Reality TV Scandals We Didn't See Coming

Celebrity scandals can spread faster than the common cold, and fortunately for those of us who can't help but love drama, the vast world of reality TV offers no shortage of material chock-full of sordid secrets and improper affairs. Though viewers have probably come to expect the unexpected on their favorite hit shows, there have still been major on-screen debacles that managed to catch audiences off guard, though it did nothing to boost public opinion ... or one's faith in humanity.

From legal woes and nasty language to co-star kerfuffles and love gone terribly, terribly wrong, these small-screen chefs, bachelors, hunters, house flippers, and more turned regularly scheduled programming upside down. Their unthinkable actions made things just a little too real for everybody, leading to fan outrage, sour ratings, and even some trouble with the government. Read on to learn all about the reality TV scandals that no one saw coming.

Perhaps because of its stark contrast to its carefully crafted, wholesome image, the scandal that rocked the Duggar family in May 2015 has proven to be an onion of many awful layers. 

It all began when In Touch published a 2006 police report detailing allegations from 2002, when a then 14-year-old Josh Duggar allegedly molested five female minors — who were later revealed to be four of his sisters and one family friend. A deeper investigation revealed what looked like cover-up attempts by parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. Within months, TLC's 19 Kids and Counting — the giant family's primary meal ticket — was cancelled. That wasn't the last of Josh's troubles. He was also exposed in the Ashley Madison hack, prompting him to publicly admit to years of lying and infidelity.

By December 2015, the eldest children of the Duggar clan had returned to TLC with a new series called Counting On. In one way or another, mostly every member of the family has returned for that series, except Josh. 

Apparently watching Paula Deen make sugar-coated, deep-fried butter balls wasn't popular enough for America to forgive the Southern chef for her testimony during a racial and sexual discrimination lawsuit. Deen admitted in a deposition that she sometimes used the n-word. Even though she won the suit, the heat from the controversy was too much for the Food Network, who kicked her out of the kitchen. The controversy didn't sit well with her business partners, either. Forbes reported that Smithfield Foods, Target, and Walmart, with whom Deen had endorsement deals that earned her $17 million at the height of her popularity, all dumped her.

But she didn't go quietly. According to Eater, Deen acquired the rights to all of her old Food Network shows and turned them into a subscription-based online network. On top of that, she launched a clothing line, competed on Dancing with the Stars, and attempted to return to cooking on TV with a new syndicated series called Positively Paula. As of this writing, Deen has created dozens of episodes, but the show has yet to find a permanent home on cable. Maybe it needs more butter?

NBC's reality show weight loss competition, The Biggest Loser, weathered many scandals during its 17-season run, including the relatively obvious one that — Gasp! — there may have been some behind-the-scenes funny business going on in order to get contestants to drop weight faster. But we doubt anyone would have guessed that one of the biggest shocks — and one that prompted longtime trainer Jillian Michaels to leave the show — would be a contestant losing too much weight.

Season 15 winner Rachel Frederickson shocked the trainers and viewers when she returned for the finale having shed a startling 155 pounds. "I was immediately concerned and wondering how this happened, how no one had said something to me, and how ... this had fallen through those the checks and balances that had been put into place," Michaels told HuffPost Live.

Michaels' exit signaled something of a beginning of the end for the show, which limped along for another two seasons despite a steady decline in ratings and more former contestants voicing concerns over their experiences.

Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller went to prison for fraud related to a bankruptcy filing. Miller's demise was bunk bookkeeping, or more specifically, "allegedly hiding about $775,000 in income to gain better terms to restructure her debt" and possibly "bringing $120,000 worth of Australian currency into the country without reporting it," according to ABC News.

"I'm going to pretend I'm in a movie and we're on set and I'm there for 10 months and that's the way it's going to be," Miller told ABC of her one year and one day sentence behind bars, which began in July 2017. She also said she'd spend her time in the clink "reading, writing and learning Spanish," which is lovely for her, but even more terrifying for future students who will likely need to use Google Translate when Miller starts screaming, "Apunta tus dedos de los pies!" at them.

The Bachelor has a rich history of controversies, most of which aren't difficult to fathom considering they almost all involve drinking shenanigans, infidelity, or hookups among cast members, but how about when a cast member is accused of hooking up with the show's staff? Didn't see that curveball coming, huh? 

Host Chris Harrison went in hard on the alleged rule-breaker, Rozlyn Papa, spelling out the details of the forbidden tryst in an interview with People. "She had a physical relationship with a producer on our show. You cannot do that. There is no gray area ... Other girls on the show saw it. The producer confessed more than once and to more than one person. I cannot make it any clearer." 

Papa denied any such relationship, telling Us Weekly, "There was no making out! Unfortunately, I did not get any out of this big sex scandal that supposedly happened. If I had known that I was going to get accused of it, maybe I would have gone for it!" Citing her confidentiality agreement, Papa did not elaborate on what, if anything, occurred between her and the producer, but she did say, "It's a TV show and there's a lot more to that story and it has nothing to do with sex." 

Actually, it's The Bachelor and that's...pretty much always the whole story. 

At its best, Survivor is a game of, well...survival. At its worst, it's a game of masterful deception and gameplay, pitting conniving tribe members against one another in a winner-take-all competition that sometimes brings out the worst in people. One of those people was Jon Dalton (aka Jonny Fairplay), the contestant who infamously lied about his grandmother's death in order to drum up sympathy to shield him from a possible ouster during Survivor: Pearl Islands.

The ruse worked, sort of, in the sense that most of the cast seemed to believed him. Dalton made it all the way to the final four, ultimately placing third. His move also solidified him as one of the greatest reality TV villains of all time, a title he claims he invented.

Not everyone was so impressed with his shrewd antics. Longtime Survivor host Jeff Probst told Entertainment Weekly that Dalton is "despicable," yet also "a producer's dream." So, it's a love/hate thing, as in, hate the guy, but love that sweet TV money? Got it. 

It's tough to imagine Chip and Joanna Gaines, the charmingly wholesome stars of Fixer Upper, being tangled up in anything more scandalous than, say, using a brand new sliding barn door for a master bath ensuite instead of a reclaimed one. But in 2017, Chip's former business partners, John L. Lewis and Richard L. Clark — the ones with whom he founded Magnolia Realty — sued him for fraud.

According to The Waco Tribune-Herald, Chip allegedly bought them out of the business for $2,500 each, just two days before the announcement that HGTV had picked up the show. Magnolia Realty ballooned into Magnolia everything, leaving Chip's former partners feeling left out. They sought $1 million in damages from Chip, "Magnolia Realty; Scripps Networks, the company that owns HGTV; and High Noon Productions, the company that produces Fixer Upper."

As of this writing, the legal action is still pending. Chip responded with a tweet: "Fyi: Ive had the same cell # 15 yrs.. same email for 20 yrs. No one called or emailed? 4 years later 'friends' reach out via lawsuit.. Humm." (Expert clap back.) Meanwhile, fans are mourning the Gaines' decision to end the home reno series, but we're sure they'll have the popcorn ready as the unexpected drama surrounding Magnolia Realty continues to unfold in the headlines. (Yes, the bowl will be made of shiplap.)  

There have been so many failed marriages on A&E's controversial reality show Married at First Sight, that the network should probably change the name of the show to Countdown to Inevitable Divorce. The series does exactly what the title says — pairs two strangers who marry the day they meet — and while there clearly weren't high expectations for marriages that took as much thought as grabbing a candy bar in the checkout line, nobody anticipated what happened with Season 2 newlyweds Jessica Castro and Ryan De Nino.

According to the New York Post, Castro and De Nino married in December 2014 and made it all the way to February 2015 before throwing in the towel. Why? Castro says her husband threatened to kill her and her entire family. De Nino didn't outright deny the accusations. Instead, he posted the protection from abuse petition Castro filed against him to Instagram and wrote that he was "disgusted." In Touch reported that a paralegal representing De Nino in the divorce claimed he "threw a tantrum" during a meeting and "became even more violent" to the point where others came in to check on the paralegal's safety. 

De Nino apologized to Castro at the reunion show (via ABC News), saying: "I am sorry. No matter what, it's unacceptable [to speak to you the way I did] and as a man I need to take ownership of that."

Scandals that emerged from The Bachelor include, but are not limited to: contestants who hid criminal backgrounds; contestants who hid acting aspirations; and a serious allegation of sexual misconduct (that was only ever dubiously cleared). But those all pale in comparison to the fatal accident caused by Chris Soules, who starred as the titular rose-presenter for season 19.

Soules was driving around his home state of Iowa in April 2017 when he "rear-ended 66-year-old Kenneth Mosher's tractor trailer," according to E! News. Mosher later died from his injuries. Initial reports stated that Soules fled the scene of the accident and was possibly driving impaired. However, his attorneys argued that while Soules did not remain at the scene until police arrived, he "contacted law enforcement immediately" and "attempted to resuscitate Mr. Mosher and remained on the scene with him until emergency medical personnel arrived."

Soules initially faced felony charges and up to five years in prison (per Us Weekly), but he struck a deal with prosecutors in November 2018, pleading down to "the lesser-included offense of Information and Aid – Leaving the Scene of a Personal Injury Accident." He could still be looking at up to two years in jail and fines as high as $6,250. As of this writing, Soules is still awaiting sentencing.

It gets so real on The Real Housewives of Atlanta that the drama went from shade-throwing to physical smackdown, thanks to volatile cast member Porsha Williams' attack on series antagonist Kenya Moore during the season six reunion show. But even with the expectation that blows could be thrown at any time, fans of the southern-set spinoff probably didn't expect Phaedra Parks, long known as one of the least dramatic cast members, to cook up the scandalous rumor that eventually sent her packing from the show for good three years later.  

During another explosive reunion showdown (via E! News), Williams finally revealed that Parks was the source of the rumor that Williams repeated earlier in the season: that castmate Kandi Burruss and her husband Todd Tucker planned to "drug and rape" Williams. In her own curiously weak defense, Parks (who is a lawyer, no less), merely said she "didn't remember" saying that. The rest of the cast wasn't having it, and they reportedly told producer Andy Cohen (via E! News) that they no longer "wanted to have anything to do with her." Bravo subsequently canned Parks.

Perhaps the most relevant commentary on the salacious scandal — aside from Burruss' now classic "The Lies!" GIF — came from castmate Cynthia Bailey, who said, "We have all said a lot of reckless stuff, but I felt like, at that point, when it was even implied ... that's when s**t went way too far."

USA's description of Chrisley Knows Best dubbed multimillionaire real estate developer Todd Chrisley's family as "a picture-perfect Southern clan who have everything money can buy." Hopefully, this also includes some pretty good lawyers, because he and wife Julie Chrisley found themselves in hot water in August 2019.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced at the time that the reality TV couple and their accountant, Peter Tarantino, had been indicted on "multiple counts of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion." According to The New York Times, these three "allegedly took steps to obstruct IRS collection efforts" by "hiding income" and "lying to third parties about tax returns," and reportedly failed to file income tax returns between 2013 and 2016. The Chrisleys were also accused of fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars worth of loans through falsified personal financial statements and bank statements. In addition to denying the allegations, the pair's lawyers claimed the indictment was a result of documents fabricated by a disgruntled former employee. The couple has pleaded not guilty.

Meanwhile, estranged daughter Lindsie has since reportedly accused both her father and brother Chase of attempted extortion, claiming that they "threatened to release [her] sex tape if she didn't lie about a certain 'incident'" (via TMZ). The incident in question is believed to be related to the Chrisleys tax evasion case.