How much reality is there in reality TV?

There are plenty of psychological reasons why people enjoy reality TV so much and why that genre of TV is so successful. People thrive on the opportunity to get a glimpse of other people’s business, especially if there’s drama involved. We enjoy real-life high stakes and feeling like we’re involved in very real, very human situations.

The problem is that real life really isn’t that dramatic at all. Most of us live a pretty mundane life, and even though we have some dramatic experiences every once in a while, most of us would admit that we are not interesting enough to participate in a TV show where others get to see all our business. So, how do these big studios manage to manufacture enough drama to keep viewers interested and engaged? Easy: they lie. They direct, edit, and rewrite moment after moment to ensure that what comes out is as juicy as possible, even if it couldn’t have been further away from the truth.

Since reality TV has been around for a while now, most of us are aware that what we see on TV isn’t what actually happened, but there are still some behind-the-scenes facts that may surprise you. Below, people from the industry and others who got to see what it is actually like to film reality TV shows shared some of the biggest lies they were ever exposed to. Some of them will even make you think twice before you decide what to watch next.