Reality TV has gotten a little, well, less “real” over the years.
This means that a lot of your favorite drama-filled episodes likely had a producer behind it, stirring the pot. After all, it is their job to boost ratings.
If you are ready for a strong dose of reality, here are 10+ behind-the-scenes secrets about popular reality TV shows.
1. Snooki was drunk at her *Jersey Shore* audition:
Ah, classic Snooki. She told Vulture , “I went there drunk because it was at a bar, and the rest is history.”
Casting director, Doron Ofir, said that Snooki’s audition was “extraordinary.”
While talking to him, she “literally did cartwheels and flips.”
Her bronzer even everywhere.
“Her application was smudged with fingerprints from her bronzer to the point that I was like, ‘What happened to her application? What spilled on it?'”
2. Clips are often put together in shows to form conversations:
This is common for any reality TV show.
Basically, if you ever noticed that a cast member’s voice sounded strange all of a sudden or a conversation felt choppy, this is what’s called frankenbiting .
3. Lifelines for *Who Wants to Be a Millionaire* can google the questions:
One Redditor who served as a lifeline shared:
“We were prepped, the five of us that were the chosen lifelines, and in this prepping there was no mention about googling. In other words, it was understood that using the 30-second window to google the question would be acceptable.”
4. *Cash Cab* doesn’t just pick up random people:
One person who was on the show said that the crew stopped them on the street and asked if I wanted to be on a show about the city.
From there, they did a phone interview and arrived at the location where they would be picked up.
5. The word “process” is banned from *The Bachelor*:
Every reality show has their own vocabulary.
Season 17 Bachelor Sean Lowe told Glamour that if contestants were to say “process,” producers would make them retape it, using the word “journey” instead.
6. The houseguests get paid for being on *Big Brother*:
While they’re all gunning for the $500,000, the houseguests do get a weekly stipend for spending their summers locked inside a house.
According to Season 19 houseguests , Jessica Graf and Cody Nickson, this is $1000.
7. The rose ceremonies on *The Bachelor* take hours to film:
As if the pressure of waiting for a rose wasn’t enough, most contestants are kept awake until seven a.m.
“It is absolutely exhausting,” Sean Lowe said to Glamour . “That first night lasts until about 7 A.M., and then each one after that lasts until about 3 or 4.”
8. The *Big Brother* houseguests can’t sing inside the house:
They may have pop music waking them up every morning, but singing is completely off-limits.
This is attributed to copyright issues since CBS would have to pay the royalties for airing an artist’s song.
9. People don’t eat the food on *The Bachelor*:
Ignoring a delicious steak dinner isn’t easy, but this is done so that the mics don’t pick up chewing .
Also, you just try to have a romantic conversation while you’re chowing down! The show’s lead and contestants do eat, it’s just done off-camera.
10. The first *Real Housewives* cast mate to ever throw a glass of wine was Tamra Judge:
This took place on The Real Housewives of Orange County . She had been fighting with a former cast member, Jeana Keough, when she lost her cool and tossed her red wine in her face.
Clearly, she started a trend.
11. Fans have tried to contact the *Big Brother* houseguests:
In the past, superfans have flown banners over the backyard and yelled things to the houseguests to reveal secrets .
When this happens, the houseguests are instructed to go inside immediately.
12. Some calls on the *Real Housewives* are staged:
The producers capitalize on as much drama as they can.
Former castmember, Alex McCord, said that producers will tell the housewives to call each other during the highest points of drama to stir things up.
13. The *Jersey Shore* cast didn’t make any money for their first season:
They may all be millionaires now, but that took a while.
Vinny told Vulture : “Me and Ronnie, the first week, we told production, ‘Listen, I think we have to leave. We don’t have any money.’ I’d just graduated college, I didn’t have a job. Ronnie was doing real estate at the time, so he was making real estate calls on the duck phone.”
14. *Jersey Shore* was loosely scripted:
While most of the drama, GTL, and fights were real, the cast did get a bit of gentle nudging via a script.
“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,” someone shared on Reddit.
“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.”
This makes sense. But let’s be real: they’re just as crazy, fun, and wild in real life.
CABS ARE HERE.
15. The idea for the *Real Housewives* franchise was inspired by a huge show.
That show was Desperate Housewives !. Both center around housewives and their drama.
“[Desperate Housewives] inspired the ‘Real Housewives’ franchise,” former Housewive Gretchen Rossi told Hollywood.com in 2012.
16. The *Big Brother* houseguests are sometimes asked to repeat their answers in the diary room:
While Big Brother has less production involvement than other reality shows, Cody Nickson revealed in a Reddit AMA that they would ask “me to say something again ‘but with more excitement this time'”.
In typical Cody fashion, he said no.
She was part of the *Real Housewives of Orange County*, which was actually the first show in the franchise.
“Honestly, I feel I owe a lot to [‘Desperate Housewives’ creator Marc Cherry] for creating a show that inspired a real-life version.”
