Vice TV has uncovered the dark secrets of several different reality TV shows on their docuseries The Dark Side of Reality TV. From the serious toll that appearing on the show took on contestants to the low pay for their time on the show and the way that it impacted their lives after the cameras cut, this show uncovered some of the most dramatic behind-the-scenes secrets about our favorite reality TV shows.
Keep reading to see all the reality TV shows that Vice has covered on The Dark Side of Reality TV and find out what kind of dramatic secrets the show was hiding.
- The Swan
- Kid Nation
- Joe Millionaire
- The Surreal Life
- Hell's Kitchen
- Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
- Survivor
- The Real Housewives
- Toddlers & Tiaras
- America's Next Top Model
1. The Swan
The Swan is a controversial reality TV series that premiered on Fox in 2004 and aired a total of two seasons. The series would follow a cast of self-proclaimed "ugly ducklings" who were cast on the series in order to undergo a total transformation in order to become "Swans," with the titles being in reference to the classic fairytale. After working with a personal trainer, cosmetic surgeon, and dentist in order to change their appearance, the woman with the biggest transformation would move forward to compete in a beauty pageant.
It's easy to see why The Swan was the first reality show that Vice covered on The Dark Side of Reality TV. According to the episode, at least one of the producers now looks back on the show as having gone too far and one of the contestants shared that the upkeep for her makeover cost her thousands after she left the show.
2. Kid Nation
Kid Nation aired for only a single season in 2007 on CBS, but this series was dark enough to catch Vice TV's attention for The Dark Side of Reality TV. Kid Nation followed as 40 children ranging in ages from 8 to 15 were left alone (with minimal interaction from the producers, camera crew, and an on-set medical team) to form their own society to see what would happen.
According to The Dark Side of Reality TV episode on Kid Nation, the adults in the camera and production crew weren't exactly as hands-off as they claimed to be. Instead, they would encourage the children's bad behavior and push them to get more and more out of control in order to make the show more dramatic.
3. Joe Millionaire
Joe Millionaire was a dating competition series in which women were competing for the heart of a man they were lead to believe was a millionaire when in reality, he was an average man. According to the episode of The Dark Side of Reality TV, the manipulation at the heart of the concept wasn't the only problem with the series.
Zora, the winner of the first season who chose not to date the leading man, received harassment from viewers after the show ended and the production team edited the show to make the women look as superficial as possible to portray them as serious gold diggers.
4. The Surreal Life
The Surreal Life began airing in 2003 and still airs on MTV with the latest season airing on the network in 2004. The series is similar to MTV's The Real World in that it takes a group of unrelated strangers and puts them in a house together and just lets the cameras roll but this series casts exclusively a group of celebrities to add maximum chaos.
The episode of The Dark Side of Reality TV about The Surreal Life focused heavily on season 3's unconventional relationship between actor Flavor Flav and 80s model and actress Brigitte Nielsen.
5. Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen is a competition series in which chefs are put on two teams and compete in order to get a job as a head chef in a restaurant. Headed by notoriously tough celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, this series has gotten a reputation for showcasing the high stakes drama that comes with running a restaurant kitchen.
On The Dark Side of Reality TV, things on the show are a lot more fabricated than they look. Former contestants claim that they had been sabotaged in the competitions to add drama to the episodes and one contestant alleged that the restaurants they're competing to win a job at are just trying to get some promotion from the show by having their names mentioned on the series each episode.
6. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a heartfelt reality TV series that would take a family in need and give them a brand new home, decked out with everything they could ever want and need. Unfortunately, criticisms for this show are nothing new as former families from the series have reportedly struggled to pay the fees associated with their brand new houses and have even suffered from people trying to break in after their home was featured on national TV.
The Dark Side of Reality TV featured some of the families that had been given their dream homes on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, only to be met with break-ins, higher mortgages, and out of control utility bills.
7. Survivor
Survivor has been airing since 2000 and has become a cultural phenomenon, both for fans of reality TV and otherwise. The Dark Side of Reality TV took a look at the first season of the show and revealed some of the behind-the-scenes bumps and issues that the show had as it was just getting its footing and working out the kinks of stranding contestants on an island.
According to the episode of the Vice TV episode, contestants in the first season underwent a 10-day psychological evaluation to make sure they could handle the mental strain of being on the show and they were given a handbook that outlined the poisonous plants, fish, and wildlife that were known to be native to the island they were going to be staying on.
8. The Real Housewives
Bravo's Real Housewives franchise has been a reality TV staple for years with seasons in a wide variety of cities around the world including New York City, Miami, Dubai, and Atlanta to name a few. On the episode of The Dark Side of Reality TV dedicated to The Real Housewives, a few former housewives came to share their experiences on the show.
Vicki Gunvalson, who was an OG on The Real Housewives of Orange County, the first iteration Bravo created, appeared on the episode and opened up about learning on-camera that her mother had died, how little she was paid for the first season, and other emotional secrets. Meanwhile, RHOA's Cynthia Bailey shared that the iconic scene in which she confronted Phaedra Parks about cheating allegations had been encouraged producers.
9. Toddlers & Tiaras
Toddlers & Tiaras was an early 2010s reality TV staple -- for all the wrong reasons. The show followed young girls that competed in pageants and recieved a ton of criticism for the way their stage moms would put them in fake teeth, too much makeup, and choreograph competition performances that were far from age-appropriate.
On the Toddlers & Tiaras episode of The Dark Side of Reality TV, several of the former pageant contestants and their mothers shared their experiences with being on the show and the harassment they received from viewers.
10. America's Next Top Model
America's Next Top Model would put hopeful models into stressful photoshoots and dramatic situations in order to see if they had what it took to make it in the modeling world. The show has received quite a bit of backlash for some of the more questionable episodes since it aired and it was featured on The Dark Side of Reality TV.
On the episode, models that were featured in the competition series opened up about the struggles they've had getting work in the modeling world since the show and how their experience on the show impacted them.