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Who can deny themselves the sweet, forbidden world of guilty pleasure reality TV shows? Whether you’re 15 seasons deep in Keeping Up with the Kardashians or you roll your eyes at the mention of Real Housewives, there’s something in today’s reality TV landscape for everybody — and we do mean everybody. From Pawn Stars to Supernanny and Fixer Upper to Dating Naked, there’s a reality show just dying for your undivided attention. And believe me: you’ll be happy you found it, starting with the new season of The Kardashians coming out on May 25.
While many of these shows follow real people’s lives and therefore run into real-life issues, they’re typically resolved within twenty minutes (or a season arc, if the producers are playing the long game). There’s sad, ominous music as pressures mount, and upbeat music as tensions ease. It’s life — but life compartmentalized into soundbites, competitions, staged conversations with friends. Reality TV invites you to live in someone else’s world and then makes it insanely comfortable for you to stay there.
Be honest: Doesn’t the idea of stepping into someone else’s reality right now sound nice? Personally, I’d rather invest an hour in The Great British Bake Off than depress myself trying to watch Twin Peaks for the hundredth time. Why not indulge in something that will really distract you the way you want?
For your next binging session, here are the best reality TV shows to choose from right now.
A version of this was originally published in May 2020.
‘The Kardashians’
For more drama and feuds and iconic moments, the Hulu-exclusive show The Kardashians will be an instant favorite for the Kardasihan-Jenner fans. The new season is premiering on May 25 on Hulu, so mark your calendars!
‘Big Brother’
Ever since 2000, Big Brotherhas been a staple in reality TV binge-watching. You get the drama, the romance, the feuds, all in one show where a series of “HouseGuests” are constantly monitored as they live isolated from the outside world for a prize of $750,000.
The newest season for 2023 will have an all-new cast, and you can watch it with PAramount+.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey
I personally feel that all Real Housewives series are worth watching. But there’s a reason that New Jersey has such a cult following, and we can’t help but marvel over the old-school Italian family dynamics between the Gorgas and the Giudices. Tonight, the ladies are finally back after a long hiatus — catch up on Season 11 below or watch season 12 on Bravo.
No cable? No problem. You can stream the new episodes with a free trial of SlingTV, YouTubeTV, or FuboTV.
Bling Empire
This 2021 Netflix reality series peers in on an elite social circle of ultra-wealthy Asian-Americans and their families living in Los Angeles: shopping for couture, flying on private jets, hostling extravagant parties, and juggling personal lives with social expectations.
Watch here.
Love Island (UK)
Love Island UK is kind of like The Bachelor — except everyone’s trying to find a relationship at once, the cameras are on 24 hours a day, and they’re not so much after a spouse and kids as they are after their next influencer boyfriend/girlfriend. Regular eliminations from the audience and the group themselves keeps the cast on their toes as they try to stay “coupled” through summer’s end.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City
The Real Housewives franchise heads to Utah with their new Salt Lake City installation featuring five women battling the expectations of their strict Mormon community and how to balance that with their desire to be independent, successful women. 10/10 insane.
Married At First Sight: Couples’ Cam
Get ready for unfiltered family time. Married at First Sight: Couples’ Cam follows fan-favorite Married at First Sight couples in real-time and is self-shot — we get to see into their homes via mounted cameras, diary cams and virtual group chats.
Married at First Sight: Couples’ Cam premieres Wednesday, May 20 on Lifetime.
Labor of Love
Think of it as The Bachelorette with sperm donors — Labor of Love hosted by Sex and the City star Kristin Davis will help former Bachelor contestant Kristy Katzmann, 41, date her way through 15 eager suitors to decide whether she’d want to start a family with any of them.
The Big Flower Fight
Like The Great British Bake Off but with flowers — you’ve got teams of florists, sculptors and garden designers who create extravagant floral installations competing for the chance to display their own sculpture at London’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
90 Day Fiancé
What if you had 90 days to decide whether your long-distance beau was the one? That’s the dilemma these couples are facing in ever-fascinating reality series 90 Day Fiancé, where foreign visitors have 90-day visas to decide whether they want to marry and stay in the US.
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
You know them, you love them (or love to hate them). Follow the misadventures of the Kardashian-Jenner clan with their smash hit reality show.
The Bachelor
Have you been waiting for a reason to get in on the hype? There’s no better time to binge old seasons of The Bachelor, where one man narrows down a pool of women to find his one true love.
Supernanny
Professional nanny Jo Frost is here to help with your toddler woes! Frost visits different families encountering challenges with their young kids, and teaches them strategies for keeping the peace.
Watch here.
The Real Housewives of Potomac
A newer entry to the Real Housewives franchise, Potomac won our hearts early with their inside look at a niche social set in the upscale suburb of Potomac, MD, where wealthy black women hold a tight-knit social circle with very specific rules of etiquette.
Vanderpump Rules
‘Real Housewives’ star Lisa Vanderpump runs the restaurant SUR, whose waitstaff is composed of a hot, drama-loving West Hollywood friend group. These aspiring entertainers will make you gasp with their antics — and surprisingly win you over with their friendships.
Bachelor in Paradise
It’s like The Bachelor — but way, way messier. Past contestants from The Bachelor and The Bachelorette report to Mexico for a second chance at true love, but this time, everyone’s out for themselves. Prepare for lots of missed connections, broken hearts, and yes, even some lasting love.
Married at First Sight
Ever wished you could stop dating and put all the hard work of matchmaking into someone else’s hands? Married at First Sight is way ahead of you, doing intensive research to pair two partners before having them marry — with no prior contact. After a few weeks, they evaluate and decide whether to stay together.
Dance Moms
Abby Lee Miller trains young dancers for dance competitions, but finds much of her time spent dealing with their over-eager moms intent on their daughters’ success. This close look at the world of competitive dance for young girls is a real eye-opener.
Watch here.
World of Dance
Jennifer Lopez produces and acts as a judge on World of Dance, a reality competition show previosly hosted by Jenna Dewan and featuring rising stars in the dance world competing for a $1 million prize.
Watch here.
The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart
Currently airing on ABC, Listen to Your Heart is like American Idol meets Bachelor in Paradise, where aspiring musicians (and hopeful singles) come together to find their partner in song and in love. If it sounds a little messy, it is — but isn’t that why you’re watching?
‘The Voice’
If you wanna dabble in the world of singing reality TV, you can’t go wrong with The Voice. For Season 24, the celebrity judges will be Reba McEntire, Niall Horan, Gwen Stefani, and John Legend, so you know it’s gonna be a wild season.
Bride & Prejudice
There’s both an Australian and a US version of Bride and Prejudice, a series that follows engaged couples whose families don’t approve of their relationship as they head toward the wedding.
Watch here.
Project Runway
Karlie Kloss hosts this fashion design competition show, where designer hopefuls complete looks every week for specific challenges and fight for the $100,000 prize.
Teen Mom
After 16 and Pregnant, we have Teen Mom, following the young mothers overcoming their first challenges with a baby at home — in addition to conquering high school, getting a job, and growing up into an adult, fast.
Dating Naked
Dating Naked is exactly what it sounds (and looks) like. These brave reality show contestants get to know each other clothes-free, and (theoretically) stripped of all their preconceptions. Will they find true love, or just serious awkwardness? Only one way to find out.
American Ninja Warrior
If you want to see true feats of athleticism, tune into American Ninja Warrior, where men and women from all over come to compete in an outrageous obstacle course and test their limits.
Love Is Blind
Can love ever truly be blind? That’s the question posed by Nick and Vanessa Lachey as they set contestants up in isolation booths where they’ll talk to potential mates — and get engaged without ever seeing the person they’re talking to. And it only gets weirder from there.
Watch here.
Botched
If you have the stomach for it, we can’t recommend Botched highly enough. Celebrity plastic surgeons Terry Dubrow and Paul Nassif correct plastic surgery operations gone horribly wrong — and show you everything in vivid detail.
The Great British Bake Off
Unlike high-pressure, down to the buzzer cooking shows, The Great British Bake Off has a nice, relaxed pace for their baking projects — but even so, you’ll find these earnest chefs sweating it down to the wire.
Watch here.
Don’t Be Tardy
If you watched Real Housewives of Atlanta, you’ll remember Kim Zolciak (how could you forget?). Her spinoff show Don’t Be Tardy follows her life with then-fiancé Kroy Biermann as she prepares for the wedding in season 1, and is now heading into season 8.
House Hunters
Fascinated by real estate? This show takes you on an in-depth ride of a realtor trying to match house hunters with a home.
Family Karma
Set in Miami, this Bravo shows follows multigenerational families originally from India, and the culture they’ve created for themselves here.
Cake Boss
Get to know Carlo’s Bake Shop on Cake Boss, an inside look at how the family makes the custom and specialty cakes for which they’re famous.
Naked and Afraid
It’s a survival show — but you’re also naked. Discovery Channel pits together a (naked) man and (naked) woman who must (nakedly) find a way to survive stranded on an island without food or water.
Pawn Stars
A family-run pawn shop in Las Vegas encounters new, curious additions to their wares every day, and the owners must determine what’s real and what’s fake.
Fixer Upper
Chip and Joanna Gaines turn fixer-upper homes into the abodes of their clients’ dreams on this feel-good home renovation show.
Tori & Dean: sTORIbook Weddings
One of Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott’s many forays into reality TV, this wedding planning series shows the couple helping other soon-to-be-newlyweds fulfill their craziest wedding dreams.
The Challenge
Featuring complicated team strategies and raucous partying at its finest, The Challenge follows a group of men and women who need to compete in various physical challenges for a cash prize, eliminating one player per week.
License To Kill
Terry Dubrow of Botched fame takes a closer look at medical cases where doctors have endangered their patients’ health and safety, and how they were shut down.
Watch here.
Mob Wives
A group of women in Staten Island have their lives rocked when the family breadwinner is sent to jail for mob-related crimes. The women must adjust to new, less-lavish lifestyles, and navigate new territory as mob wives.
Too Hot to Handle
Netflix’s latest entry into the dating show genre, this show takes a house full of horny, commitment-phobic twenty-somethings and offers them a cash prize — then tells them they’ll detract from that prize every time they kiss or sexually touch. It’s a wild ride.
Watch here.
The First 48
The First 48 takes a look at real-life investigations run by homicide detectives. If they don’t find a lead within the first 48 hours, their chances of solving the case go way down.
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