Reality Stars, the modern-day jesters.

Trigger warning, this writing contains themes around suicide.

As someone who doesn’t watch a whole lot of broadcast TV, the idea of reality shows usually escape my interest. Watching normal people, do mainly normal activities under extreme public scrutiny just isn’t something that grabs me. I always felt that the stardom placed on those that featured in reality TV was undeserved, the financial and social prestige made available to some that comes from a short stint in the spotlight feels dystopian, in every sense of the word. A Black Mirror episode come to life, a non-lethal hunger games, a race to the bottom.

Reality TV has been entertaining the British public for generations, giving us a glimpse into the lives of others in bizarre, highly pressurised and often under immoral conditions. Shows like Love Island, Big Brother and Love is Blind have been broadcasted to the masses, perpetuating negative ideals around loyalty, relationships and general kindness towards peers. The craze of spotlight grabbing young adults, clawing at every second of screen time, headline and social post is rippling damaging social norms on young, malleable viewers too engrossed in the ‘entertainment’ of it all.  Like most things, there is an obvious mixture of positive and negative effects that come from reality shows, however I don’t feel it would be unreasonable to say that the scale tips in the favour of adverse influence. 

No one’s role model should be an overly fake tanned, badly veneered, misogynist on an all-expenses paid trip to Spain. In hindsight of this, the contestants are merely small parts in a much bigger problem, their time spent on these shows often results in an overall negative personal experience. In the age of social media, anonymous critics reign supreme, and feelings are often not at the forefront of voiced opinions. The powers that be, the producers and other various people within networks, who are signing off on these torture camps of TV shows season after season, profiting on the emotional trauma that is inflicted on contestants for millions to view from their sofas are the ones who deserve large parts of the blame. The cost of ‘good’ TV is outweighing general human decency and ethics, resulting in a generation that is hyper-fixated with fame, wealth and image. YouGov reported that almost one quarter (24%) of 18-24 years olds that they spoke to felt self-conscious about their bodies as a result of reality TV, with nearly one-quarter of them (23%) also saying they had had suicidal feelings because of concerns about their bodies.

Contestant suicides is a clear issue associated with reality shows and Love Island in particular. Since its original premiere, two people who were featured on Love Island have tragically taken their own lives, Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis alongside presenter Caroline Flack, who passed away in 2020. It seems that audiences choose to neglect the fact that these people are…people. Their decision to go on the show and publicly bare all, is brave. The lack of outside context provided to contestants while in their ‘enclosures’, as we have seen, is extremely damaging to mental health and once the show is over, they see the public discourse that has taken place. The flood of online commentary, scrutinising all their mistakes, bad days and off the cuff comments would be unbearable for anyone. The often curated, unnatural scenes that contestants are permitted to reshoot don’t have their best interests at heart and leave them in non-favourable positions with audiences once aired.  

Channel 4 have publicly announced that they feel reality TV “has the potential to do good”, and in specific cases this may be true, however I feel there would need to be inherent change within broadcast companies and the public’s attitude for this to become a comprehensive statement. Greater protection of the contestants and their mental wellbeing needs to be a priority. Love Island holds the unfortunate record of all time OFCOM complaints on a single episode. During season 7 (2021), the episode ‘movie night’ received nearly 25,000 complaints, with many of the objectors commenting on the manipulation that clearly occurred from producers and writers, in the hunt for explosive reactions. This quote from Faye’s family via social media, who the complaints were mainly focused on, helps to provide personal insight:

"Faye is human. She may not always get things right," they said. "There are human beings managing the islander's social media pages who will be seriously affected by your comments. We ask that everyone please remembers this before commenting or messaging." (BBC, 2021)

ITV have now revised their processes to provide increased support for contestants, introducing training on how to handle “potential negativity” from social media.

If you need support or someone to talk to, visit Samaritans. We’ve covered sensitive topics, including suicide, in a blog post on our website, so we wanted to ensure this resource is available for anyone who may need it.

Ollie McDonald, Cohort 45 Content Creator Apprentice at McCann