40 Popular Reality Shows That Are Anything But Real

Published on 07/15/2020
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17. The Biggest Loser

We all love a good success story, especially when it comes to people making life changes like the ones shown on ‘The Biggest Loser’. Firstly, the show has come under fire for having medical staff without proper training, which includes reports that contestants may have been given substances to help with excessive weight loss each week. The famous scale that the contestants stand on each week is just a prop, and real weigh-ins are done a few days before. From watching the show, you may have noticed that a lot of contestants get involved in some sort of drama, often involving another person staying in the house. The drama is curated before by producers, and editors do their best to make contestants look lazy and aggressive. The show might have had skyrocketing ratings in its early days, but more recently it has faced more and more criticisms for what it represents to begin with. There has been serious criticism from former contestants about the bullying antics of the trainers on the show, the excessive fat-shaming, and the dangerous gambling on people’s health for the sake of ‘good TV’.

The Biggest Loser

The Biggest Loser

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18. The HGTV Dream Home Giveaway

As a side note, it’s worth keeping in mind that HGTV really does give away a fancy, massive home to one lucky family each year. This is one of the parts of the show that are actually true, albeit that the network doesn’t show you what happens afterward, and the reality that faces the winners. For starters, painfully high taxes can be expected, and 40% of the value of the property goes to the IRS when submitting their next returns. A small amount of ‘HGTV Dream Home Giveaway’ winners have been able to actually hang on to their homes in the long run, opting to rather see the house as a vacation property, before getting rid of it in a bid to better manage their finances, and to avoid having to maintain properties that are inconsistently priced with what they are earning at work per year.

The HGTV Dream Home Giveaway

The HGTV Dream Home Giveaway

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