Have you ever wondered what reality television sets are like? In the nearly 20 years since the genre took over our television screens, rumors have swirled about how much "reality" these programs really show. A recent Reddit thread asked insiders to dish the dirt on reality TV secrets - and damn, did the crew and cast members deliver! Here are the most shocking reality show production secrets, revealed.
24 Secrets from the Sets of Reality TV Shows,
"American Idol" Handpicks The Contestants That Will Eventually See The Judges
"I know someone who recently auditioned for American Idol. The audition process is way different than what they show on television. You have to perform for one panel of producers first, and if they like you, you audition in front of a second panel of producers, and then you get to audition for the actual judges from the show. Both of the preliminary auditions, you only get like thirty seconds to perform."
The Sellers On "Pawn Stars" Are Actors
"A close friend of mine worked in casting for several shows. Most notably: Pawn Stars. She told me one night while we were drinking that around 90% of the time the people bringing items into the shop were NOT the true owners. They would scour the internet for people selling interesting things and then hit them up to see if they wanted to bring it on the show. If the true owners were total duds and not suitable for camera work, they would pay them a few bucks to take the item and have a trained actor bring it to the pawn shop for the purposes of the show."
The Girls On "Millionaire Matchmaker" Are Actually Taken
"My boss was on an episode of Millionaire Match Maker and said that most, if not all, the girls they had brought for him to interact with were already in committed relationships and were just there to be on television."
Hunger and Exhaustion Are To Blame For "The Bachelor" Contestants' Breakdowns
"Hunger and exhaustion is a common trick to make contestants go nuts. Especially cooking shows, say - filming will take hours and hours and go into the early hours of the morning. There's a reason why there are mental breakdowns over spilt tarts! The Bachelor, too, like the rose ceremony."
"Jersey Shore" Was Loosely Scripted
"A friend of mine's uncle is a barber in Jersey, who during the first season of Jersey shore, did Mike's haircuts and I think also Vinny. He said they had a script that basically said stuff like 'get drunk--flirt with girl (insert name) is dancing with--start fight--gossip about so-and-so' etc etc.
I wouldn't be surprised if more shows had loose scripts like that. Not exact lines and such but plot lines they want you to do to/with unsuspecting people."
Producers Ask Leading Questions to Get Better Soundbites
"What might be surprising to some (it surprised me at first) is how much producers in the field lead the 'talent' (i.e., the subjects of the show) into saying whatever they want. They'll basically plant ideas in their heads when interviewing people 'hey wasn't stacy a bitch at last night's dinner.' Then when the talent tacitly agrees, because they all just want to be on TV and please the people making TV, they'll ask them if they can 'say it in a complete sentence because that will make it easier to edit.' Very little of the words they end up using are the talent's own."
Creative Editing and Dramatic Music Make the Moment
"Those reaction shots of shock/horror that we cut to are not necessarily from that moment... could be someone told them a story that made them make a goofy face that reads as shock, and when we cut to it with dramatic music, it looks like the lady is reacting to what's going on in the scene."
MTV Gets Their Talent Wasted To Spice Things Up
"My friend was on that old show "Taildaters" on MTV way back when (a guy would go on a blind date with a girl, and his best friend would be spying on them from a monitor and I believe was able to occasionally page them. Yes, with a pager).
In his episode, the date was going really well = boring. My friend told me that the producers pulled him aside and smoked him out and gave him some liquor - which led him to act weird and eventually get a glass of water thrown at him by his date. Now, I took this as BS and thought it was a way for my friend to spread an anecdote of how MTV smoked him out, but after watching his episode I noticed that in one scene he was his normal charming self and the next he was kind of slurring his words, had droopy eyes and started eating off his date's plate with his hands."
Gordon Ramsey Is Actually Nice
"Gordon Ramsey is actually a pretty nice guy. The Hells Kitchen restaurant is a set in a soundstage. The customers are usually friends and invited guests of the show and its crew."
There Was Even More Sex Happening On "The Real World" Than We Thought
"Not me but a guy I know used to be a dailies editor for the Real World. There is a lot more f***ing going on than they led on. The cast members eventually got wise as to what could be shown on TV and stopped having sex under covers to just only having ball slapping rough sex in full view of the camera. They couldn't air that footage mostly because they couldn't really censor it in a logical way to show on TV."