People Who Have Been On Reality TV Are Sharing Which Parts Are Fake, And My Worldview Is Shattering

Here's what they revealed:

Disclaimer: We can't 100% confirm these stories, but these people are allegedly speaking from their own experiences on reality shows, know someone who's been on reality shows, or simply have insider knowledge.

1. "Sob stories on singing shows are often fake. It's not the contestant's fault! I made it through a few rounds for a well-known singing show, and they BEG you for sob stories. On my very first application form, I was asked about the most difficult moment in my life, what obstacles I'd overcome to be there, whether I'd ever experienced bullying, and so on. They pretty much make you tell them a sob story. So I wrote all about my heartbreak when I ran out of coffee."

—u/Jenny-Thalia

2. "My friend was on What Not to Wear, and I was in the audience of people who were there to react when she came out from behind the curtain with her new look. She came out over and over again, but our cheering was never enthusiastic enough for the producers. After about 10 takes, we were screaming our heads off, totally hysterical, as if we'd just seen her rise from the dead. So that part was fake. I thought she just looked alright."

—u/seriousrepliesonly

3. "My aunt and uncle were on Love It or List It. They had them record both endings, and the network chose which one they thought was best. They are still in the house, and they love it, but the show says they listed it."

—u/xXGARR377Xx

4. "My cousin was on a Toronto dating show called Matchmaker many years ago. She said it was completely scripted, and she met her 'blind date' before filming so the producers could go over the script with them. They were given a list of ridiculous and racy questions to ask each other and encouraged to make out if they actually liked each other, or to cause a scene and be dramatic if they didn't really click."

—u/Anonymous

5. "I have worked on several reality shows. Some are more fake than others, but they are all heavily scheduled and formatted, never spontaneous. I worked on a certain MTV dating show where one of the contestants tried to escape the house in the middle of the night, and one of the production assistants had to tackle him in the front yard and drag him back into the house. It's like prison. They are completely cut off from the outside world, with no computers, books, phones, or watches, and they are fed mostly booze. They all go insane. Also, if the show doesn't air, they don't win their prize money. This is standard for all competition reality shows."

—u/Anonymous

6. "I had a friend on Cash in the Attic in the UK. The idea is that some antique dealers and so on will scout around in your attic, garage, or shed and 'find' valuable items to sell. They found precisely nothing in my friend's house, so they pulled some paintings and a vase out of the van, 'found' them, then asked him to go and get changed so they could film a segment from 'after the sale.' It all seems like a complete waste of time, aside from the couple of hundred quid they gave him."

—u/PM_Me_Rude_Haiku

7. "A friend of mine worked as an art director on the American version of Supernanny. She said pretty much everything was real, maybe edited together to make it a bit more dramatic, but the family interactions were genuine. And she said Jo Frost is a very sweet, warm woman who really does her best for the kids."

—u/PyrrhuraMolinae

8. "People on House Hunters-type shows have usually already bought the place that wins."

—u/HighOnGoofballs

9. "I was on a cake competition show. The judges recorded two takes for every comment, one positive and one negative, so the editors could put it together however they wanted. They rolled the clock back an hour so everyone else could finish. We had over three months to plan our 'spontaneous' cake. Oh yeah, and while we won by the judges' vote, a producer decided one of the other cakes would film better for the big reveal, so we didn't win even though we should have."

—u/henfrigate

10. "Not surprising: ghost-hunting shows are fake. What is surprising is how they do it. See those fancy instruments they carry that no one has ever heard of? They're actually remotes to each other! All you gotta do is split into two groups, and when one team is 'adjusting their settings,' the other team is 'detecting ghosts.' It's so simple, and you get twice the footage."

—u/KnotNotNaught

11. "I had a friend who worked on one of the Kardashians' shows. They were filming a huge party. It was dead, with no one doing anything. The producers asked if anyone had any ideas. My friend mentioned beer pong. The producers made him act like a guest and teach the mom to play to make the party look fun. Everything is fake."

—u/StuTim

12. "I worked on The Sing-Off and ABDC for several seasons in the contestant department. The performances and the performers were all real and really cool. I listened to Street Corner Symphony rehearse 'Creep' on stage one day and got goosebumps from how good they were. There are decisions made by producers to increase the market value of the show, like keeping a fourth group until the final round, because they didn't want to lose a key demographic from the audience. The finale was always live and based on fan voting online. So that part was real. In one season of ABDC, a contestant broke his leg. That was also sadly real, as I was there to witness it, call 911, call the producers, and call my manager. They were concerned about getting B-roll of him going into the ambulance. He was a really sweet kid. But these shows are exceptions in the industry, not the rule, and both have been canceled."

—u/hedonistjew

13. "Catfish is semi-real. The production team calls everyone involved beforehand, and does the research, as nobody wants to fly halfway across the US to a dead end. Nev and Max aren't informed of any information the production team finds, though. They have to find it out themselves, so all their reactions are genuine. I think once in a while the producers have swapped the catfish and hopefuls around when they want a good story, but overall it's surprisingly unscripted."

—u/Cueball61

14. And finally, "I had cousins on Extreme Home Makeover: Home Edition about 10 years ago. Everything is pretty much real. They built an entire house in about four days. They had pre-fabricated pieces for the roof trusses, but everything else was built on-site. They still live in the house and have only had a few issues. When you build a house so fast, there are bound to be problems. It was a 10/10 experience for them, and I was happy to see it work from the inside out."

—u/Bier_vor_Vier

If you or someone you know has been on reality TV, tell us the behind-the-scenes secrets. Tell us in the comments or use the anonymous form below: