Stars You Forgot Once Had Their Own Reality Shows
When you think about reality TV, a few famous families probably come to mind — the Kardashians, the Osbournes, the Chrisleys, and so on. However, there have been many other stars who have tried to break into the business of showing all of us their personal business.
In fact, many fans may have forgotten that one of the Backstreet Boys had not one, but two reality shows. "For me, it was an opportunity to show the world who I am now versus, you know, what I was before," Nick Carter told TooFab. Even those who aren't in the entertainment industry have gotten involved: Professional skateboarder Ryan Sheckler, football player Eric Decker, and superstar wide receiver Terrell Owens all had their own unscripted series at one point.
Sure, everybody's heard of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," but over the years, it's been pretty hard to keep up with all the other ones out there. Here are just a few of the stars you forgot once had their own reality shows.
Ryan Lochte once wanted everyone to know what he was up to after the 2012 Olympics
In case you ever found yourself wondering about what Ryan Lochte might do, you're in luck. The swimmer had a reality show in 2013 called "What Would Ryan Lochte Do?"
After competing in the 2012 Olympics in London, the athlete hoped to keep competitive swimming at the top of viewers' minds. "One of the main reasons why I wanted to do this is because every four years, the Olympics, the most talked-about sport is swimming, and after that people just forget about the sport," he told Extra. Lochte went on to say that the series would bring his "love" for the sport "to everyone's living room."
Apparently, it didn't make it to everyone's living room. In a 2017 interview with ESPN, Lochte's now-wife, Kayla Rae Reed, shared that she had not seen her significant other's reality series and doesn't plan on changing that. "It's fake," she told the publication.
According to TVLine, the premiere only had 800,000 viewers interested, and from there, the audience dropped off. E! pulled the plug after Season 1, but according to the outlet, they hope to one day work with the Olympian again.
Kevin Jonas broke into reality TV during his break from the band
When the Jonas Brothers split up, fans were devastated — but Kevin Jonas was secretly relieved. He was excited to be able to spend more time at home with his new wife instead of touring all over the world. Yet, when he was offered to do a reality show, he had no hesitations. "For the first time, it was like, this is my thing. I felt like I could really do well in this environment," he admitted in the documentary "Chasing Happiness."
In 2012, "Married to Jonas" aired for the very first time on E!. The series introduced fans to Kevin's wife, Danielle Jonas, and depicted what their life was like in New Jersey. And, of course, it featured a few reluctant pop ins by the other two members of the Jonas Brothers. "Joe and Nick didn't want to have anything to do with it," Kevin recalled in "Chasing Happiness." "They were kind of forced to do the show."
"Married to Jonas" ended in 2013 after two seasons. A few years later, the brothers became a band once again, and they probably won't be getting back into the world of reality TV. "I think the band might break up again if we had a reality show," Nick Jonas later said on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
Tori Spelling spent a lot of her time on reality TV shows
Tori Spelling began taking over reality TV all the way back in 2007, believe it or not. What started as a series all about owning a bed and breakfast with her husband quickly turned into "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood." Each week, fans tuned in to Oxygen to see what this power couple was up to. Between their growing family, book deals, her jewelry line, clothing boutique, and a million other things, there was always something exciting happening in Spelling's life. And it sounds like she wouldn't have it any other way. "I thrive in chaos," the "Beverly Hills, 90210" actor told "The Early Show."
After six seasons, Spelling's husband, Dean McDermott, admitted to cheating on her. A separate reality series called "True Tori" ensued as the two worked on fixing their relationship together. "It was about me expressing myself at a moment in time where I felt like I wanted to have a voice and a voice for women everywhere who were going through what I was going through at the time," she later shared on her podcast "90210MG." She went on to call the second season "just silly" and expressed that they should've stopped after the first season.
While she may regret the second chapter of "True Tori," Spelling hasn't sworn off the genre entirely. She has since appeared on several other reality shows, including "The Masked Singer" and "RuPaul's Drag Race."
Ice-T wanted everyone to see his special lady
Behind the scenes, Ice-T and wife Coco Austin don't bring the drama — and that's exactly why they wanted to do a reality show. "We told [the producers] we don't fight," the "Law & Order: SVU" star explained in an interview with CBS. "We're not going to let you make us stage an argument and stuff. We don't do that. We don't throw drinks at each other's face." The couple was set on making their series much differently than anything else anybody had ever seen before.
In 2011, "Ice Loves Coco" debuted on E!. The series depicted what life was like for the couple inside their New Jersey home — and the originality of it stuck. The show was renewed for two more seasons. "We didn't know people would like that," Ice-T later admitted to Digital Spy.
By Season 3, they both became worried that they would start boring their audiences with their same day-to-day routine. Instead of looking for ways to keep their life exciting, they decided to stop shooting the show altogether in order to stay true to themselves. "Trying to entertain people with your life is dangerous. It's hard to do for a long period of time," Ice-T told the HuffPost. "So we got in and got out."
Hulk Hogan, the family man
In 2005, the world got its first glimpse of what it was like to be a WWE megastar like Hulk Hogan. While some might've believed Hogan to be an intimidating and over-the-top character in real life, this wrestler wanted to do a reality show to prove that this wasn't the case. "This Hulk Hogan thing is just a job," he said in an early episode of his series "Hogan Knows Best" (via EW). "People don't realize that I go to the soccer games, play frisbee on the beach, watch 'The Lion King' and start crying."
For four seasons, fans watched Hogan raise his two teenagers alongside his wife. However, controversy began after his son was involved in a high-speed car crash and his relationship with his wife ended. In 2007, VH1 decided to cancel the series. "After the show, you know, I kind of hit rock bottom," Hogan later admitted on "Oprah: Where Are They Now?."
It wasn't until he was on a trip with his family that he realized how much his reality show had impacted those around him. "Some kid ran up and hugged me. He goes, 'I grew up watching you. I didn't have a dad, and you're like a dad to me,'" Hogan explained to Oprah Winfrey. "There was another person that said, 'Hey, Hulk! We love you!'" Hogan has since gone from the reality TV world to the biopic world: In 2019, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Chris Hemsworth would be playing the wrestler in a new Netflix movie.
Jillian Michaels showed us all that she does a lot more than just exercise
It wasn't Jillian Michaels' idea to have her own reality show. "It's funny," she said on "Today." "My lawyer actually suggested it."
As "The Biggest Loser" star recalled on the morning chat show, one day, Michaels was regaling her attorney with a story about an eventful trip to the post office involving a bunch of chickens her then-partner Heidi Rhoades had ordered. Her lawyer thought it would make the perfect reality show. Though she was reluctant at first, she eventually agreed. Along with Rhoades and their two kids — and the help of E! Network, of course — she began shooting her own reality show in 2016 called "Just Jillian."
Aside from all the out-of-the-ordinary moments that seemed to always make their way into Michaels' life, this trainer felt it was important to show a same sex relationship on reality TV. "We're just like any other family," she told E! News. "We have the same issues, we deal with the same stuff, we have a lot of fun."
In the season finale, the professional trainer popped the question to her partner. However, that's when the series officially ended, and their relationship ended shortly after that.
Bristol Palin's experience on reality TV was quite a tripp
While Sarah Palin was getting a lot of buzz on the campaign trail in 2008, her daughter was stealing some of the spotlight. As a teen mom, Bristol Palin's life received a lot of attention — and, unfortunately, it wasn't all positive. "When people are talking poorly about me, I think that just gives me more motivation to want to do more and want to speak up even louder," she told "Good Morning America." So it should only make sense that she signed on for her own reality show in 2012.
Alongside her toddler Tripp, viewers tuned in to see Bristol star in the Lifetime series "Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp." The show drew even more attention to the Palin family, but not enough to keep it on air. Within its first season, it had lost its coveted primetime slot and eventually dwindled off of the air. However, her reality career didn't actually end there.
Five years later, she found herself starring on Season 7 of MTV's "Teen Mom OG." Yet, that was a short lived show for her, as well. "teen mom OG wasn't a fit for me," she told her Instagram followers. "it took away my peace." Now it seems safe to say we won't see pieces of Bristol's personal life on television again anytime soon.
Maria Menounos eventually chose to be a reporter over a reality TV star
After calling it quits as an entertainment reporter on "Extra," Maria Menounos opted to dish on something completely different — her own life. In 2014, her series "Chasing Maria Menounos" aired on Oxygen. "We'd been approached a number of times over the years to do a reality show," she explained to the New York Daily News at the time. "I was apprehensive. I didn't see how, with everything else I'm doing, I could fit it in." She barely had enough time to see her own family. However, after some thinking, she realized combining television with her personal life could allow her to spend more time with them. Yet, that didn't last long.
Menounos' time on reality TV lasted for only a single season before it was announced she would be coming back to entertainment news. Two months after the premiere of "Chasing Maria Menounos," she signed an overall deal with E! Network. "To be able to host, report and produce for an entire network, one that spans globally no less, is thrilling," she told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. "I'm excited to exercise my talents on both sides of the camera." She's produced and appeared on an endless amount of television programs since.
Joseph Rev Run Simmons showed us all how he ran his house
No one could ever forget the hip hop group Run-DMC, but some may have forgotten that Joseph Simmons — a.k.a. Reverend Run — once had his own show on MTV. "Run's House" ran for six seasons once he began giving fans a glimpse into his life in 2005. With his wife by his side, he showed the world how he used his knowledge as a reverend to raise his five kids. He influenced a lot of viewers, too, as they tuned in to MTV each week. "Rappers, the entertainment industry, people that usually don't go to church," he said on "The Big J Show." "So it's an awesome responsibility, but yet it's so fulfilling, so I'm very thankful that God has given me a chance to do this."
Yet, as we watched his kids grow up on screen, it was eventually time for them to move out of Run's house. By 2009, the series officially wrapped up its time on MTV. When asked if he would ever want to do a reboot of "Run's House," the reverend wasn't so sure since his kids now live all over the country. "It's not Run's house anymore," he told "Strahan, Sara & Keke." "They're in their own house."
Dina Lohan isn't just Lindsay Lohan's mom
Practically everybody knows about Lindsay Lohan, but how could we forget the time her mom had her own reality show? In 2008, "Living Lohan" first aired on E!, introducing the world to momager Dina Lohan and her youngest daughter Ali Lohan — without the most famous sister in sight.
Though the series depicted Dina trying to help her teenage kid break into show business, there was a different reason she decided to jump into reality TV: The media had been picking apart her family for far too long. "The past two years have just been ridiculous what they've said about, you know, my daughter and my family," Dina told CosmoGirl prior to the premiere. "My back was against the wall, really, and I said, 'Come into my home, judge us, and then just leave us alone.'"
After nine episodes, the world did. "Living Lohan" never got the green light for a second season. Though some fans speculated that the series had been cancelled by the network, the momager claimed it was the media's fault her family would never again appear on E!. "They wanted us to do these crazy things, like my son cheating on his girlfriend, me faking a pregnancy. I was like, 'No, no, no!'" Dina told the New York Post, according to Female First. "They had ideas that weren't conducive to our ideas."
Travis Barker was on reality TV long before the Kardashians
Long before Travis Barker fell for Kourtney Kardashian, you probably forgot that he had a reality show of his own. In 2005 — the same year that his band Blink-182 took a break — this rocker's life ended up on MTV via the series "Meet the Barkers."
While many were already familiar with the famous drummer, the show documented what his life was like behind-the-scenes raising three kids with his wife, former Miss USA Shanna Moakler. The two were used to being in the spotlight, but having people in their personal life was a completely different story. "Having a reality show meant, like, there was, like, 50 cameras in our house," Barker said years later on "Kocktails with Khloé." "And there was, like, camera crews living with us."
The crew captured everything — the ups and downs of his relationship and every argument the couple had — and the series ended after Season 2 when Barker and Moakler decided to split. "I know that I gave it 100 percent, and I really tried," his ex-wife told People at the time. "Where it's going to go I have no idea."
Kendra Wilkinson sure made a career out of reality TV
You certainly recall "The Girls Next Door," the E! reality series that followed Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's life at the Playboy Mansion with Kendra Wilkinson, Holly Madison, and Bridget Marquardt. But do you remember Wilkinson's other reality programs?
Her first solo adventure was "Kendra," which premiered in 2009. From there, she began starring alongside her husband, Hank Baskett, on We TV's "Kendra On Top." It seemed that reality TV truly was her calling — until her husband's cheating scandal began to be the star of the show. "I didn't know what to do," she explained on an episode of "For Real: The Story of Reality TV." "I didn't know to turn the cameras off or run the other way or continue to do what I love to do."
After six years of starring on "Kendra On Top," the couple officially call it quits in 2018. "Me and my ex-husband have so much love for ours, that we chose to shut the cameras off during our divorce," Wilkinson shared on "For Real." After spending over a decade sharing her life on-screen, she now lives it quietly behind the scenes. "I'm very open and unfiltered, which is good for TV," she said. "But it definitely caused a lot of heartache and a lot of, you know, a lot of problems."
Ashlee Simpson has come full circle with her reality series
Jessica Simpson's reality show is, of course, the stuff of reality TV legend, but don't forget her younger sister once had her own series, too. In 2004, "The Ashlee Simpson Show" gave us all an inside look into Ashlee Simpson's life and what it took to make her very first album.
The series ended after two seasons on MTV, with Ashlee hitting the road for her very first tour. After that, she remained relatively private and away from the public eye — until 2018. "When I did my first show, reality was different," she explained to W Magazine. "It's different that I have my own family now, and back then I was just a young girl in my punk pants and going through heartbreak and all those kind of things. This time, I'm getting to do a project with my husband." As she and Evan Ross worked on an album together, their reality series "Ashlee+Evan" was born.
Six episodes later, Ashlee called it quits on her second reality show. She and her husband wanted to move onto new projects and told Us Weekly that they "didn't want to have our kids on TV for too long." Even so, Ashlee seems to enjoy the world of reality TV, so maybe we'll be watching her on our small screens again soon.