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Top 20 Most Controversial Reality Shows Ever



It seems every year brings another controversial reality show. For this list, we’ll be looking at the unscripted programming that caused the most controversy. Our countdown includes “Sister Wives” (2010-), “Kid Nation” (2007), “Born in the Wild” (2015), “Teen Mom” (2009-12; 2015-), and more! Which of these reality shows shocked you the most? Let us know in the comments!

Watch more great videos on Reality TV here:
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Top 10 Celebrities Who Destroyed Their Careers on Reality TV: https://youtu.be/w6nY99_d0Os
Top 10 Reality TV Stars Who Destroyed Their Careers: https://youtu.be/DORBBpdt0d8

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39 Comments

  6. Rusty Shackleford

    So it's sexist for a man to talk about a woman who undressed in front of them, interesting. What else are they going to talk about

  7. XJ-Icequeen

    17:38 I remember watching this with my Dad. The only reason I still remember it is that contestant Laurel is the little sister to Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman contestant Brian

  9. toya adams

    i didn't know jerry springer was off the air…i see commercials for the show pop up from time-to-time…had no idea it ended…

  15. Alfyhomer

    I think the worst thing about the Jerry Springer show was the audience which consisted of the lowest common denominator of American society, feeling all empowered and shouting moronic and hateful insults at the guests. After a while, it became an opportunity for the dumbest of frat boys, and least educated of the population, to try to one up themselves and each other at the expense of everyone else, including the TV viewer. And Jerry, contrary to the chanting of his name, and what that would imply, was a terrible host, who often had no clue what was written for him to say or what it meant. For the love of God, the bouncer on the show got his own show as an alleged expert in dealing with difficult people. Seriously? The dumbing of America was well underway at this point.

  20. Letthembelightpeaceonelove

    There’s a new runner up on TLC. It’s called MILF manor. Nightmare material. There’s nothing wrong with single moms dating but when their sons are involved that’s where it gets really icky.

  22. Caden Dicky

    Jerry Springer was an absolutely horrible person who fed off of negativity and hate from others, and their personal situations. Tell me I'm wrong.

  26. BrokeredHeart

    A lot of these shows came to be aired and popularized during the last major strike of the Writers Guild of America. Back in 2007, their last strike lasted over 100 days, which prompted studios to start packing their cable line-ups with shows that covered "live" competitions in singing, dance, and other performance, home renovation shows, dating shows, and unscripted gameshows in order to keep generating ad revenue and viewership. More than 60 scripted TV series were dropped during that same time frame, with others returning with shortened seasons aired prior to the strike, or taking lengthy hiatuses until well after the strike ended. No surprise, casts featuring POC and LGBTQ protagonists suffered exponentially more than shows and films featuring exclusively white and hetero casts. Everything from late night to awards shows took a massive hit during that time, and their viewership has been declining annually ever since. What might stave off another reality TV resurgence now is the variety of streaming services providing online archival content. Not only are there catalogues of intellectual property dating back to the earliest days of film and TV, but cable providers are turning more to live sporting events and news coverage in ways we have not seen in years. Hopefully the two sides come to an amicable agreement soon, because this barren landscape of reality TV could always make a comeback in the absence of superior script writing.

  27. Ryan McCarthy

    You left out the worst thing about The Swan.

    Namely that it all but ruined the lives and self-worth of every woman who went on it.

    See, they kept the women in the dark about how the procedures were changing their appearance until unveiling it at the end like it was a surprise.

    What this had the side effect of doing, was it gave all of them intense body dismorphia where they no longer recognized who they were anymore.

    As a result of this intense mental trauma, many of them were left with broken self-worth, most of their marriages fell apart, and one of the women spoke about how she could barely even leave her house anymore.

    This show ruined lives and everyone involved with it should hang their heads in shame.

  33. Elazig

    Don’t know how anyone could watch teen mom and think they’re promoting teen pregnancy, none of them did well at the beginning in different ways. When I watched it as a kid it absolutely put me off ever being a parent 😂

  35. KaTKeLlYD

    who remembers Meghan wants a millionaire? a vh1 show about an ex rock of love star finding a sugar daddy only finding out one of the contestants was a murderer 😂

  38. moose656

    Dance Moms was an awful show. That awful "teacher" would call skinny little girls fat despite the fact that she is the one that is a morbidly obese C.U.NextTuesday

  39. Caron Stout

    There are reality shows worth watching..they're called documentaries. Anything else are "sureality shows".

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