rating reality tv shows as someone who watches... a lot of it 📺🌴💋
rounding up all the (many) reality shows i've watched on netflix and telling you which ones i think are worth your time
love island usa is BACK and although i am mostly very bored by this season and VERY OVER huda’s antics, i do loooooove a reality tv moment! it’s even better when so many of us are watching the same thing at the same time, truly my tiktok algorithm has never hit harder. (i need chellierra and nicolandria ASAP!!!)
A N Y W A Y
as a girlie who SAYS she doesn’t watch much tv but truly just doesn’t watch PRESTIGE tv, i’m here to round up all of the reality shows i’ve watched and give you my thoughts. this is the netflix edition because there are already so many shows here to talk about?!??
would LOVE to hear your faves, and to know of any gems i’m missing, and see if you agree on my skippable shows! that comment box is waiting for ya!
here are my rankings + reviews of netflix reality tv shows:
🤩 FIVE STAR FAVORITES:
aka these are my ISH i am fully INVESTED
netflix / dating / 6 seasons
On the shores of paradise, gorgeous singles meet and mingle. But there’s a twist. To win an enticing grand prize, they’ll have to give up sex.
on the surface, this seems silly and just all about hot people wanting to bone, but then they start doing deeper inner work and it gets so good while still, yes, being about hot people wanting to bone, but WITH HEART AND GROWTH. i love it so much. so many of these humans reappear on other netflix shows and it makes me happy.
netflix / competition / 10 episodes
Netflix reality stars duke it out in hair-raising physical challenges and scheme to avoid elimination to win $250K in this adventurous competition show.
this show was made in a lab for me!!! previous netflix show stars, a mix of drama and competition and voting and flirting, a wheel that randomly eliminates someone each night? put it in my VEINS. i want many more seasons!
netflix / competition / 2 seasons
Twelve players complete challenges while trying to identify the one among them who's sabotaging their missions in this reboot of the cult-classic series.
i didn’t know about this as a “cult-classic”, i just have seen these two seasons, but i am into it!!! a fun twist on competition shows, with layers of secrecy and deceit and sleuthing. big fan.
netflix / competition / 7 seasons
Status and strategy collide in this social experiment and competition show where online players flirt, befriend and catfish their way toward $100,000.
this is THE SHOW i want to be on. it’s social media adjacent with great characters (where do they find these amazing people?!?) and so many fun moments. the way the vernacular of this show has become part of my life is wild. “circle, take me to private chat!” “circle, send message!”
netflix / dating / 2 seasons
Couples who prove their compatibility gain the power to make or break other matches in this strategic and seductive dating competition.
BIG FAN. i just love when people you know from other shows come back together and flirt and stir up chaos!!! give me more!
netflix / dating / 10 episodes
Single siblings help each other search for their soulmates, hoping to find love (and maybe win $100,000) while living at a luxurious villa.
bad title. great show. iconic duos. great vibes. i love it!
😘 REALLY LIKED THEM:
these were a fun hang! i enjoyed them! might have been a bit more distracted!
netflix / cooking / 8 collections
A talented batch of amateur bakers face off in a 10-week competition, whipping up their best dishes in the hopes of being named the UK's best.
you know it, you love it, it’s tender and comforting and so endearing, i just sometimes get a little sleepy with it. but it’s great!!!
netflix / real estate / 8 seasons
The elite agents at The Oppenheim Group sell the luxe life to affluent buyers in LA. Relationships are everything, and that often means major drama.
come for the drama, stay for the fashion, enjoy being mindblown at how much money these people are making and how little they seem to actually WORK when they’re in the office.
netflix / real estate / 3 seasons
The Oppenheim Group expands to Orange County, where an all-new real estate team shows off lavish oceanfront listings and big personalities make waves.
ditto to the above!
netflix / beauty / 5 seasons
In this competition show, aspiring makeup artists navigate colorful challenges to win a career-making opportunity in the beauty industry.
this blew my mind and was so incredible to watch, so fascinating, such a great elevation of an industry that requires true artistry. DING DONG DARLING!!!
netflix / beauty / 2 seasons
Up-and-coming designers compete to impress expert judges, hoping to win career-changing prize money and a chance to become the next big thing in fashion.
i loooooved project runway in high school (fun fact: my family dog was named uli after one of my favorite german contestants!) so this is like the new era of that, and i’m fascinated. the things people can do with sewing machines!!!
netflix / dating / 1 season
Tie the knot or call it quits? Five long-term couples are put under pressure to get married or move on in this queer-centric spin-off of "The Ultimatum."
representation!!! there are not enough shows that include much less center queer love stories so i really appreciated this. fun dynamics!
netflix / competition / 8 episodes
In this cutthroat competition series, an undercover millionaire must hide in plain sight and evade elimination to keep the money and win the game.
i thought this was a fun spin on the traitors/mole vibe — big cash prize, lots of layers of secrecy and lying, wild challenges, interesting people dynamics. there were elements here that kind of annoyed me or frustrated me (it felt easier to catch people in lies, but they didn’t???) but it’s entertaining.
netflix / lifestyle / 12 episodes
In this coming-of-age reality series set in Austin, Texas, 20-somethings navigate love and friendship and start a new adventure: life.
i genuinely enjoyed this show and wish there were versions for a ton of different cities — it was fun to see how people explore a more “real” world while still being in a pretty simulated environment. it’s a really great group of humans to spend time with.
🙂 GOOD, NOT GREAT:
great background vibes, didn’t eyeball watch as much, still enjoyed
netflix / dating / 10 episodes
Six singles check into a motel looking for love, but there's a twist: Their situationships are invited too. Can these hookups turn into real romance?
this was my most recent watch, and it mostly just felt like not enough happened to keep it spicy. the first episode is fun, but the couples that things ended up centering on just didn’t do it for me, and i wanted more growth from these people.
netflix / dating / 3 seasons
Get hitched or call it quits? Couples put their love to the test — while shacking up with other potential matches — in a provocative reality series.
not as good as the queer version!
netflix / lifestyle / 3 seasons
Follow LA's wildly wealthy Asian and Asian American fun seekers as they go all out with fabulous parties, glamour and drama in this reality series.
almost too outlandish to be enjoyable? but if you’re into things in the crazy rich asians realm, this is a wild ride.
netflix / real estate / 8 episodes
A team of stylishly savvy New York real estate agents hustle to seal multimillion-dollar deals while stirring up drama in this soapy reality series.
love a badass female boss, but i didn’t get as invested in the “characters” in this one as i did for some of the other real estate shows. there were a few really tender and emotional moments which i appreciate!
netflix / competition / 9 episodes
In this reality competition, players must form alliances and fight to move from the wilderness into a luxurious villa for a shot at a huge cash prize.
interesting premise, but tbh i have already forgotten almost all of the details and characters, so it wasn’t as engrossing as i’d prefer.
netflix / dating / 2 seasons
In each episode of flirtations and fails, one real-life single navigates five blind dates. The mission: Find one match worthy of a second date.
as a single girlie, i can hard relate to the ups and downs and weird turns of going on dates, so this felt REAL.
netflix / design / 8 episodes
Ten pairs of florists, sculptors and garden designers face off in a friendly floral fight to see who can build the biggest, boldest garden sculptures.
i actually watched almost all of this show while at the nail salon… lol. i didn’t give it my full attention, but i enjoyed it, and it’s right up my alley. creative and quirky and fun.
☹️ NOT WORTH IT, IMO:
pretty cringe, kinda over it, didn’t grab me, verrrryyyy checked out while “watching”
netflix / dating / 10 episodes
In this spicy update to the hit reality series, four couples test their relationships by shacking up with eligible singles on a tropical island.
listen, i love a show with hot people who want to hook up. it’s fun, it’s frothy, it’s silly. but this was trying to both lean HARD into the TEMPTATION of if all while also trying to lean into a weird therapy angle with a cringy cult-leader vibe dude prying all the time??? i just didn’t like it and felt icky watching it
netflix / dating / 8 seasons
Nick and Vanessa Lachey host this social experiment where single men and women look for love and get engaged, all before meeting in person.
the first few seasons were really fun and great, but i fell off HARD from this show and it gives me the ick now. it’s discouraging, i think, to see how much appearance really does matter to people, and how few of these relationships actually had IRL chemistry.
netflix / lifestyle / 8 episodes
They're the wives and girlfriends of famous athletes and rap stars, but these stylishly smart W.A.G.s call the shots in this soapy reality series.
it’s trying to be real housewives but with less likeable people and more chaos with men who truly i don’t see the appeal of. i wanted sisterhood and support and instead got catty mean girls for the sake of… what?
please give me all your thoughts, recs, and opinions in the comments! and if you made it this far, drop a like on this post — it makes a difference and means a lot to me. 😘
gotta run, I GOTTTTTTAAAAA TEXXXXTTTTT!!!
xo, rad