REALITY RULES
And The Rule Breakers: Love Island, Survivor +
At the center of reality TV shows are real-life dramas. With that comes controversy. Throughout the years, contestants and cast members have been kicked off or fired from their shows. From dating shows to competitions and Bravo favorites, here are seven that had to ditch their cast:
LOVE ISLAND UK
On season 5 of the hit ITV show, Sherif Lanre was shockingly kicked off the show. The reality dating competition didn’t address what happened at first, and Sherif said he broke the rules. It turned out he used the c-word, which resulted in the producers waking him up in the middle of the night. The move caused controversy as he wasn’t the first person to use the vulgar word.
BACHELOR IN PARADISE
After Chad threatened violence on JoJo Fletcher’s season of The Bachelorette, the producers thought it was a good idea to get him on Bachelor In Paradise. Of course, it didn’t work out and Chad had to leave because he was verbally abusive.
One season later, the show caused more controversy. Corrinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson were at the center of a scandal. Corrinne blacked out one night and DeMario was accused of taking advantage of her. Production shut down for two weeks. Now the show has new guidelines in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
SURVIVOR
On season 39 of Survivor, Dan Spilo was kicked off the competition for making the women feel uncomfortable. They said he touched them inappropriately. It resulted in new rules from CBS that included: staffing an onsite contact who can deal with concerns, new anti-harassment, unconscious bias and sensitivity training, and a new practice that unwelcome touching, sexual harassment and biases are prohibited. In season 40, Spilo was the first person ever ejected.
COPS/LIVE PD
A&E’s popular cop shows Cops and Live PD have faced much public scrutiny over the years. Civilians shown on the series have often said they don’t remember signing a waiver to be on the show, or they weren’t in the right mind to consent. The shows have also received criticism for glorifying cops. Well, when the murder of George Floyd and the decades of police brutality that proceeded it caused global protests, A&E canceled Cops and Live PD.
THE CHALLENGE
Filming had finished when Dee Nguyen posted racist comments on Twitter amid the Black Lives Matter protests for George Floyd and other victims of police brutality. MTV aired the episodes but fired her from appearing on future seasons and the reunion episode.
VANDERPUMP RULES
Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute of Vanderpump Rules were fired from the reality show after a former cast member revealed a telling story. Faith Stowers, who is Black, said Stassi and Kristen falsely reported her to the police on her as a prank. The incredibly messed up scenario resulted in their firing.
LOVE IS BLIND
Love Is Blind proved that even if you follow the rules, you can get kicked off. The first round of the show resulted in too many engagements. There was only a budget to continue filming five couples, so the rest were booted off the show but sent on a lovely vacation. Hey, at least they got something.
