18 Secrets And Stories From People Who Actually Worked On Or Participated In Reality Shows

We asked members of the BuzzFeed Community with insider knowledge of reality TV to share their juiciest reality show secrets. Here are the responses that might have you looking at your favorite shows a little differently.

Note: Not all submissions are from the BuzzFeed Community. Some are from this Reddit thread and this Reddit thread. Some submissions are from responses to this post and this post. 

Disclaimer: We can’t 100% confirm these stories, but these people are allegedly speaking from their own experiences on reality shows, know someone who’s been on reality shows, or simply have insider knowledge.

1. “I worked in reality TV. While it’s cheaper than making movies or big production shows, it’s still insane how much money is wasted. I’ve had to drive hours away just to rent an animal for a day, drive visiting executives around as tourists just to see the city, spent a whole paid weekend waiting in an out-of-town hotel for some paperwork to be delivered, flown out of the country just to deliver equipment, and so on. A pilot episode can cost $100k and much higher just to never get picked up by the network. Happens all the time.”

—stressedchameleon

2. “I knew someone who worked with a guy who helped with the filming process on one of those Bigfoot hunting shows. Apparently, this group of guys actually believed in their cause, and actively thought they were in the presence of a squatch whenever they’d step foot in the woods at night. So every time they’d hear a snap or a loud thump, their reactions were genuine; what they didn’t know was that the film crew would throw rocks at trees or bash branches together when there would be a lull in filming (which, you know, was literally all the time).”

3. “When I lived in LA, one of my closest friends made a comfortable living making reality TV shows…and nothing he ever made or sold ever made it to television. He’d assemble his team, find a B or C-list celebrity, film them for a week, and then sell the show to a network. The whole operation cost about $7000 to $10,000 to film, and they’d sell the pilot for $20,000 and the rent was paid for everyone involved for another few months. For 3 years, I listened to his stories about these celebrities (I won’t name names), and nothing ever got shown to the public because it died in further development. Gives you an idea of how many different shows they go through just to get the one actual hit. This taught me why networks love reality TV shows so much. They’re cheap. For the cost of one scripted show ($500,000 to $1,000,000 an episode), you could literally pitch 25 reality shows. And if one of those cheap shows actually makes it…”

—Anonymous, 43

4. “I was on Season 8 of Master Chef. The producers have you bring all your wardrobe pieces, you meet with someone from the wardrobe department, and they have you try on a few outfits, take photos, then slip a picture under your hotel door and tell you what to wear. Also, it’s supposed to be a show about home cooks. I was a real home cook, but the majority of the top 40 were actors, worked in catering, or worked in small kitchens. All of them had real kitchen experience. The actors just pretend to cook and act. I was like, ‘Why did you audition for this show?’ They said, ‘my agent sent me to audition.'”

5. “I have a friend who worked as an editor for reality shows a few years back. The thing I remember him telling me is that because they shoot so much footage, he can make any storyline the producers want with it.”

—thewhits

6. “I had a former coworker on House Hunters. It may not be known, but they’ve already purchased the house. Then they’re shown other places, sometimes even their friend’s house. He said it was boring because he had to stand in the same room for hours and make random comments about it. He was worried at the end that he would be shown a really nice place and people would shame him for not picking that one, since it’s framed that all of the properties they are looking at are currently available.”

7. “I tried out for Project Runway when I was 22, my senior year of college. It was a LONG process, and the fact that you needed to show three nice, completed looks to the judges was a lot of money on my 22-year-old Joann fabrics salary. I went to NYC and got in line at 5 a.m. My college friends were my models. And it was a lot of waiting. I eventually got mic’ed up to see Tim Gunn and Daniel Vosivic, and they were very nice but, in a flash, said I was too young and not developed enough as a designer. That one part was so fast, and my friends thought I would have gotten really upset after, but I was happy I even made it to the interview room!”

—capresesalad1985

8. “My cousins were on Super Nanny. They were maybe 8 and 11. They don’t remember much, but they weren’t that bad. Things were heavily edited and they were coached on how to be naughty.”

9. “A former coworker of mine was on a home renovation show. Months later, they had a significant house fire due to mistakes in the rushed workmanship. The show had to pay for some of the repairs. My coworker ended up moving, and I have no idea about the details (what went wrong, how much the show paid) because they’re contractually required not to say anything. Another former coworker is on many of those cooking competition shows. She loves them.”

—HoundstoothReader

10. “I don’t know what show they were filming, but we watched an ‘elimination scene’ at a winery a few summers ago. We were just there wine tasting when all these people came out onto the lawn and had goodbyes and wave-offs while the tearful contestant got in a helicopter and took off. The helicopter circled around, landed, the contestant got out, and they did the whole thing again. And again. And again. We watched that helicopter take off at least 10 times.”

11. “They filmed an episode of The Bachelorette in my town. It took them 20 hours of production time to make the 40-minute episode. They would film the bachelorette by herself, then later on, film the guys, then edit it together like they were at the same place at the same time.”

—startinearly

12. “I was almost on House Hunters International a few years ago but unknowingly violated my contract by talking about it before I filmed, lol. The way it goes is that you already live in the place that you ‘pick’ at the end, and they just take all your stuff out and store it in a super-insured truck to make it seem like you haven’t moved in yet. You spend about a week filming at other random places and act like you’re interested in them. They also pay you for the week of filming. Television magic.”

—thefoodelevator

13. “I was on Rock and Roll Jeopardy, an offshoot of Jeopardy that aired on VH1. Like Jeopardy, multiple episodes were filmed in one day but the episodes were one and done, no multiple day champions. I had a blast, loved the entire experience. Except I never got my 2nd place prize (a trip for two to Cancun). The show ended not long after my episode aired, and I didn’t know how to contact them to follow up, so 🤷‍♀️. At least it was fun.”

14. “I was an audience member on Maury. We couldn’t hear anything the people on stage were saying. They were speaking directly into mics to be recorded for the show. The production crew instructed us to react. The more you react, the greater your chance to be shown in the audience. Also, they stopped every couple of minutes to put powder on Maury’s face.”

—bivvy92

15. “I was on Chopped Canada, and it is SUPER real. Of all the cooking shows, they do a really good job keeping the cooks surprised, setting a strict time limit, and making the reactions as real as possible.”

16. “I was a bridesmaid at my friend’s wedding. She won Bridal Bootcamp, a (very short-lived) weight loss show on VH1 in 2007. She was by no means overweight to begin with, but she won the show. Their original budget for their wedding was 15-20k, still a lot for a late-20s couple. She won her ‘dream’ wedding, but the IRS mandates that game show winnings are 33% taxable, so her accumulative winnings were over $35k in taxes alone. Fortunately, they’re still together with two boys and no debt because of the stupid show.”

—mfooteob1502

17. “My brother was on an episode of Judge Judy about 15 years ago. I came with him to film, and although the stories are real, if you ended up needing to pay someone, the show paid them, not the people who appeared on the show. The show also paid for the entire weekend we were there to film, and we also got money to use for food while we were there. The audience was all actors, and any guests you brought with you had to wait in the green room to watch. We didn’t get to meet Judge Judy personally, but her staff was very nice. It took about four months for the episode to air.”

—navywife1027

18. “I’ve been in the restaurant business for over 10 years. I once worked for a chef who tried to get on Hell’s Kitchen. The producers turned him down because he was TOO good. Which makes sense. If you have a kitchen full of cooks who know what they’re doing, the drama is low to nonexistent.”

Do you know any behind-the-scenes secrets about reality shows? Share them in the comments. Or, fill out this Google form if you’d rather stay anonymous. Your responses could be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post!