When you found out that you lost your job, what went through your mind about that? Welcome to Ms. Mojo and today we’re counting down our picks for the times when unscripted TV shows took a turn for the tasteless, traumatic, and even dangerous. I [music] truly believe that The Swan is the most sadistic of all of the reality shows I’ve ever seen.
Number 30, Teresa Giudice flips a table in anger, The Real Housewives of New Jersey. There have been many heated confrontations on The Real Housewives of New Jersey since it premiered in 2009, but arguably none has gone as far as this unforgettable altercation from the season 1 finale.
During a dinner party hosted by Teresa Giudice, Danielle Staub brought up the salacious book Cop Without a Badge and the rumors involving her. This led to a heated moment that culminated in Giudice angrily flipping over the restaurant table in front of all the families and their children. [music] COPY TO MY CHAIR. SHE EVEN HAD TO BE RESTRAINED BY THE production crew.
Years later, it’s still regarded as one of the most iconic Real Housewives scenes, but even Giudice admits that it wasn’t her proudest moment. 1 2 3 YOU WERE ENGAGED 19 TIMES AND YOU’RE STILL NUMBER 29, THE ENTIRE PREMISE, Boy Meets Boy. A dating show featuring all gay men would have been pretty progressive in 2003.
However, this was the era of gimmicks and navel-gazing sensationalism. Boy Meets Boy wasn’t just a dating show, it was a social experiment. Over halfway through the show’s only season, host Danny Bear reveals the twist to James Getzloff. Was Brian and Franklin one of them [music] is straight. His suitors are a mix of gay and straight men.
If he chooses a gay man, he wins the show’s grand prize. If he chooses a straight man, he loses. Think of it like The Traitors meets The Bachelor with a heaping dose of sleaze. [music] Getzloff’s sense of betrayal is still hard to take. Why couldn’t they just find him a boyfriend? I think at that moment I was so angry.
I had invested my entire self into this process and felt really betrayed. And like, that just sucks. Number 28, Rachel Frederickson’s weight loss, The Biggest Loser. Trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels do not seem to agree on much these days. One thing they definitely saw eye to eye on was the dramatic weight loss of The Biggest Loser contestant Rachel Frederickson.
Their faces on finale night tell the entire story. They’ve both since discussed their shock and concern at seeing Frederickson’s transformation at length. Finally came out of hiding and and shared my story and and then it’s that moment where I had to say, I’m going to embrace being me. Frederickson, who was under the tutelage of trainer Dolvett Quince, won the season.
Given what we know now, it seems like this was the logical conclusion of a show that gamified people’s health and placed a cash prize on dramatic physical transformations. [music] They came in and they were like, I want to win the prize. I want to I want to be first place in this and that’s when I was just like, whoa.
Number 27, not telling the contestants the show was canceled, Eden. This British series attempted the social experiment aspect of stranding almost two dozen people in the middle of rural Scotland. >> [music] >> Eden took things even further. The experiment was to last an entire year. By the end, only 10 had the fortitude to stick with it.
[music] The show went to some genuinely dark places with deep schisms between the group and contestants returning from the experience traumatized. I know when to walk away, I [music] know when to stop, I know I know how far to take myself. [music] Unfortunately, the show was canceled due to low viewership. However, [music] the participants were still in the wilderness and the experiment continued.

Imagine spending a year of your life undertaking this intense harmful TV experiment only to discover it was canceled. Eventually, the rest of the experiment was shown after they returned, albeit in a more condensed format. >> The whole premise of it was an it was an amazing life-changing once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The TV element wasn’t really that big an issue for us, so for us to be able to do the year was the main thing. >> Number 26, Chris Williams’ controversial behavior, Married at First Sight. Lifetime’s Married at First Sight brings together random people who, just as the title suggests, get wedded on their first meeting.
They live together for 8 weeks before deciding if they wanted to divorce or stay married. One of the most notorious participants was season 12’s Chris Williams, who got married to Paige Banks. Right off the bat, Williams’ behavior generated controversy. This relationship no longer serves me. I don’t harbor any ill feelings towards you either. I I just met you.
Um and you’re beautiful, by the way. >> You are, too. He apparently pressured Banks into having sex early on, claiming that it would make him more attracted to her. He also repeatedly brought up his ex-fiancée, whose pregnancy he found out about during their honeymoon, and even arranged a meeting between the two women.
Thankfully, [music] Banks read the writing on the wall and chose to divorce Williams on decision day. I’m sorry, y’all. This is too much. Number 25, Steven Williams slaps Irene McGee, The Real World. Long before the debacle between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, there was one slap that was on the tip of everyone’s tongue.
Back in 1998, Steven Williams and Irene McGee were contestants on the seventh season of MTV’s The Real World. [music] And you got to go back and get your sanity from where you left it. >> Steven. The two had a fraught relationship, which culminated in this infamous moment. [music] After McGee quit the show for health reasons, she had one last conversation with Williams in which she outed him as gay.
In response, Williams ran after the car taking her home, opened the door, and struck her in the face. What are you thinking right here, right there? What are you thinking? What are you going to do? Oh, the door’s open. Surprisingly, Williams was allowed to remain on the show on the grounds that he take an anger management course.
Number 24, June’s forklift foot, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. When this Toddlers and Tiaras spin-off series hit the air, fans knew they were in for a wild ride. Say what you will about this outrageous show, but the Thompson family was unafraid to be their candid selves on camera, even [music] when it came to the gross stuff.
In a season 1 episode, Mama June uncovers her forklift foot, which was run over by, you guessed it, a forklift. Nats begin to swarm as soon as her foot is out in the open. It’s a disgusting reveal, even by Here Comes Honey Boo Boo standards. We’re not surprised that June was hesitant to bare her soles.
All right, now that I’ve showed you forklift foot, it’s time to go home. >> Number 23, The Louds split up, An American Family. Regarded as one of the first examples of reality TV, An American Family polarized audiences when it premiered in 1973. I can’t understand people that have drive. I can’t understand people that go go places.
I can’t understand people that feel that the need to go to college. The show followed the lives of the Louds, a middle-class California family, and drew over 10 million viewers every week. One of the most shocking moments on the series was when mother of the home, Pat, asked her husband, Bill, for a divorce on air.
Your father is all involved somewhere else. And there isn’t um somebody you can run to when you need help. Then what are you going to do? She also asked Bill to leave the house and handed him her lawyer’s contact [music] details on the way out. While this may seem ordinary now, back in 1973, it was virtually unheard of for a TV program.
An American Family went arguably the furthest such a show could have gone and essentially birthed the reality TV genre. Number 22, Jason rescinds his proposal to Melissa, The Bachelor. The 13th season of The Bachelor ended with Jason Mesnick getting down on one knee and popping the question to Melissa Rycroft.
Will you marry me? You want to marry me? I would love to marry [music] you and spend the rest of my life of my life with you. However, things after the season finale. The second you start having doubts, not talk to me about it and say, let’s work on this, let’s fight, you know, I just put a ring on your finger and and that means forever, so let’s see what we can do to fix this, it’s I’m just going to pull away.
Whoa, things are different and I don’t even want to try. Do you see where I’m a little irritated? Mesnick decided to call off his engagement to Rycroft in hopes of exploring a relationship with runner-up Molly Malaney. You put a ring on Melissa’s finger. You told Melissa you loved her and wanted to spend the rest of your life with her.
But you don’t want to fight to see if that can work. This would be heartbreaking for anyone if done in private, let alone in front of millions of viewers. Although the audience watched their proposal and breakup happen in less than an hour, in reality, both events were filmed about 6 weeks apart. Mesnick and Malaney ultimately got married and welcomed a daughter in 2013.
>> [music] >> Number 21, the head-shaving incident, Top Chef. Reality shows can be a bit of a pressure cooker and that is even more the case in a culinary competition. [music] Near the end of the second season of Top Chef, the remaining contestants wind down by getting drunk and spontaneously deciding to shave their heads.
It all seems like good fun until one of the chefs, Cliff, tries to force Marcel to do the same. Cliff wrestles Marcel out of bed and none of the other cast members does anything to stop the assault. >> Being as how it is our last elimination challenge [music] thought it would be a good idea to try to shave Marcel’s head.
And from there, things [music] just basically got a little out of hand. >> Luckily, Marcel is able to break free and ends up sleeping on the bathroom floor. The heated situation results in Cliff getting disqualified from the season. Marcel, on the other hand, went on to finish in second place. Congratulations.
You are Top [music] Chef. Number 20, Kutcher Punks Timberlake, Punk’d. Back before Ashton Kutcher was a husband and father, he was a young celebrity hosting a show about pranking his friends. These pranks ranged from the outlandish to downright hilarious and were all on our favorite celebrities.
But in one instance, he definitely went a little too hard on his pal Justin Timberlake. In this featured prank, fake IRS agents are called to Justin Timberlake’s Hollywood home to repossess all of his belongings. This happens all the time to good people. This cruel joke ended with Timberlake in tears and frantically making phone calls.
We’re all for a little fun and games here at WatchMojo, but taking somebody’s dogs seems a little harsh. Nothing in it. Number 19, The Death of Captain Phil Harris, Deadliest Catch. Premiering on the Discovery Channel in 2005, Deadliest Catch focused on a group of crab fishermen in Alaska navigating their dangerous jobs on deck.
One of the most beloved captains on the show was Phil Harris, who had devoted his entire life to the grueling profession. Harris had had health challenges shown on the series, all of which led up to the season 6 episode in which he suffered a stroke. He was airlifted to a hospital where he underwent surgery and showed signs of recovery, only to pass away several days later.
This entire process was put on display on the reality [music] show, which for some may have felt too personal and exploitative on the part of the network. Number 18, The Defecation Incident, Flavor of Love. The second season of VH1’s Flavor of Love gets off to a pretty foul start. After the first set of girls are sent packing, Flav notices a terrible smell emanating from the room.
After we do the toast, I was like, what is that the smell in my crib, [music] yo? It is quickly revealed that one of the remaining contestants, Something, had relieved herself right in the open. While we never see this actually happen, Something claims that she just couldn’t hold it in any longer and had to do the needful while the elimination ceremony went on.
She had reportedly informed the production crew that she needed to use the bathroom, but because they had to finish filming the elimination, she wasn’t allowed to go. I take this deep breath and what is that smell? Number 17, A Smoothie, Fear Factor. The Joe Rogan hosted NBC competition show immediately became infamous for its dangerous stunts and stomach-turning challenges.
For its 100th episode, the show threw everything it could at the contestants. That includes rats. Contestants were tasked with drinking a very unconventional, very disgusting smoothie. Competing for a Capital One credit card worth as much [music] as $100,000 in our 100th episode, you know we had [music] to bring out the big guns. So here it is.
The episode actually inspired an unsuccessful lawsuit from a viewer who claims the stunt made him so ill and disoriented that he ran into a doorway and hurt himself. The law was not on his side, but our sympathies are. It is possibly the grossest challenge in the show’s history, at least the grossest one that made it to air.
You were that much closer to up to $100,000 from Capital One in our big spectacular stunt in front of the Statue of Liberty. Now let’s get [music] you guys some mouthwash and get the hell out of here. Number 16, We Were All Rooting For You, America’s Next Top Model. Well, things sure got a little heated there, didn’t they? This infamous moment from cycle 4 of America’s Next Top Model came after the first ever double elimination of contestants Tiffany Richardson and Rebecca Epley.
While Epley cried as she hugged the other girls, Richardson seemed to take her elimination quite differently, [music] much to Tyra Banks’s dismay. STOP IT! I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE YELLED AT A GIRL LIKE THIS. WHEN MY MOTHER YELLS AT THIS, IT’S BECAUSE SHE LOVES ME. I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU. WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU. HOW DARE YOU? LEARN SOMETHING FROM THIS.
Banks voiced her disappointment and exploded at Richardson, uttering the words that are now enshrined in the pop culture lexicon. You rolling your eyes and you act like it’s CUZ YOU HEARD IT ALL BEFORE. YOU’VE HEARD IT ALL BEFORE. YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE THE HELL I COME FROM. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’ve been through.
The outburst seemed totally unwarranted for the situation and apparently only humiliated Richardson, who claims that what was shown on TV was only a fraction of Banks’s actual tirade. We only hope that she never in her life yelled at a girl like that again. Number 15, The Outrageous Premise, Are You Hot? You cannot talk about reality shows with ridiculous premises without bringing up Are You Hot? Dubbed The Search for America’s Sexiest People, this show brought together people who thought they were hot to be evaluated by a panel of judges
on their looks. Each contestant has already appeared before our panel of experts and been pre-judged for this round to see if they’re hot or if they’re not. That’s it. That’s the whole show. It is mind-boggling that at some point in the production pipeline, nobody stopped to think, “We probably shouldn’t go ahead with this.
” Judges would rate contestants based on their appearance and then leave it up to the viewers at home to vote for their favorites. Thankfully, the dreadful series only lasted one six-episode season before it was deemed not sexy by ABC and canceled. I don’t want to cry on it. Maybe. But um but it’s all right. I thought I knew I was hot.
Number 14, Producers Falsely Claim the Contestants Are Dying, Superstar USA. American Idol has entertained audiences for years and turned many regular people into successful recording artists. At the height of its popularity in 2004, TV producers got the brilliant idea to create a spoof in search of the nation’s worst singers.
On our show, it’s not enough for singers to be bad, they have to believe they’re great. >> However, they never let the contestants know this. Unsuspecting individuals performed for judges, who turned down the good singers and hyped up the terrible ones. In order to sell the premise to the live audience, producers lied that the bad singers were terminally ill people fulfilling their dying wish.
The LA Times erroneously reported that it was a Make-A-Wish Foundation project, which led the show’s producers to come clean about their false claim and apologize to the organization. Briggs, what do you say to people who think this show is cruel and offensive? [music] I’d have to say you. Number 13, Russell Armstrong’s Death, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Ahead of the show’s second season, the hit Bravo franchise was rocked by an entire closet full of skeletons. Russell Armstrong, the estranged husband of cast member Armstrong, took his own life in 2011. The biggest and just thing that happened was that they, you know, reality or not, what they did was they they completely defaced his character cuz I don’t know that man that they talk about on that show.
The season follows the cast as they reveal on camera, against Taylor’s will, that she was the victim of harrowing domestic violence. Bravo’s decision to air many segments about Taylor and Russell’s marriage was roundly lambasted. >> What was happening inside your marriage? Why did you do it? I think that subconsciously or maybe even consciously, I I thought that the cameras would provide some protection.
Publications and people close to Armstrong blamed the microscope of reality TV for his death. However, the reality seems far more complicated than that, perhaps more complicated than a reality show could handle. Opening the season with a tearful cast discussion did not quell the controversy. The segment has since been scrubbed from the episode.
>> conflict and what that could potentially look [music] like for me, being able to say to step back and just think about what’s happening as opposed to reacting [music] with the pounding heart and a the nervous energy that I’m used to. Number 12, Caught on Camera, Teen Mom. Reality TV has gotten physical before.
However, MTV series about teenage parents landed one of its cast members in jail. On a highly controversial episode from 2010, Amber Portwood’s behavior with then partner Gary Shirley prompted viewer outrage and calls to family services. I’d rather do my time and get it over with and make the best out of the situation that’s been handed to me.
Portwood was arrested and charged with domestic battery. Authorities even subpoenaed unaired footage from the producers to aid in their investigation. Portwood would later take a plea deal. Teen Mom was already under fire for glamorizing teen pregnancy. This incident only brought more heat and more attention to a show that was earning a scandalous reputation.
Like you need to chill out for one with your laughing and stuff, honestly, and be a bit more mature. I’m being dead serious. Number 11, Producers Fail to Properly Vet Contestants, Megan Wants a Millionaire. In 2009, Megan Hauserman of Rock of Love fame got her own reality show, which featured supposedly rich single men vying to make her their trophy wife.
Just three episodes into the season, however, Megan Wants a Millionaire was canceled after it was revealed that one of the contestants, Ryan Jenkins, was the prime suspect in a murder investigation. Apparently, shortly after filming Megan Wants a Millionaire, Jenkins got married to Jasmine Fiore, a model whose life he ultimately ended.
Megan is definitely into me and I’m [music] definitely into her. And I’m definitely not going home tonight. Before he could be apprehended, Jenkins fled to Canada, where he took his own life. Police this morning are looking into whether her ex-husband, TV star Ryan Jenkins, acted alone. They’re checking to see if he had help disposing of her body and if he had help escaping to Canada.
The network subsequently came under fire for failing to properly vet the contestant, who, it turned out, already had a history of crimes against women. Ryan, please come here. It’s good of you to choose me It’s good [music] of you to choose me first. This card is for you. Thank you. >> Your credit is good with me. The guys are super jealous of me at this point.
[music] I got called out first, so I’m golden. Number 10, Producers Pay Members of a Hate Group, Escaping the KKK. A documentary series exposing hate in America. If the KKK had a target, it would be me. Although this documentary series never made it to air, it generated a lot of controversy after it was announced.
Originally titled Generation KKK, the series was reportedly about members of the infamous hate group trying to break away. Amid the backlash the series announcement faced, [music] A&E changed the title to Escaping the KKK and partnered with the Anti-Defamation League and Color of Change to provide additional context for the series.
[music] However, less than 3 weeks before its intended premiere, it was revealed that third-party producers went against A&E’s policies by paying participants for access. >> [music] >> As a result, the network decided to cancel the series, pulling it from its scheduled programming. Number nine, Jeff bites off lizard’s head, Naked and Afraid.
In this dramatic fight to the death, [music] survivalist Jeff Zausch took out his built-up hunger on unsuspecting prey. After hours of hunting for a tiny lizard in the heat of Madagascar, Zausch finally captures the little rascal and in a truly Ozzy Osbourne-esque display, bites off its head. Number eight, multiple incidents of racism, Big Brother.
A show where people are locked in a house and watched 24 hours a day tends to reveal the content of their characters. But Big Brother’s 15th season was a public relations trainwreck. In particular, racist comments by Aaryn Williams, then known by her maiden name Aaryn Gries, dominated the news cycle. Her mother came out and said, “My baby ain’t no racist.
” How can you tell? She took a black guy to prom. She even lost her job before leaving the game. Host Julie Chen’s exit interview with her was deeply uncomfortable. Am I the only one who feels so enraged by what she said? >> I’m like shaking. I mean, and that’s the third time I’ve watched that clip and it does not get any easier.
>> Mhm. I really dislike that person. She seemed shocked that what she said was deemed offensive, citing her Texas upbringing. She was far from the only player to partake in this behavior. Contestant Gina Marie Zimmerman also lost her job and fellow players Amanda Zuckerman and Spencer Clawson were slammed for offensive comments made in the game.
What I learned, huh? Oh, this one’s going to be funny. I learned to keep my mouth shut. >> Number seven, Snooki sucker punched, Jersey Shore. In the first season of this notorious show, things rapidly got a little much and physical. During a night of inebriation, Snooki got into an altercation with a man who swiftly sucker punched her in the face.
So, what do you pay for those? The infamous meatball of New Jersey could sometimes be hard to get along with due to her outgoing personality and drunken antics. But this hit came way out of nowhere. Thankfully, Snooki was not severely hurt and the man was arrested. Number six, the Dan Spilo incident, Survivor. For the first time in its then 19-year history, the CBS competition reality stalwart ejected a player for a rule violation.
>> Player was eliminated due [music] to unacceptable behavior. However, viewers watched as allegations of unwanted touching by Hollywood agent Dan Spilo went from being a legitimate concern to a matter of strategy. Season 39 contestant Kelly Kim’s discomfort with repeated physical contact from Spilo was quickly used against her, resulting in her being manipulated and voted out.
>> I was unsure whether I was going to be able to speak freely at the reunion and at times whether the reunion was going to happen at all. >> Host Jeff Probst grilled Spilo at the show’s tribal council segment, but he wasn’t expelled until several episodes later for another unaired interaction with a crew member.
Probst made a promise that the show would intervene sooner so that similar cases don’t occur. It was important [music] to me that if and when this happens again, there are ways to deal with this. Number five, extensive plastic surgery, The Swan. In the 2000s, networks were a little too quick to do just about anything.
The participants of The Swan were not just critiqued for their bodies. They underwent massive amounts of complicated, painful, and extensive plastic surgery to resculpt their bodies and faces. And nobody can take that away from me. Producers apparently hid the fact that they would be made to compete in a pageant at the end of their journey.
The winner would ostensibly be chosen based on how little they looked like themselves. It should go without saying that this was traumatic. After the show, several contestants faced psychological and physical challenges that proved the show’s wrong-headed approach was also traumatic. [music] >> Your talent, your skill, your ambition, none of that matters.
It is just about [music] do you look plasticized enough? Number four, Shandi Sullivan’s experience in Milan, America’s Next Top Model. Tyra Banks and company took the models of Top Model Cycle 2 to Milan for a series of photo shoots and challenges. One night, the producers told them to invite a group of male models over.
The liquor started to flow and it led to one of the show’s most infamous moments. No one like tried to pull me aside and say like, “Hey, what are you doing?” But you know what? I like I don’t expect them to [music] because I should be able to take care of myself. Contestant Shandi Sullivan appeared in the Netflix docu-series Reality Check to tell the real story behind the moment.
>> I was blacked out. No one did anything to stop it. And it all got filmed. All of it. >> The show framed what happened to her as a simple case of infidelity. Sullivan’s extreme guilt and subsequent argument with her boyfriend back home were broadcast for all the world to see. I get up to leave and they both came out to me and they said, “We’re really, really sorry that we had to film that.
” >> Number three, patient’s death aired without family permission, NY Med. In April 2011, 83-year-old Korean War veteran Mark Chanko was hit by a garbage truck and eventually succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Chanko’s final moments were filmed as part of the ABC docu-series New York Med >> [music] >> and aired on its first season in August 2012. There was just one problem.
Neither Chanko nor any of his family members had given the documentary crew permission to [music] film his death and air it on the show. Watched him die before my eyes without so much as a heads-up from the show saying this episode will be broadcast at such and such a time. >> Chanko’s widow Anita watched her husband utter his final words for the first time [music] on a TV screen alongside millions of other viewers.
While the doctor was telling us of our husband’s death, he was miked and that was filmed. She filed a lawsuit against ABC and the hospital and had the segment in question removed by the network. Number two, repo man threatened with gun, Repo Games. Repo Games was a short-lived reality show that featured real-life individuals whose cars were repossessed, but who were then given a chance to win them back through a game of trivia.
One of the more dangerous entries on our list, in this episode, a man becomes so aggravated that he pulls a gun on Tom DeTone. Now, this host had faced some seriously difficult situations before, but having a gun pointed straight at your face takes the cake. DeTone later stated that his whole life flashed before him, but luckily, security was on the scene and quick to diffuse the tension.
Before we continue, check out this single from SoundMojo’s audio, Songs from Iran, reimagining Persian melodies as modern rock, metal, and [music] pop songs. Check out the full track and album below. >> [music] >> Number one, children dressed wildly inappropriately, Toddlers and Tiaras. Some parents would do anything in their power to keep their young ones from growing up too fast, but this concept seems fairly impossible in the world of toddler pageantry.
>> [music] >> How do you vogue? One of the most shocking examples came in this show when a child came out in Madonna’s infamous cone bra. That incident can only be beat by the mother who thought an appropriate outfit was one similar to the one Julia Roberts wore when she played a sex worker in Pretty Woman.
Both incidents were met with outrage from audience members and judges alike. >> Outfits [music] like that that gives us a bad rap. >> Did some of these moments change your opinion of reality TV? Tell us in the comments.