Unforgettable Reality Dating Shows From The '90s And '00s

It's hard to forget the perhaps not-so-real dating shows of decades past. A quick ticket to fame was seemingly as easy as giving up some of your dignity and agreeing to be filmed vying for the attention of one lucky suitor in the '90s and 2000s. But hey, no judgement here! From the back-of-the-van antics on MTV's "Next" to the infamous love story of Tiffany "New York" Pollard and Flavor Flav on the Public Enemy rapper's VH1 hit, reality TV dating shows were every bit of addicting as they were cringeworthy and wild. 

There are no shortage of opportunities to compete for love on television these days, and while the overall themes may have gotten less cringy or controversial over the years, there are always suitors willing to take a chance at love — and maybe grow their influencer profiles in the process. With widely popular shows like "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" still attracting audiences decades after their premieres in the early 2000s, there's proof that viewers everywhere have continued to be just as invested as the contestants themselves. "They're part-reality TV, part-soap opera, part-game show," London Metropolitan University's Dr. Karen McNally explained to Cosmopolitan in July 2022, "which means that they're combining elements of fiction and non-fiction, characterization, relationships, melodrama, competition, and aspiration that are very potent."

We're taking a trip down memory lane, rewinding Flav's oversized clock necklace, and looking at the most unforgettable reality dating shows from the '90s and '00s. 

"Change of Heart" emerged on TV screens everywhere in 1998. The show features unmarried couples being set up with new partners and has them decide (after a short episode's worth of deliberation) whether or not they want to embark on a new romance or return to their current partner. Couples discuss their current relationship, their grievances, and what they are looking for in a partner before meeting their new potential matches on a blind date. 

Queue up men fighting over their bicep muscles and women shaming each other, and you have the perfect recipe for a superficial, albeit entertaining dating show. Episode descriptions proved as much, with one in particular reading on YouTube, "Steve says Angie curses too much and he doesn't like her toes. Angie thinks Steve is a sexual 'wimp' and says he never helps out around the house." 

"It doesn't surprise me that people use the show to break up with someone," on-and-off host Chris Jagger told the Los Angeles Times. "We've all been there and it's hard to actually break up. So I see the show as a good thing." Of the couples who didn't have the titular change of heart, however, he said, "They'll be on the entire half-hour just ripping each other apart and they've been on really good dates with these new people, but in the end they decide to stay together. And I'll be thinking, 'What? Are you kidding me?'" The series lasted five years of riveting reality television, before ending in 2003.

In a strange but entertaining twist, MTV's "Date My Mom" invited contestants to go on dates with three separate mothers who attempt to make a case as to why their child is the best pick. It involves a lot of painfully cringeworthy moments where preppy jocks make inappropriate jokes and just downright cross the line with women twice their age. In 2021, Jezebel retroactively reviewed some of the more unhinged or uncomfortable moments — where some mothers even go so far as dancing with their offspring's potential partners. "As a teenager, I don't think you realize just how scripted and awkward and clunky it is," staff writer Ashley Reese said, with pop culture reporter Hazel Cills similarly noting, "Whoever scripted this show was just — I feel like it was a pair of 12-year-old boys."

It's safe to say that early 2000s reality television had no filter — and should probably be tucked away in a vault somewhere for good. "Date My Mom" aired from 2004 to 2006, before the network apparently decided that audiences everywhere might have seen just about everything they needed to. But if you're in for reliving the series' most surprising moments, certain YouTube compilations serve up some shocking highlights, like one contestant kissing a mom, and a mother rubbing lotion on another contestant's abs. 

Do mothers really know best? MTV seemed to think so.

Keeping with the theme of putting parents into the dating lives of their children, MTV gave us "Parental Control" from 2005 to 2010. In this seven-season series, parents choose potential matches for their son or daughter in hopes that going on a date with any of their selections will lure their child away from their current significant other. Meanwhile, the current boyfriend or girlfriend has to suffer through watching the dates onscreen alongside the parents, with the son or daughter then choosing to stay with their partner or leave them behind for one of their parents' choices. With the parents trying (and typically failing) to insert themselves into their children's tumultuous relationships, the show once gave us the infamous line, "I'd pick her too, if she wasn't dumb and ugly."

As seems to be the case with reality dating shows, the truth here is apparently stretched. Former contestant Chase Thomas, for example, recalled his experience in a Medium blog post, claiming, "The entire thing was pre-planned by the producers. It was filmed out of sequence over three days. There was no script, but we were often told what to say." Chase also alleged that contestant Klarissa's parents were not together and that her significant other was just a friend. 

In this case, Chase is not selected to ride off into the sunset with his potential new girlfriend. To catch up on "Parental Control" episodes and find out who Klarissa ultimately chooses, this MTV dating show is also available on Paramount+.

Poison singer Bret Michaels has admittedly seen his fair share of groupies in his day, but we imagine nothing compared to the ones he encountered during his tenure on the VH1 reality TV dating show "Rock of Love." 

The rocker is the show's ultimate prize for 25 single women (many half his age) who sign up to fight for their chance at love with the singer. The series premiered in 2007 and ran for three seasons, filled with exotic dancers and fan girls attempting to prove they can rock with Michaels till the end. It follows the popular premise of challenges and eliminations that dominated MTV and VH1 during the 2000s. The women on the show appear unapologetic in their pursuit of Michaels — one in particular even tattoos his name on her neck — but are entertaining nonetheless, with the network spawning the "Rock of Love: Charm School" spinoff in 2008 to follow more of their bad-girl antics.

Unfortunately, the Poison frontman's relationships with the "Rock of Love" winners never stuck in the real world. The one woman who seems to have had the most impact on the rock star is Kristi Lynn Gibson, who has been in and out of a relationship with Michaels since 1994, sharing two daughters with the "Every Rose has its Thorn" hitmaker. On Michaels' 2010 spinoff reality show "Bret Michaels: Life as I Know It," he proposes to Gibson, but they amicably calling off the engagement two years later.

Bravo created its own sub-category of dating shows when it premiered its male-seeking-male "The Bachelor"-style series "Boy Meets Boy" in 2003. The six-part show follows James, who dates 15 men in the hopes of narrowing it down to one winning partner to capture his heart. The caveat, though, is that James is unaware that half of the suitors are straight until the fourth episode. The straight men are essentially tasked with attempting to make James fall in love with them, and if they can do so without revealing their true sexuality — they will win a cash prize. Certain rules are put in place on the show to try and help contestants form deeper emotional connections, such as kissing being the limit of physical touch. 

In the end, James isn't duped after all, as he picks a gay man as his final choice. Unsurprisingly, however, the series was met with much criticism, with some arguing the ethics of its overall premise. The Advocate, for example, published a cover story at the time discussing how it would portray the LGBTQ+ community: "Initial reaction has been polarized, with one overriding question: Will this be a groundbreaking portrayal of gay romance on television or a sordid example of setting up gays as the butt of one big, degrading prank?"

Though some thought "Boy Meets Boy" exploited harmful stereotypes, others felt it demonstrated the (now obvious) fact that gay and straight men can co-exist as friends. Regardless of how viewers felt, it wasn't a hit, and the series ultimately ended after its single season wrapped.