17 Stories from People Who Were on Reality Shows as Children

Anyone with inductive reasoning skills and a handful of streaming services knows that reality television is fake. Knowing this, however, doesn’t stop us from uttering, “Whatever, I’ll still watch that garbage,” and queuing up the latest episode of Love Island. In fact, knowing that some of the drama is scripted only adds to the allure by giving us the opportunity to search for clues about what exactly isn’t real. 

Thankfully, Reddit exists, which means people can log on and confirm that yeah, the directors intentionally stoked the flames on Teen Mom or that the kids on World’s Strictest Parents got offered extra cash for misbehaving on camera. 

None of this is surprising, but these behind-the-scenes tales are a form of entertainment all their own — especially finding out that Next Top Model’s crimes extend far beyond America.