Top 20 Times Reality TV Went TOO FAR

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, much to Tyra Banks’ dismay. Banks voiced her disappointment and exploded at Richardson, uttering the words that are now enshrined in the pop culture lexicon. 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’ actual tirade. We only hope she never in her life yelled at a girl like that… again.

You can’t 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. That’s it. That’s the whole show. It’s 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.

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. Before he could be apprehended, Jenkins fled to Canada where he took his own life. 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.

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. It is quickly revealed that one of the remaining contestants, Somethin, had relieved herself right in the open. While we never see this actually happen, Somethin 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 toilet, but because they had to finish filming the elimination, she wasn’t allowed to go. Can’t say we blame her for how things turned out.

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 a few health challenges shown on the series, all of which led up to the season six 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 show which, for some, may have felt too personal and exploitative, on the part of the network.

Regarded as one of the first examples of reality TV, “An American Family” polarized audiences when it premiered in 1973. 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. She also asked Bill to leave the house and handed him her lawyer’s contact 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’ve gone, and essentially birthed the reality TV genre.

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 docuseries “NY Med” 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 film his death and air it on the show. Chanko’s widow, Anita, watched her husband utter his final words for the first time, on a TV screen alongside millions of other viewers. She filed a lawsuit against ABC and the hospital, and had the segment in question removed by the network.

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, 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. However, less than three weeks before its intended premiere, it was revealed that third-party producers went against A&E’s policies by paying participants for access. As a result, the network decided to cancel the series, pulling it from its scheduled programming.

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 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.

In this dramatic fight to the death, 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. The lizard did serve as an extravagant meal for starving naked people in the wild, so that’s a pretty good legacy for a little lizard to leave behind. Zausch went on to compete on “Naked and Afraid XL”.

“Repo Games” was a short-lived reality game 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 defuse the tension.

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. 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 prostitute in “Pretty Woman”. Both incidents were met with outrage from audience members and judges alike.

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. 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.