Guilty as Charged: 10 Reality TV shows we hate to love

Karen GEORGE

05 May 2015

updated the 6 October 2015 à 23:07

1/10
Keeping Up With The Kardashians
With no claim to fame other than a lawyer father involved in the O.J Simpson trial and perhaps a questionable sex tape, KUTWK is all about how the Kardashian family (mainly Kim) handles the ups and downs of rich people problems in sunny Calabasas. Each season gets wackier and wackier, with the latest episode promising to showcase Bruce's "coming out" as a woman to his family.
2/10
Jersey Shore
A look at the vapid lives of 8 young adults from New Jersey and their respective friends and hook ups. Watch them go through love, life and drama, unscripted and in front of the camera. Each episode is basically a never ending catfight punctuated by booze, hook ups and teary confessions.
3/10
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Lest you think only young adults are entitled to TV shows of their own, the middle agers want you to know they can hold the audience attention as well; hence the Real Housewives franchise. There's one in New Jersey, New York and Atlanta, but the most entertaining (read: brash) one has got to be Beverly Hills. The show is centred on rich socialites who spend their days attending soirees, shopping and getting into the occassional catfight.
4/10
I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here
This British reality TV show, (with an Australian offshoot) basically enlists B-list celebrities to live in sub-human jungle conditions for as long as they can till there is only one contestant left who will be crowned King or Queen of the jungle. Us regular people certainly got a kick out of watching these stars relegate themselves to eating bugs and sleeping on hard floors sans comfy pillow.
5/10
The Bachelor
The Bachelor is an American reality television dating game show where one "eligible bachelor" has the opportunity to find true love amongst a pool of 25 women. Feminists might have decried the show, but the rest of us tuned in religiously to find out if Mr Eligible Bachelor would find his Ms Right.
6/10
America’s Next Top Model
The reality show that spawned many other offshoots around the world, America's Next Top Model was every teenage girl's entertainment staple. The show saw 20 beautiful young girls from around the country battle it out to become America's next top model. To be honest, we knew most of the girl's didn't stand a chance in the fashion world and were only there for the entertainment value they provided. Nonetheless, we still tuned in, eager to watch who got booted off the show in tears.
7/10
Teen Mom
It used to be if you were 16 and pregnant you didn't go home, but these days, being 16 and pregnant means having your own reality TV show. Teen Mom follows the story of our girls from the second season of 16 and Pregnant and documents the challenges of their first years of motherhood. Most of us (and our parents) watched it with a tinge of superiority, feeling rather smug that we survived being 16 without getting into this mess.
8/10
The Hills
A reality TV show centred around rich kids with more money to spend than they know what to do with is sure to be a draw for audiences who want to live vicariously through these spoilt brats, even if it's only for an hour. The Hills is like the junior version and predecessor of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but with less botox and more hot dates.
9/10
Made In Chelsea
Basically the British version of The Hills, Made In Chelsea follows the lives and loves of London's social elite who live in one of the most exclusive postcodes in England. Yet another show where we lived vicariously through the stars and their fabulous parties and shopping sprees.
10/10
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
We're still not quite sure what to make of a TV show that has earned the title of "reality TV's trashiest sensation". A spin off from another reality TV series Toddlers & Tiaras, Honey Boo Boo focuses on the family of child beauty pageant contestant Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson and their everyday lives in Georgia. If anything, the show made us grateful that we were not born as Honey Boo Boo or had parents who pimped us out to toddler beauty pagaents.

We may not admit to watching them in public, but in the privacy of our homes, they’re our guilty pleasure.

Just like everyone has a favourite pop song they’re embarrassed to admit they have on repeat, the same applies to reality TV shows. In public arenas of esteem you make all the horrified tsks tsks if anyone so much as mentions Jersey Shore in your presence, yet every weekend, you based your social life around the TV show because you couldn’t get enough of Snooki and her outrageous antics. Sound familiar? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

It feels like reality TV has been confined to the bottom of the trash heap, enjoyable only to the uneducated and the vapid. Yet, if these shows are really the scorned thrash they are, why do cast members walk the red carpet, launch their own fashion lines and generally attract enough public attention to sell tabloid magazines? Because there’s demand for it. However mind-numbing or downright tacky, we’re hooked and want to know what goes on in their lives once the cameras stop rolling.

Haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate, but the rest of us? We’re going to give in to our guilty pleasure and potate in front of the idiot box watching reality shows everyone hates to love. Sure we may lose a few brain cells in the process, but we can’t think of a more enjoyable way to get Alzheimer’s. Navigate the gallery for 10 reality shows we can’t stand but can’t stop watching – and we’re guilty as charged!

Karen George

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Guilty as Charged: 10 Reality TV shows we hate to love

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