. Notwithstanding the alluring concept, a previous competitor disclosed that every season of the MasterChef competition is almost wholly fabricated. Participants had to consent to potentially dehumanizing and fictitious depictions of themselves. the contestant also revealed that editors would combine disparate speech fragments to produce lines that were never spoken. Placing words in the mouths of candidates is a phony reality program that is far from a realistic representation of the MasterChef experience.

10. Vanderpump Rules

While the relationships on Vanderpump Rules are real, there are hints that certain other parts of the program could be fabricated. A viewer observed that Kristen Doute, a cast member, was featured in one episode both wearing and not wearing her necklace at the same time during a scene. It is evident that the identical scene was recorded many times and then composited. According to Starcasm, Stassi Schroeder acknowledged that she had to pretend to be in a relationship to be on the reality program. All of this suggests that Vanderpump Rules is a manufactured show.