Lowest-rated reality TV shows of all time

- IMDb user rating: 4.3
- Years on the air: 2000-present

Playing by the same rules as the original Dutch series, the British "Big Brother" throws a drama-heavy group of people into a house together with cameras and microphones and lets the chips fall where they may (with some reality show nudging, of course). The object of the game is to survive the weekly eviction by audience vote to take home the cash prize. It might not be universally admired—and the series did take a five-year hiatus—but with 20 seasons and counting, "Big Brother UK" certainly has its fans.

- IMDb user rating: 4.3
- Years on the air: 2015-present

When "I Am Jazz" premiered on TLC in 2015, transgender activist Jazz Jennings was just 14. Over the years, the series has documented the ups and downs of Jennings' life—from highs like going on first dates and being accepted to Harvard University, to lows like struggling with a binge-eating disorder.

Though "I Am Jazz" has been applauded by LGBTQ+ organizations for providing much-needed visibility of trans youth, the show continues to receive negative audience reviews criticizing Jennings' transition and her weight.

- IMDb user rating: 4.3
- Years on the air: 2011-2022

MTV's "Teen Mom 2" followed the lives of mothers featured in the second season of "16 and Pregnant." The entire machine of reality television runs on people who are intrigued by the chance at fame, but in the case of "Teen Mom" and "16 and Pregnant," the participants' particular vulnerability made it challenging to watch at times. Many of the cast members of the series have gone on to create new careers for themselves: Chelsea DeBoer, for example, has multiple home decor and lifestyle brands and co-hosts HGTV's "Down Home Fab," while Kailyn Lowry is a New York Times best-selling author and successful podcast host.

- IMDb user rating: 4.3
- Years on the air: 2002-present

At its peak in its fifth season, this singing competition show was attracting more than 30 million viewers per episode. Because of its ratings stranglehold in the early 2000s, rival TV executives referred to it as the "Death Star." But, once audiences started dropping off in the 2010s, "American Idol" was canceled by its original network, Fox, in 2016. The following year, it was picked up by ABC, where it's lived ever since. Throughout its run, "American Idol" has launched the careers of numerous successful stars including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Jennifer Hudson.

- IMDb user rating: 4.3
- Years on the air: 2006-present

After the success of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and Fox's "The O.C." in the early 2000s, Bravo created a recipe to mix wealthy housewives with stunning Orange County scenery, yielding this reality show. "The Real Housewives of Orange County" has rotated leading ladies in and out throughout its 18 seasons, some of the longest-lasting of whom have been Vicki Gunvalson, Tamra Judge, Heather Dubrow, and Shannon Beador.

- IMDb user rating: 4.2
- Years on the air: 2020-present

Netflix's "Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives" centers on the capers and catfights of Neelam Kothari, Maheep Kapoor, Bhavana Pandey, and Seema Khan, the wives of four Bollywood actors. Between yacht cruises and facelifts, the occasional celebrity guest, like Jet Li, has come in to try to keep the show's ratings above water. A third season is expected to launch in 2024.

- IMDb user rating: 4.2
- Years on the air: 2003-2007

Paris Hilton was one of the most influential cultural figures in 2003 and the love-to-hate-her energy she brought led to massive ratings for Fox with "The Simple Life." The show saw Hilton and best friend Nicole Richie fail miserably and act badly while attempting various blue-collar jobs. (Fun fact: It also featured a then-unknown Kesha.) With early 2000s fashion making a comeback in 2024 and public sentiment about Hilton shifting over time, the two besties are teaming up again for a new Peacock series.

- IMDb user rating: 4.1
- Years on the air: 2011-present

One of two "Real Housewives" series to make this list, "The Real Housewives of Miami" takes viewers to the Sunshine State for a look into the glamorous lives of a group of Miami women, including philanthropist Lea Black and art dealer Adriana de Moura. The show, which Bravo initially canceled after three seasons in 2013, came back with a vengeance in 2021. Its sixth season premiered in late 2023 with impressive ratings, but time will tell if fans get a seventh season.

- IMDb user rating: 4
- Years on the air: 2001-2023

Though the U.S.'s "Big Brother" managed to dodge this list—it has a 5.6 rating on IMDb as of July 2024—the Australian version joins the U.K. series among the worst of the worst. Like its sibling series, the Aussie "Big Brother" puts a group of people in a house rigged with cameras everywhere and forces them to interact with only their housemates. Throughout the show's initial run from 2001 to 2014 (with a small break in the mix), audiences voted on who to evict, just like the U.K. and Dutch iterations. But, when "Big Brother" was rebooted in Australia in 2020 on a new network, the show adopted the U.S.'s rules and started having housemates vote each other out. It wasn't enough to save the series, though; it was officially axed in January 2024.

- IMDb user rating: 4
- Years on the air: 2022-present

Before meeting and eventually marrying international soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, Georgina Rodríguez was working in retail (albeit at a Gucci store). These days, she's traded out customer service for social media stardom and a modeling career. Netflix's "I Am Georgina" chronicles Rodríguez's modern Cinderella story, as she's settled into a stunningly lavish lifestyle filled with red carpets and private jets.

- IMDb user rating: 3.9
- Years on the air: 2016

The brains behind "The Walking Dead"—comic book author and screenwriter Robert Kirkman—created "Scare PewDiePie," a reality show that gave audiences a chance to watch controversial video commentator Felix Kjellberg, aka PewDiePie, freak out from situations motivated by his treasured video games.

- IMDb user rating: 3.9
- Years on the air: 2003-2005

If you don't know your reality TV history, let us catch you up: "Love Is Blind" and "Perfect Match" host Nick Lachey was once married to Jessica Simpson, and the couple's short-lived marriage was chronicled in an equally short-lived reality show, which ran for three seasons on MTV. But some of the show's most iconic moments—like "Is this chicken or is it fish?"—live on. Simpson and her oldest daughter, Maxwell, referenced the moment in a 2024 Chicken of the Sea commercial.

- IMDb user rating: 3.9
- Years on the air: 2009-2012

Fans of the show took "Jersey Shore" for what it was: trashy and tumultuous with characters too delusional or unaware to care about cameras. The series followed self-proclaimed "guidos" and "guidettes" Pauly D, The Situation, JWoww, Snooki, Sammi Sweetheart, Ronnie, and Vinnie as they fist-bumped, drank, fought, fell in and out of love, and of course, GTLed (gym, tan, laundry). No matter how you felt about this motley crew, you could not deny their ratings success: the Season 3 premiere had record viewership for MTV in 2011 and its spinoff series, "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation," has had similar success, lasting for seven additional seasons as of 2024.

- IMDb user rating: 3.8
- Years on the air: 2014-2015

"Kourtney & Khloe Take the Hamptons" saw the two titular sisters head cross-country on a summer trip to the Hamptons. But, it wasn't all suntans and sailing on this E! series—the Kardashians were ostensibly in New York to check up on their nearby DASH boutique, and, naturally, plenty of interpersonal drama erupted along the way. There are many iterations of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," but "Kourtney & Khloe Take the Hamptons" is one of six to make this list.

- IMDb user rating: 3.8
- Years on the air: 2022-present

Set in the Middle East's richest city, "Dubai Bling" delves into the eye-popping displays of wealth common among Dubai's upper crust. Massive birthday bashes, jewelry worth millions, and private jets are par for the course on this Netflix show, which has been criticized by some viewers for lacking context about Dubai itself.

- IMDb user rating: 3.8
- Years on the air: 2006-2010

A spinoff of "Laguna Beach," this MTV series starred Lauren Conrad as she started a career in fashion in Los Angeles. The standout of "The Hills" was Conrad's roommate Heidi Montag and her boyfriend Spencer Pratt—considered one of the great villains in reality TV history. Just like "Laguna Beach" and "The City" (an eventual spinoff of "The Hills"), the show was criticized for being scripted but that didn't make it any less entertaining for its many fans.

- IMDb user rating: 3.7
- Years on the air: 2016

Those who were of age during the Vine era will likely remember Cameron Dallas, the digital star at the center of Netflix's "Chasing Cameron." The single-season series followed Dallas, as well as other members of the MAGCON social media phenomenon, as the group set out on their first world tour.

- IMDb user rating: 3.7
- Years on the air: 2006-present

This long-running Hindi competition series is another iteration of the Dutch "Big Brother" and has earned nearly as many spirited supporters as it has vehement naysayers. Hosted primarily by actor and producer Salman Khan (previous hosts have included Amitabh Bachchan and Shilpa Shetty), "Bigg Boss" puts a group of strangers together under one roof where they compete to win a cash prize.

- IMDb user rating: 3.7
- Years on the air: 2011-2016

For six years, "Mystery Diners" featured restaurant owners looking to uncover employee theft and fraud using actors and hidden cameras. Host Charles Stiles helped owners bust employees for a range of offenses, from stealing lobsters and running a dating service to drinking on the job.

- IMDb user rating: 3.7
- Years on the air: 2015-present

On the TLC series "My Big Fat Fabulous Life," Whitney Thore navigates life as a plus-size dancer whose mission is to fight body-shaming and promote self-love. Many of the show's negative reviews have to do with Thore's weight, including complaints that "My Big Fat Fabulous Life" is promoting obesity, a notion she's rejected time and time again.

- IMDb user rating: 3.7
- Years on the air: 2023-present

Perhaps one of the most unusual series to come out of modern reality TV, "M--- Manor" takes place in a luxe lakefront chalet, where a group of single women between 40 and 60 years old pursue relationships with men in their 20s. On the show's second season, TLC added a twist: the men brought their dads to the chalet to also compete for the women's attention.

Judging by the negative reviews, most viewers are still taking issue with the age gaps between the series' stars—but despite those complaints, "M--- Manor" also has its fair share of defenders and devoted binge-watchers.

- IMDb user rating: 3.6
- Years on the air: 2009-2011

"Kendra" was a spinoff of the E! network's show "The Girls Next Door." It followed the life of Hugh Hefner's ex-girlfriend and Playboy playmate Kendra Wilkinson after she left the Playboy mansion. During the show's three-year run, Wilkinson and then-NFL wide receiver Hank Baskett bought a house, got married, and had a child. Their marriage ended in 2018, but Wilkinson continued her reality TV run with series like We TV's "Kendra on Top" and "Kendra Sells Hollywood" on Discovery+.

- IMDb user rating: 3.6
- Years on the air: 2009-2021

For over a decade, "Teen Mom OG" followed the lives of young moms viewers were familiar with, either because they were featured on "16 and Pregnant" and other MTV shows, or because they were Bristol Palin. The show was originally called "Teen Mom" but was rebranded in Season 5 once additional "Teen Mom" spinoff series were picked up. Eventually, it merged with the aforementioned "Teen Mom 2" in 2022 to form a new series called "Teen Mom: The Next Chapter," which has had two seasons as of July 2024.

- IMDb user rating: 3.5
- Years on the air: 2017

The lifeline to "Life of Kylie," which starred the youngest Kardashian-Jenner child, Kylie Jenner, was pulled shortly after its premiere on E! amid reports of less-than-stellar viewership. The series ended just five days before news broke that Jenner, then 20, was pregnant with her first child. A few years later, right before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, it was rumored that Jenner was considering reviving the series. That never came to fruition, but she and her family are now featured on the Hulu series "The Kardashians," which launched in 2022.

- IMDb user rating: 3.5
- Years on the air: 2005-2020

Most reality TV is seen as harmless fun, but "The Jeremy Kyle Show" led to a true tragedy. This British series inspired by "The Jerry Springer Show" brought on guests to hash out their difficulties in front of a live studio audience. One of Kyle's guests died by suicide in 2019 shortly after taking a lie detector test on the series, which was subsequently canceled.

- IMDb user rating: 3.5
- Years on the air: 2022-present

If you're a "Ghost Hunters" fan, it may seem like "28 Days Haunted" would be for you, but audiences and critics have complained that the series feels scripted. Based on theories from famed supernaturalists Ed and Lorraine Warren—the inspiration for "The Conjuring" and "Amityville Horror" franchises—the Netflix show follows three teams who spend 28 days each in purportedly haunted locations in North Carolina, Colorado, and Connecticut. Its first season aired in 2022, but it hasn't been officially renewed or canceled since.

- IMDb user rating: 3.5
- Years on the air: 2003-present

With the same format as "The Bachelor," just gender-swapped, "The Bachelorette" places around 25 men in a house as they compete for the chance to marry the bachelorette. The premise of one person dating so many people simultaneously before promptly choosing one to spend the rest of their life with is zany enough to create television magic, which it's been doing for more than two decades now. Interestingly, a much higher percentage of couples from "The Bachelorette" are still together, compared to "The Bachelor," including Season 1's Trista and Ryan Sutter.

- IMDb user rating: 3.4
- Years on the air: 2014

Fox reportedly paid $50 million to create this over-the-top reality series based on a Dutch show. The premise was straightforward enough: 15 strangers are put in a remote setting for a year, surrounded by cameras 24/7, and are tasked with creating a society from scratch. In an unsurprising turn of events, the show was an unmitigated disaster and was canceled eight weeks into its planned year-long run.

- IMDb user rating: 3.3
- Years on the air: 2011-2012

As you may have guessed, this "Keeping Up with the Kardashian" spinoff centered on sisters Kourtney and Kim as they opened another location of their clothing boutique DASH in New York City. During its two-year run, Kim married and also decided to divorce NBA player Kris Humphries

- IMDb user rating: 3.2
- Years on the air: 2011-2012

In yet another "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" spinoff, Khloé and Lamar Odom's sometimes beautiful, often heartbreaking relationship was on display. This show's two seasons covered Lamar's trade from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks and Khloé's fear that she might not be Robert Kardashian's daughter. A few years after the series ended, the degree of Lamar Odom's drug use came to light. For basketball and Kardashian fans, the story was a tragic one. Today, however, Odom is an entrepreneur who's opened both senior care and dental care businesses. He also launched a podcast with Khloé's stepparent, Caitlyn Jenner, called "Keeping Up with Sports."

- IMDb user rating: 3.2
- Years on the air: 2003-2009

Unlike the British original, which has been on the air for more than 20 seasons, the U.S. "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!" had a much shorter run, airing for two seasons between 2003 and 2009. The series, which jumped from ABC to NBC, brought celebrity guests to the jungle for a series of tough tasks, from completing obstacle courses to eating insects. Celebrities featured included existing reality stars like Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt and icons like actor Lou Diamond Phillips.

- IMDb user rating: 3.2
- Years on the air: 2009-2013

This "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" spinoff initially followed sisters Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian as they moved to Miami to open another location of their clothing boutique DASH. But, in Season 3, Kim Kardashian replaced Khloé, and the title changed from "Kourtney & Khloé" to "Kourtney & Kim."

- IMDb user rating: 3.2
- Years on the air: 2012-2015

Switching gears from the queens of Calabasas to Seaside Heights sovereignty, this "Jersey Shore" spinoff followed Snooki and JWoww as they lived somewhat domestic lives in a converted firehouse in Jersey City. The first season kicked off with a pregnant Snooki and by the final season, JWoww was pregnant too, which gave the show quite a different tenor than the blackout shenanigans of the original series.

- IMDb user rating: 3.2
- Years on the air: 2009-2021

Shot in an unvarnished documentary style, MTV's "16 and Pregnant" launched soon after the hugely successful 2007 film "Juno" about a 16-year-old who carries a pregnancy to term. Each episode of "16 and Pregnant" focused on a different pregnant teen from the midpoint of her pregnancy until the time her child was a few months old. It took a six-year break between 2014 and 2020 when it was revived with a new group of teen mothers-to-be.

- IMDb user rating: 3.2
- Years on the air: 2002-present

While some prefer the most libidinous and debaucherous cable and streaming reality TV shows, "The Bachelor" is about as risque as network reality TV can get. Hate all you want, but "The Bachelor" is here to stay—it was renewed for a 29th season in May 2024, along with its hugely successful spinoff "The Golden Bachelor" that debuted in 2023 (and has a much higher 6.3 rating on IMDb).

- IMDb user rating: 3.1
- Years on the air: 2007-2008

Tila Tequila rose to prominence on early social media site Myspace, and she parlayed that fame into MTV's "A Shot at Love," a boundary-pushing bisexual dating show in which men and women competed for her heart. The series lasted for two seasons and Tequila has since become a controversial figure for very different reasons.

- IMDb user rating: 3.1
- Years on the air: 2010-present

Soap opera meets reality TV in this U.K. reality series, often abbreviated as "TOWIE," shadowing the lives of young lads and lasses from Essex, England. Clearly, viewers who hate it, hate it—and they aren't shy about downvoting it on IMDb. But, the series, which has lasted for a whopping 32 seasons and counting, certainly has its fans. It even won the Audience Award at the 2011 BAFTAs, beating out acclaimed series "Downton Abbey" and "The Killing."

- IMDb user rating: 3
- Years on the air: 2012-2015

Set in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Discovery Channel's "Amish Mafia" followed Lebanon Levi and his associates who claimed to be a small Amish mob syndicate. If this premise seems too good to be true—"The Sopranos" in Amish country—it may be because it was. Throughout its run, the Discovery Channel series was called out for being more fiction than reality.

- IMDb user rating: 2.9
- Years on the air: 2008-2015

"19 Kids and Counting" centered on the ever-growing family of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, who are Independent Fundamentalist Baptists. For seven years, the TLC show followed the family, whose names began with the letter J, and who were homeschooled. In 2015, when it came to light that first-born son Josh Duggar had molested five girls, including some of his sisters, the show was canceled, but a spinoff focusing on some Duggar daughters, called "Counting On," soon continued to follow their stories. When Josh was later arrested for receiving and possessing child pornography, "Counting On" was also canceled. Josh was later found guilty and was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison in 2022. As of July 2024, his release date is set for October 2032.

- IMDb user rating: 2.9
- Years on the air: 2007-2021

The final Kardashian series on this list is the one that started it all. There is a certain banality to "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," which followed the lives of the Kardashian-Jenner family and those close to them for 15 years. There's something enthralling about watching beautiful people in glamorous homes deal with seemingly small issues in incredibly dramatic ways. During the show's run, the Kardashians rose to the top of American popular culture and their wealth surged, too. For example, in 2009, shortly after the E! series premiered, Kim's fortune was around $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth; by 2020, just before it ended, that number had risen to $1.4 billion.

- IMDb user rating: 2.8
- Years on the air: 2021-2023

Charli D'Amelio was still in high school when she skyrocketed to social media stardom, becoming the most-followed person on TikTok in 2020. One year later, "The D'Amelio Show" launched on Hulu, following the lives of Charli and her family, including her sister and fellow social media star Dixie, after their sudden rise to fame. Though it earned massive viewership for the streaming platform initially, it was announced in June 2024 that "The D'Amelio Show" was ending after its third season with support from the D'Amelio family.

- IMDb user rating: 2.7
- Years on the air: 2020

Goop CEO and founder Gwyneth Paltrow and her employees dug deep into provocative subjects on this short-lived Netflix show. Experts like biologists and sex educators helped the Goop team explore topics ranging from anti-aging to female sexuality, but some accused the show of "complete quackery" with its alternative therapies.

- IMDb user rating: 2.5
- Years on the air: 2012-2017

A spinoff of TLC's "Toddlers and Tiaras," "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" followed viral sensation Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson and her mother, June "Mama June" Shannon, around their small town of McIntyre, Georgia. Honey Boo Boo's appearance on "Toddlers and Tiaras" made the pageant princess a meme machine, and TLC saw it as an opportunity for massive viewership. "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" may have had many haters, but it did yield another series for Shannon, "Mama June: From Not to Hot," and appearances on other competition shows like "The Masked Singer" and "Dancing With the Stars."

- IMDb user rating: 2.1
- Years on the air: 2008-2009

This MTV reality show pitted contestants against each other to vie for the right to be Paris Hilton's new bestie. Brittany Flickinger won the show's first season, but she and Hilton quickly had a falling out, which allowed for a second season and two spinoffs, "Paris Hilton's British Best Friend" and "Paris Hilton's My New BFF Dubai."

- IMDb user rating: 1.9
- Years on the air: 2022

The first of six reality shows to have less than 2 out of 10 stars on IMDb, Netflix's "Hype House" focused on the day-to-day lives of a group of TikTok stars who live together and formed the titular collective. Despite its enthusiastic title, the show was universally panned by critics and received abysmal ratings from audiences, too.

- IMDb user rating: 1.9
- Years on the air: 2021-present

This spinoff of "Bigg Boss" likewise confines a group of contestants to one house as they compete for a cash prize. "Bigg Boss OTT" promised unparalleled engagement opportunities for audiences, who could tune in to 24/7 live footage. The first two seasons saw "Bigg Boss'" Salman Kahn host, while the most recent third season, which kicked off in 2024, saw actor and producer Anil Kapoor take over.

- IMDb user rating: 1.8
- Years on the air: 2005-2017

MTV's "My Super Sweet 16" took a look at the over-the-top, extravagant birthday celebrations of truly spoiled 16-year-olds. Each episode centered on a different teenager, including the late Eazy-E's daughter and Cee Lo Green's daughter, as they prepare for the lavish event. The teens almost always threw tantrums, fought with friends, and managed to not enjoy themselves at their incredible parties. After an eight-year hiatus in 2008, the show was revived in 2017.

- IMDb user rating: 1.7
- Years on the air: 2009-2016

"Toddlers & Tiaras" pulled back the curtain on the competitive world of child beauty pageants. Viewers got to see the behind-the-scenes drama of the pint-size pageants as the toddlers primped, prepped, and performed to be crowned. The show—and the parents and pageants it featured—received plenty of criticism for sexualizing young girls.

- IMDb user rating: 1.6
- Years on the air: 2014-present

This isn't your typical reality show—instead of airing on a streamer or network, DramaAlert is run on YouTube by Daniel "Keemstar" Keem, who shares entertainment and gossip news from the far reaches of the internet. Keem has been the subject of more than a little controversy among audiences, many of whom complain that his series is overwhelmingly "clickbait-y" and exploitative of its subjects.

- IMDb user rating: 1.3
- Years on the air: 2023

This MTV show sounded entertaining enough, centering on a group of well-to-do friends in Los Angeles' famous gay neighborhood, West Hollywood. But, "The Real Friends of WeHo" quickly sparked backlash among the gay community. There were complaints that the drama felt forced and the storylines fake, furthered by the fact that one of the show's stars, Dorion Renaud, admitted that he didn't know most of his onscreen "friends" when filming began. Add to this the fact that "The Real Friends of WeHo" cut down the runtime of "RuPaul's Drag Race" episodes due to scheduling issues, and it's not altogether surprising that "The Real Friends of WeHo" has been dragged through the mud.

Data reporting by Luke Hicks. Story editing by Jaimie Etkin. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire. Photo selection by Clarese Moller.