The Best Reality TV Shows to Help You Escape Your Mundane Existence

As Japan’s very first same-sex romance reality series, The Boyfriend has attracted a lot of attention, and for good reason. The show follows a group of single men who spend the summer together in a beach house. There, they get to know one another, and search for the perfect love match. You won’t want to stop watching the romance unfold.

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Vanderpump Rules icon Ariana Madix took over hosting duties of Love Island USA in 2024, and viewership exploded. The addictive show focuses on a group of single contestants who must pair up in an attempt to win a cash prize. If they don’t couple up, for love or money, then they’re eliminated. It’s the perfect reality TV romp that’s often the talk of the office Slack, so it’s worth brushing up.

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Former Million Dollar Listing star and incredibly successful real estate agent Ryan Serhant leads Netflix’s Owning Manhattan. The glossy series follows Serhant’s agents as they sell some of New York’s most enviable properties. Live vicariously through these buyers and sellers.

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You’re going to be obsessed with Netflix’s newest sporting reality show. America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders reveals just what it takes to make it as a professional cheerleader. From a grueling audition process, with novices and professionals competing for the same spots, to an exhausting rehearsal schedule, it’s certainly not easy making it in this field.

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Prime Video and Freevee’s The GOAT brings together some of reality TV’s most recognizable faces to compete for $200,000 and the chance to earn the moniker “The Greatest Reality Show Contestant of All Time.” Season 1 saw cast members from shows like Vanderpump Rules, The Bachelorette, Love Is Blind, Big Brother, and RuPaul’s Drag Race fight it out in hilarious ways for the acclaimed title and cash prize.

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Who doesn’t love a show that involves baking? Is It Cake? is hosted by SNL cast member Mikey Day and provides the perfect twist on the already popular baking show format. Each episode, contestants are asked to replicate particular objects in cake form, in an attempt to trick judges into believing they’re real and not edible. Both logistically impressive and completely hilarious, Is It Cake? is a refreshing entry in the reality TV food sub-genre.

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This British reality series invites professional makeup artists to take on challenges based on inspirational creative briefs. Whether it’s applying the perfect eye makeup or creating a dramatic lip look, these MUAs have their work cut out for them. Netflix distributes this BBC series around the world, and you won’t regret watching the jaw-dropping results produced by these seriously talented artists.

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If you’ve already burned through every season of Selling Sunset, you might be ready for a change of scenery. Enter The Parisian Agency, which follows members of the Kretz family as they sell incredible real estate in France and beyond. After watching this, you’ll be booking tickets to Europe immediately.

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Before Love Island USA, Love Island UK delighted fans by putting a group of beautiful people together in a vacation villa, and filming what happened. The series has spawned a ton of reality celebs, and started to grow in popularity worldwide. While you wait for USA to return, catch up with UK’s eleven seasons.

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Netflix’s The Trust: A Game of Greed brings together a group of strangers and gives them the chance to win a quarter of a million dollars. Through a series of games and tasks, the contestants are forced to decide whether they can trust one another, or if they want to vote anyone out. Whoever is left standing at the end of the series takes home the jackpot. But will they choose to split the money equally, or ruthlessly eliminate their fellow cast mates in order to get a bigger prize?

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There may only be one episode of Roku’s Meet Me in Rome to date, but it’s a dreamy reality TV take on the romantic comedy, starring someone who is no stranger to the genre. Christa B. Allen of 30 Going on 30 and Revenge fame joins two other single women to seek romance in one of Italy’s most romantic cities. This follow-up to 2023’s Meet Me in Paris proves that the franchise is filled with possibility.

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Peacock’s latest reality series gives four couples the opportunity to explore non-monogamy while spending time at a luxurious resort. By meeting a group of prospective singles, each couple is able to find out what it would be like to welcome a third person into their relationship, with every moment caught on camera. At the end of the experiment, they must decide whether to remain as a twosome, or return to their lives as a throuple.

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Squid Game took the world by storm when it launched on Netflix, and for better or worse, the series quickly spawned a reality show based on its premise. Allegedly plagued by problems behind-the-scenes, Squid Game: The Challenge invites contestants to take part in the very games seen on the popular K-drama, tempting the players with a huge prize fund of $4.56 million. With challenges ranging from literally terrifying to completely intense, this reality show is not for the faint of heart.

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Love on the Spectrum is a documentary dating series featuring people on the autism spectrum who are looking for romance. Through a series of dates, strangers navigate the messy world of dating and relationships, hoping to find a lifelong partner. While accurate neurodiverse representation can be tricky to find, some of the show’s contestants have praised the way in which their stories have been told onscreen.

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After what feels like the longest wait, The Golden Bachelor has finally arrived to shake up the Bachelor franchise. Season 1 stars Gerry Turner, a 72-year-old widower searching for love and dishing out roses week by week, until he finds romance with one of many hopefuls.

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In this delightful Real Housewives spin-off, Sonja Morgan and Luann de Lesseps trade in the glamour of New York City for the small town charm of Benton, Illinois. More than a little inspired by The Simple Life, Sonja and Luann are forced to get their hands dirty as they help out the town’s locals with a series of projects.

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New York drag king and Somebody Somewhere star Murray Hill hosts Drag Me to Dinner, a competition series bringing together drag artists from all over the United States. Contestants compete in a number of categories for a chance to be named The Glorious Golden Grater. Judges include Neil Patrick Harris and Bianca Del Rio.

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Airing its 25th season in 2023, Big Brother needs no introduction. The contestants, known as HouseGuests, compete for a prize of $750,000, while having their lives filmed 24 hours a day. One by one, HouseGuests are voted out, until a lucky winner remains.

Watch Now on Paramount+