The Biggest Reality TV Moments Of 2020

With quarantines and lockdowns taking up most of 2020, television has become a crucial part of our everyday lives. And while scripted shows and movies kept us busy for a while, there's no escape quite like reality TV. From scandals to feuds to relationship drama, reality TV has kept us sane and let us live vicariously through others from the comfort of our couches. And thank goodness for that, because we weren't really able to leave those couches much. Reality TV has been the ultimate cure for being bored in the house, bored in the house bored in 2020.

Both on and off-screen, the biggest names in reality TV have managed to keep us on our toes and keep their names in the press even during the most unprecedented year ever. So, let's take a look back at some of the biggest reality TV moments of 2020. And just a warning, during a year that has felt so long, you may just say, "There's no way that was in 2020!" We promise, this really all happened in 2020.

Not all of the biggest reality TV moments this year happened on screen. Some of the most shocking turns of events actually took place after the cameras stopped rolling. One of those moments was when longtime Vanderpump Rules cast members Stassi Schroeder and Kristin Doute got fired from the show for resurfaced racist actions. In June 2020, one of their former fellow cast members, Faith Stowers, revealed on Instagram Live that Schroeder and Doute wrongly reported her to the police for a crime she did not commit. According to Stowers, in 2018, Schroeder and Doute called the police to report her for crimes detailed in a Daily Mail article about a Black woman who was wanted for theft. The woman in the article was not Stowers, and Stowers explained that Schroeder and Doute put her in danger by wrongly calling the police on her.

After Stowers' video circulated, Schroder and Doute were fired from Vanderpump Rules after eight seasons. Shortly after, Bravo completely cut ties with Schroeder and Doute, and both women issued apologies on Instagram. Regardless, they continued to lose brand deals and endorsements.

But Schroder and Doute weren't the only two fired from Vanderpump Rules for their past racist actions in 2020. Newer cast members Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni, whose past racist tweets resurfaced, were also let go from the show.

In terms of 2020 reality TV, it didn't get much bigger than Netflix's Cheer. While it may feel like the show came out years ago, the series dropped in January 2020. Cheer followed the nationally ranked Navarro College Cheer Team as they prepared to compete in the National Cheerleading Championship in Daytona Beach. The entire series was an instant hit, and its lovable cast members shot to fame overnight. Many of them amassed over a million followers on social media shortly after the show came out. One of the show's biggest breakout stars was Jerry Harris. Harris was known for his uplifting mat talk and appeared on shows like The Ellen Degeneres Show, Today, and even he won a Critic's Choice Award since his rise to fame.

But with Harris' newfound fame also came some serious allegations. In September 2020, USA Today reported that the FBI was investigating allegations that Harris solicited sexually explicit photos and sex from a minor. Just days after this initial news broke, E! reported that Harris was arrested on a federal child pornography charge for allegedly enticing an underage boy to produce explicit videos and photos of himself. And the criminal complaint, which was obtained by E!, also stated that Harris admitted to asking one of the alleged victims to take explicit photos and videos through Snapchat, knowing the minor was only 13 years old. Since this news broke, Harris has deleted all of his social media pages.

If one thing brought us all together in 2020, it was Netflix's, Tiger King. The show is about zookeeper Joe Exotic, and focused on the small but deeply connected society of big cat conservationists in the United States. One of those conservationists is Carole Baskin, who owns Big Cat Rescue and positions herself as an animal rights activist (though some people question how different her rescue site is from Exotic's zoo). For years, she has accused Exotic of abusing and exploiting wild animals, which started their ongoing, bitter feud. At one point in the show, Exotic goes so far as alleging that Baskin murdered her second husband, Don Lewis, who has been missing since May 1997. Fans online quickly flooded Twitter wondering if Baskin fed her husband to the tigers and if she did it for the money.

While we never got clear answers on exactly what went down between Baskin and Lewis, Baskin quickly became a viral internet sensation from the Netflix show. So much so, that the big-cat lover-turned-reality TV star was cast on season 29 of Dancing With The Stars. Baskin danced to cat-themed songs like "Eye of the Tiger" and "What's New Pussycat," but unfortunately, she was eliminated after only two weeks on the show. But regardless, from Tiger King scandals to Dancing With The Stars performances, Baskin has without a doubt been one of the biggest, most talked-about reality stars of this year.

Like most other TV and film sets, The Bachelor franchise faced quite a few COVID-related setbacks when trying to film this year's season of The Bachelorette. Clare Crawley was particularly frustrated by the delays because she was ready to find love. They were supposed to start shooting right around the time of the lockdowns, so Crawley's list of suitors had already been released. Per ET, This gave both Crawley and the men time to look each other up on social media and even communicate before the show started filming, a Bachelor franchise first.

Once they figured out a safe way to film the season at a hotel in Palm Springs, Crawley wasted no time finding "the one." After meeting Dale Moss on the first night, Crawley said she "just met [her] husband," and from there, it was the Crawley and Moss show. Crawley ended up quitting the show after a few episodes to leave with Moss, and they had to replace her with a new Bachelorette, Tayshia Adams. This was another first for Bachelor Nation, and fans wondered if Crawley and Moss had contact before filming. On multiple occasions, Crawley, who lost her father to cancer, declared, "I swear on my dad's grave" that she didn't have contact with Moss beforehand. Crawley and Moss went on to get engaged and are currently still together. We'll see how long this Bachelor relationship lasts — hopefully, it's for the long haul!

The Masked Singer has quickly become one of the biggest reality shows over the past couple of years. On the show, celebrities sing while wearing head-to-toe costumes and masks to conceal their identities. The judges try to guess who the celeb is solely by their singing voice and some vague clues. Over the show's seasons, we've seen some huge stars take off their masks like Patti LaBelle, T-Pain, Rob Gronkowski, Raven Symoné, Seal, and more. And to ensure that the show works and celebs' identities are protected until they are voted off, The Masked Singer is very strict about their security and non-disclosure agreements.

But on season four of the beloved reality competition show, one of the stars didn't seem to be worried about the integrity of the show or their no-nonsense format. In possibly the most shocking Masked Singer moment ever, the Gremlin decided to take off his mask before being voted off. Typically masks are only removed after the panelists and virtual audience have a chance to vote for their favorite performance. Per People, actor Mickey Rourke was revealed under the mask, even after the show's host, Nick Cannon, begged him to keep it on. This moment marked the first time that one of the stars broke format and self-eliminated prematurely. Rourke joked that he only agreed to join the show because he "was just in the neighborhood." It looks like he was over it after only one performance.