Reality Show Judges Who Disappeared From The Spotlight

Since the turn of the millennium, we have seen hundreds upon hundreds of reality shows hit the airwaves, creating new stars and providing a platform for old ones to shine. And while there are many genres of reality TV — from docusoaps to court shows to home renovation series — the reality competition shows are some of the most popular. For every long-lasting "Dancing with the Stars" or "Survivor," there have been countless other programs that have come and gone. You are not alone if you have no recollection of series such as "Shipping Wars," "America's Worst Driver," or "Bridalplasty," to name a few.

Many of these shows have garnered attention for their casts, at least temporarily. This includes not only the contestants but also the hosts and judges. And while some of these people have gone on to maintain or grow their fame, others have faded back into obscurity. The vast majority of reality competition show judges are incredibly successful at what they do, but not all of them have stayed in front of the limelight. The judges on our list disappeared from the spotlight, either by choice or by circumstance, but we wanted to check in on their current whereabouts. Here is a selection of reality show judges who are now working largely behind-the-scenes of Hollywood or entirely outside of the entertainment business.

America's Next Top Model pedaled through many, many judges over its two dozen seasons. These included supermodels like Twiggy, Janice Dickinson, Paulina Porizkova, and Kimora Lee Simmons, as well as fashion industry insiders like André Leon Talley and Kelly Cutrone. Nolé Marin is one insider who had a short run on the show, appearing as a judge for Seasons (or "cycles" as the show called them) 3 and 4. VH1 placed Marin — who at one time owned AIM Model Management — at number nine on their 2014 ranking of "ANTM" judges. Marin has largely faded from the public eye in the years since he was fired from the show.

That is not to say that we never hear about Marin. Over the years, he has made the news for less-than-ideal reasons, such as lawsuits and financial issues. In 2010, Marin was sued for sexually harassing a male model, per The Cut. Six years later, he was sued by multiple people who worked for him for not paying them money they were owed, per New York Daily News. In 2017, Marin again made the news when he filed for bankruptcy. "He screwed them once — and now he screwed them again," attorney Paul Liggieri, who represents models owed wages from Marin, told The New York Post. "Nole thinks he's going to sail off into the sunset, but in the court of public opinion, his boat has already been sunk."

Like Chris Robison, Robert Oermann was a one-and-done "Nashville Star" judge, appearing only in the first season before being replaced by a rotating panel of judges. While he may not be a household name for most of us, Oermann is well-known in country music circles for his journalistic work covering the genre. His casting made sense, but the show never held onto its judges for very long. The longest running judge on "Nashville Star" was Anastasia Brown, who lasted three seasons. Oermann has made his career covering music from the sidelines, not being center stage, so he went back to a lower profile after his stint on the show.

Oermann has continued to make occasional appearances on television, but nothing big enough to bring any real attention to himself. For example, he was a talking head in two 2020 biographical features, "The Taylor Swift Story: Dare to Dream" and "A&E Biography: Kenny Rogers." He has also been a featured expert in pieces on Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw, amongst others. In 2018, Oermann was honored at the Music Row Storytellers awards, per The Tennessean. "Robert has been such an asset to our business because he's at everything and he observes from a different post than ordinary people," Grand Ole Opry staple Jeannie Seely told the outlet. "He comes away with a different take than the rest of us...History will remember the things he wrote." They may remember his writing, but his stint on "Nashville Star" will be a tiny footnote.

Many of "American Idol's" judges — from Katy Perry to Lionel Richie to Paula Abdul have been superstars in their own right, long before joining the series. Others, like Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson, have become household names because of the show. Kara DioGuardi is definitely the least famous judge the show has ever seen and, though she is incredibly accomplished, a lot of people have probably forgotten about her by now. Her firing from the show came as a big shock to her, per her book "A Helluva High Note," but she never seemed to gel with the rest of the gang and, by her own admission, was especially unliked by Cowell (via Rolling Stone).

DioGuardi was only on "American Idol' for Seasons 8 and 9, and even she admits that her stint on the show did not work. "I was in a foreign place, speaking a foreign language with no translator. I could never seem to let the real me out," she wrote. After the show, DioGuardi had a one-season gig on the songwriting show "Platinum Hit" and briefly appeared on Broadway in "Chicago," but eventually faded from the spotlight. For the most part, DioGuardi's success has been behind the scenes anyway, so she went back to what she knew — songwriting, producing, and running her companies, Arthouse Publishing/Records and Briidge. She also taught at Berklee College of Music, per The Hollywood Reporter, and is on the board of a cannabis company, per Forbes.

"RuPaul's Drag Race" is still thriving and its cast of judges — RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Ross Matthews, and Carson Kressley — work so well together that it is easy to forget they were not the original lineup. In fact, you would not be alone if you forgot the name Merle Ginsberg, since she has all but left the limelight and was not even on the show when it really blew up into what it is now. Ginsberg was a permanent judge on the first two seasons, and then returned as a guest in Season 7. According to Out, the plan had always been for Visage to join the show, so once she freed up, Ginsberg got booted.

Ginsberg is a fashion and entertainment journalist who has worked for Rolling Stone, Women's Wear Daily, Harper's Bazaar, The Hollywood Reporter, and more. She's also worked as a ghostwriter, contributing to books such as Paris Hilton's "Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose." She was also once a reality contestant herself, on "Launch My Line," but if you know her at all, it's probably for "Drag Race." She did an interview in a 2021 episode of a web series called "Exposed," but she appears to have ditched her onscreen journey for the most part. As of this writing, she's the style editor for Los Angeles Magazine. 

For as famous as she herself is, Ellen DeGeneres did not attract any super famous names when she created her reality show "Ellen's Design Challenge" back in 2015. The show — which should not be confused with the very similar series "Ellen's Next Great Designer" — aired for just two short seasons (15 episodes total) on HGTV. Though every judge was accomplished, there were no household names like a Nate Berkus or David Bromstad. Designer Cliff Fong became a judge in Season 2, replacing then-editor-in-chief of Dwell, Amanda Dameron, a Season 1 judge. Christiane Lemieux, executive creative director for Wayfair, was the second judge for both seasons. All of them have now faded back into relative obscurity after their 15 minutes of dim spotlight.

Neither Dameron nor Lemieux appear to have any other screen credits aside from "Ellen's Design Challenge," while Fong has only one: a 2021 episode of "Point of View: A Designer Profile." Fong is still an in-demand designer, working for celebrities like Jason Biggs and Ryan Murphy, not to mention DeGeneres herself, per Artful Living. Lemieux has founded numerous companies, including her newest one, LEMIEUX ET CIE, which sells home furnishings. She published her third book in 2020 and contributes to all the big home magazines. It is unclear what Dameron is up to, but her LinkedIn indicates she left Dwell in 2017 and last worked at Dotdash Meredith, up until March 2022.

Here's the thing about "Skating with Celebrities" — the Fox reality show that paired famous people with pro skaters — some of the skaters were far more famous than the so-called celebrities. On the skater side we had stars like Nancy Kerrigan and Kurt Browning, and the contestants were people like Debbie Gibson and Kristy Swanson, both of whom haven't been truly famous in decades. Two of the judges were relatively known as well — skating legends Scott Hamilton and Dorothy Hamill — while the other two were not. Skating coach John Nicks and writer/analyst Mark Lund completed the panel, and both of them have since disappeared from the spotlight.

"Skating with Celebrities" was a one-season show based on its British counterpart, the far more successful "Dancing on Ice." It is one of Hicks' only two credits, as he never seemed to be searching for the limelight, but Lund made a real play for TV fame. Lund has written, produced, and directed a handful of projects, and had small, often uncredited roles in a handful more. Since "Skating with Celebrities," he has only had a few TV appearances as himself, including a "30 for 30" about Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. His LinkedIn shows that he has had a number of other jobs since his time on reality TV, including a stint as the Drama Director at Becker College and two and a half years in marketing for Gannett.

It is almost shocking to think about how a show as shallow as "Are You Hot? The Search for America's Sexiest People" made the airwaves, but then again, we as a culture have also produced "Temptation Island," "Joe Millionaire," and "The Swan," so the bar is quite low. Still, "Are You Hot?" was a pretty weak premise — scour the country for its sexiest people and then dissect them on national TV losing harsh comments and a laser pointer. Grazia called it one of "the most offensive reality shows ever" and audiences did not love it either, as evidenced by its 1.5 rating on IMDb. "You don't have to sit through a bad version of some old Aretha Franklin song; you just see good-looking people either validated as gorgeous or cut to shreds as posers," producer Mike Fleiss told Entertainment Weekly.

That shredding most often came from judge Lorenzo Lamas, famous for acting in TV series such as "Falcon Crest" and "Renegade," and his laser pointer. Model Rachel Hunter was another coach, and she was slightly nicer than Lamas, though the entire premise of the show requires some meanness. Randolph Duke was the third and least famous coach, and he has all but disappeared from the spotlight save for some fashion commentator gigs. The CFDA member works in fashion and has multiple businesses, including a New Mexico store called THE DUKE and I and a design company, Randolph Duke Couture.