11 of the biggest reality TV scandals of all time
Reality TV and its casts of characters can be magnets for public scandal.
"The Bachelor" has weathered controversies, from arrests to sexual misconduct allegations.
Khloé Kardashian and Tristan Thompson are once again at the heart of a supposed cheating scandal.
Molestation accusations against former "19 Kids and Counting" reality star Josh Duggar led to the show's cancellation after 15 seasons.
In May 2015, In Touch Weekly reported that a police report from 2006 showed Duggar had been investigated for allegedly molesting five underage girls. His parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, later told Fox News that Duggar had molested four of their daughters and a babysitter. The revelations led the reality show's network TLC to cancel the show.
"I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends," Josh Duggar said in a statement at the time.
Scandals continued to follow the former reality star. Just a few months later, it was revealed he was a paying user on the infidelity-seeking website Ashley Madison between 2012 and 2015. Duggar, a Christian, had married his wife, Anna, in 2008 and, at the time of the Ashley Madison revelation, they had four children together.
He admitted to the claims and released a statement, calling himself "the biggest hypocrite ever."
"While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife," Duggar said.
On April 29, 2021, Duggar was arrested and held in jail in Washington County, Arkansas. It was revealed the following day that Duggar had pleaded not guilty to receiving and possessing child pornography, some of which involved children under the age of 12, according to prosecutors. If convicted, Duggar faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.
The Duggar family responded to the charges, saying, "We appreciate your continued prayers for our family at this time. The accusations brought against Joshua today are very serious. It is our prayer that the truth, no matter what it is, will come to light, and that this will all be resolved in a timely manner."
Teresa and Joe Giudice from "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" were both jailed for fraud.
In October 2009, Teresa and Joe Giudice filed for bankruptcy and claimed they owed creditors more than $10 million. In 2014, "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" stars pleaded guilty to 41 counts of fraud after being charged with conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud charges.
According to The New York Times, the couple admitted to hiding assets from bankruptcy creditors and submitting false loan applications to receive approximately $5 million in mortgages and construction loans. Joe Giudice also pleaded guilty to failing to pay taxes totaling more than $200,000.
"I fully take responsibility for my actions," Teresa Giudice said after her sentencing. "I need to learn to take responsibility for myself."
Teresa Giudice was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the crimes (she was released after 11 months), while her husband, Joe Giudice, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison. They were also ordered to pay $414,000 in restitution.
After finishing his sentence, it was ordered by a judge that Joe Giudice be deported to Italy, where he has not resided since he was a toddler, because he never became an American citizen. Following seven months in an ICE detention center, Guidice was deported to Italy. He has remained in Salerno since the fall of 2019, despite multiple attempts at appealing his deportation order.
The couple's divorce was finalized in September 2020.
Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino of "Jersey Shore" and "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation" served eight months in prison for tax evasion in 2019.
Sorrentino was initially indicted on charges related to tax evasion in September 2014. He was sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion and concealing income. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $10,000 and complete 500 hours of community service, according to CNN.
"We live our life one day at a time and we're praying for a positive result. You know, my current situation is not my final destination," Sorrentino told Us Weekly in 2018, prior to his sentencing.
He was released from prison in September 2019.
"Living my best life with my beautiful wife," he posted on Instagram after his release while wearing a T-shirt with the phrase "The comeback is always greater than the setback."
Sorrentino's brother, Marc Sorrentino, was sentenced to two years in prison in 2018 for "aiding in the preparation of a false and fraudulent tax return," according to CNN. He was released early on September 28, 2020.
Jon and Kate Gosselin, one of the original reality TV power couples, split after cheating rumors surfaced. It was all documented on their show, "Jon & Kate Plus 8."
"Jon & Kate Plus 8," which documented the lives of Jon and Kate Gosselin and their sextuplets and twins, ran from 2007 to 2009. The couple split in 2009 following rumors that both sides had been unfaithful in their marriage — rumors both denied at the time.
"I don't know that we're in the same place anymore, that we want the same thing," Kate told People in 2009.
Their relationship has remained turbulent ever since due to custody battles over their children. As of now, Jon has custody of two of the couple's children, Hannah and Colin, while Mady, Cara, Alexis, Aaden, Leah, and Joe reside with Kate.
In an interview with Access Hollywood in 2018, Jon Gosselin said he and ex-wife Kate "don't talk."
"It's not even business, it's just nothing. I don't know what to call it," he said.
Tristan Thompson's public cheating scandals were storylines on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." A new allegation was just reported.
Tristan Thompson was first publicly accused of cheating on girlfriend Khloé Kardashian in 2018, just days before she was due to give birth to their daughter, True, now 3. The Daily Mail reported that Thompson had been seen kissing an unidentified woman at PH-D Lounge in New York City on Saturday, April 7.
Page Six later identified the woman as 28-year-old model Lani Blair and reported that the two spent four hours together at a nearby hotel, while Kardashian was in Cleveland preparing to give birth. While the news was breaking, Thompson returned home to be with Kardashian in the delivery room, which was shown on an episode of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."
Despite the scandal, less than a month after True's birth the couple was spotted together in Cleveland, confirming that they were attempting to salvage their relationship.
However, the couple landed in the spotlight once again in February 2019 when reports said Thompson had cheated on Kardashian again with close family friend Jordyn Woods. Woods, who was notably best friends with Kardashian's sister Kylie Jenner, was reportedly with Thompson at a house party. Anonymous attendees at the party later told TMZ that Thompson and Woods "were all over each other" and "making out."
Woods later addressed the scandal on Jada Pinkett Smith's "Red Table Talk," saying, "On the way out, he did kiss me. No passion... no tongue kiss, no making out, no nothing. I was in shock. I was like, 'Let me just pretend that didn't happen.'"
The drama was addressed on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."
"[Tristan] already knew what was up and there was nothing else he could do but confirm it," Khloe said during a confessional. "And I got my questions answered. I was getting more details — that everyone left and Jordyn still stayed. That she was sitting on his lap in a chair, they were all over each other, they were handsy, they made out. It's disgusting."
Kardashian and Thompson appeared to reconcile while spending time together in quarantine in 2020. However, yet another cheating accusation has just surfaced in 2021. As reported by Page Six in April, model Sydney Chase told the "No Jumper" podcast she and Thompson had sex.
She said "we hung out multiple times, we went out together, everything" in January after Thompson told her he was single. She also claimed Thompson texted her.
TMZ reported on May 4 that a cease-and-desist letter sent from Thompson's attorney to Chase read, in part, "Mr. Thompson had no relationship with you whatsoever and he never sent you any such texts," and also threatened to sue.
"Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star Rob Kardashian and his former fiancée, Blac Chyna, had a messy breakup. Chyna accused the famous family of plotting to get their show, "Rob & Chyna," canceled.
The couple started dating in January 2016, announced their engagement that April, and shared the news in May that they were expecting their first child together.
Shortly after, they landed their own reality show, "Rob & Chyna," but the couple later split and the show was canceled after one season. Chyna claimed in a defamation lawsuit that this was the Kardashian family's decision to end the show.
She also alleged in the suit — which was filed in 2017 but goes to trial later this year — that she was the victim of assault, battery, domestic violence, and interference with prospective economic relations. Kardashian has denied assaulting her.
After the couple split for good in 2017, Rob Kardashian also posted revenge pornography of Chyna, whose given name is Angela Renée White, leading to his ban from Instagram. Since then, his Instagram account has been exclusively run by Kris Jenner Communications.
"The Bachelor" franchise is no stranger to scandals. Rachael Kirkconnell's racially offensive photos from an "Old South" college party derailed Matt James' season.
"The Bachelor" has come under fire in recent years for its lack of diversity. After all, in the 19 years that the show has been on the air, only three leads have been people of color.
However, things reached a boiling point this past season when it was revealed that the first Black bachelor Matt James' frontrunner Rachael Kirkconnell had attended an "Old South" party in college in 2018. She was photographed in a Civil War-era dress at a plantation-themed fraternity formal. After "Bachelor" host Chris Harrison appeared in an interview defending Kirkconnell's actions, he faced immediate backlash and subsequently stepped down from his hosting duties "for a period of time."
At the taping of the "After the Final Rose" special for James' season, Kirkconnell publicly apologized for the second time — the first was on her social media — and spoke directly to James. It was revealed that despite leaving the show in a relationship, the two had parted ways so that Kirkconnell could "put in the work [she needed] to do."
However, the couple appears to have reunited as James said in an interview he is focusing on his relationship with Rachael.
The fourth season of "Bachelor in Paradise" was nearly derailed by an allegation of misconduct between Bachelor Nation "villains" Corinne Olympios and Demario Jackson.
In 2017, production on the fourth season of "Bachelor in Paradise" was temporarily halted after a scandal between former contestants Corinne Olympios and Demario Jackson threatened to cancel the show.
"As many of you know, this is the season of 'Paradise' where it looked like it might not happen. After two days of shooting, we decided to suspend production. Yes, there was trouble in paradise as accusations and allegations ran wild. It was an extraordinary and emotional time for our cast and all of our crew, including myself," host Chris Harrison said in the premiere episode of the season.
According to multiple news outlets, a sexual encounter occurred between Olympios and Jackson while her judgment was impaired after drinking alcohol. The incident was caught on camera, which led to some wondering whether the show would exploit the incident for ratings. ABC and producer Warner Horizon confirmed that an investigation into "allegations of misconduct" was underway as a result of a third-party complaint.
After an internal investigation, it was decided that no misconduct had occurred, but neither Olympios nor Jackson returned to paradise after production stopped. Olympios later claimed that while drinking on the first night of the show, she had been taking prescription medication that caused her to "blackout," and that she did not blame Jackson for what happened. Jackson also described the encounter as "100% consensual" on both sides and criticized the production team for how the incident was handled.
"The Bachelor" star Chris Soules was charged after a hit-and-run accident in 2017.
Chris Soules landed in hot water when he was involved in a fatal car accident in April 2017.
According to Mic, Soules was driving a Chevrolet pickup truck in Iowa when he rear-ended a tractor-trailer, resulting in the death of a man. Police told a local news station that Soules fled the scene before being apprehended by police. According to TMZ, Soules waited for EMTs to arrive and performed CPR on the crash victim before driving away.
According to People, Soules accepted a plea deal in 2018 and was sentenced to a two-year suspended prison time, which allowed him to be on probation and avoid jail.
"I was never charged with causing the accident. I was charged with leaving the scene of a serious injury accident," Soules said in an interview with "Good Morning America" in September 2019.
"A man did die and that was a tragedy. My sentence is living with this for the rest of my life. The sentence is replaying that moment standing there on the pavement and walking up to a man that wasn't breathing … knowing I was involved in that — that's the sentence that I've been given," he said.
"Selling Sunset" star Chrishell Stause broke down on the real estate reality show after her husband, Justin Hartley, filed for divorce seemingly out of the blue.
On an episode of the third season of "Selling Sunset," Stause gave her side of the story in regards to her impending divorce from "This Is Us" star Justin Hartley. Stause claimed Hartley "blindsided" her and informed her that he had filed for divorce over a text message. The couple was married for two years.
A few weeks after Hartley filed for divorce on November 22, 2019, Stause responded by filing for a dissolution of the marriage due to irreconcilable differences.
Hartley later appeared to address the story, while not naming Stause or the reality show's depiction of events by name.
"I think people want to know about other people's personal affairs, but I would just caution people. I caution my daughter on this all the time. I tell her, 'You really can't just believe something because you read it,'" he said while appearing on an episode of SiriusXM's "Radio Andy."
Jillian Michaels reportedly gave her "Biggest Loser" team caffeine supplements to help them lose weight in 2013.
While the hit weight-loss show "Biggest Loser" is no stranger to criticism, fans were shocked in 2013 when celebrity coach Jillian Michaels was reprimanded for giving her team caffeine supplements without a doctor's permission.
As a result, the team's results from the previous week were discarded and each member was penalized with a one-pound weight increase, according to Today.
"I stand by my opinion. A caffeine supplement is significantly healthier than unlimited amounts of coffee," Michaels said on the season's finale episode. "My only regret is that my team, they're the ones suffering the consequences of my professional opinion."
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