First airing in 2012, Redneck Island was basically a country music fan's version of Survivor. The series, which aired a total of five seasons on CMT, would take a cast of "rednecks" and put them on a deserted island where they would have to compete for different prizes, including food, shelter, and immunity from the weekly eliminations.
Hosted by WWE's Stone Cold Steve Austin, this series featured a cast of people from mostly rural areas of the American south each season, including one face that's likely familar to fans of country music: Riley Green.
Riley Green is known to country fans for songs like "Worst Way" and his feature on Ella Langley's "you look like you love me" but before he got his big break in the country world, he was trying his hand at reality TV. According an interview the singer did at the time, he was approached by CMT's producers and asked if he would be interested in auditioning for the show.
"I did it because I thought it could help my music, and I believe it will. If 40,000 people watch it and they mention my music, I believe it’s worth it," he said in 2014 of his decision to appear on Redneck Island.
It's safe to say that his music career certainly took off, but it seems like it might have been the other way around because his career in country music took off before people rediscovered that he was on the fourth season of Redneck Island.
In 2020, he appeared on an episode of the Bussin' with the Boys podcast and talked about his experience on Redneck Island, saying that the show's producers referring to him as a "career drinker" in his cast bio didn't sit quite right with his mother.
"The bio sort of upset my mom. I mean, she's not a child; she had an idea about it when we went into it. Matter of fact, when we looked at the contract…the thing that stood out to both of us was 'can portray in a false light,'" he said on the podcast. As fans of reality TV know, this isn't exactly uncommon -- many reality TV stars have later come out to say that reality TV producers can be manipulative and misleading with the way they edit things on the show.
How to watch Riley Green on Redneck Island
The first two seasons of Redneck Island are available streaming for free on Pluto TV, but unfortunately, the free streaming service doesn't currently have season 4 available to watch at this time. For dedicated Riley Green fans that want to see their favorite singer pre-fame on a quirky CMT reality show, his season of the show is available to purchase on YouTube and Prime Video for $13-20 for the full season.
Several clips from the season were also uploaded to CMT's YouTube channel, including one of Steve Austin and co-host Jessie James Decker giving the viewers an MTV Cribs-style tour of the house that the contestants were living in.