Why We’re Looking For A Lot More From Reality TV These Days

Love Island: All Stars has been in full swing for a week or so now. Have you been watching?

If you’re anything like Team STELLAR, you probably haven’t been. You’ve been saying you might start but haven’t taken the plunge. You’re vaguely across the social media drama but haven’t fully committed. You’re kind of interested in what may or may not happen between Kaz and Tyler but you’re not overly invested.

Five years ago, an all stars version of Love Island would have been the television event. Viewers would have flocked to their couches at 9pm every night. Twitter would’ve been overrun with memes. The office would’ve been abuzz with the drama of last night’s ep, as everyone waited with baited breath for the First Look to drop on Insta.

Now though, things are different. It’s been a long time since Love Island had the same hold over the general (female) public. Sure, a lot of people still tune in, but its attraction has been actively waning since long before the pandemic. The brand deals haven’t been as lucrative, the level of fame reached not as high.

ITV

Some called it the death of reality TV, but that doesn’t seem quite right. Elsewhere, other shows are thriving. New formats are emerging, viewerships are rising, and the memes are still, well, meme-ing.

Reality TV isn’t going anywhere – we’re just expecting more from it.

In 2021, a reality gameshow called De Verraders premiered on Dutch TV. Based on parlour game, Mafia, the rules of the game were simple: figure out which contestants were ‘killing’ the others and vote them out to win the money.

If this format seems familiar, it’s because it is. It wasn’t long before De Verranders was picked up by the BBC and became The Traitors – arguably one of the most talked about shows of the past year.

The series has everything needed to become a hit in 2023: a unique format, a stunning location, and plenty of drama starring regular folk who just want to play a murder mystery game and ideally win some cash.

BBC

Squid Game: The Challenge triumphed in a similar vein. Although the reality show received some criticism for completely missing the point of the original TV show, the gameshow adaptation featured contestants from all walks of life, a lot of nationalities, and ages.

Elsewhere, other series have also returned to the reality formatting of yore and chosen to cast regular people instead of wanna be stars. Channel 4’s The Circle (which later moved to Netflix) has always prided itself on boasting a versatile and inclusive cast – one that has included new mothers and babies, contestants with various disabilities, and people actually over the age of 40.

The ITV2 Big Brother reboot showcased much of the same, with actual people with normal lives who were more than willing to play the game (and play up to the cameras), but who also acted, largely, like themselves.

ITV2

The common denominator in these shows is their casting. Crucially, their contestants are competing for a prize, but they don’t seem to be competing for fame.

As a result, they can throw themselves into the game. They’re not concerned with how they’re appearing to the audience, their conversations aren’t curated. They can – for the most part – just be themselves.

And after all, isn’t that what makes great reality TV? People actually being real, and pretending to murder each other under cover of darkness?

The formats might be getting more intricate, the games a tad more complicated, but when audiences are expecting a little more from their favourite series’, at this stage, it might just be what’s expected.

And most importantly, it’s what works.

• love island
• reality tv
• The Traitors