We know most of our favorite reality shows are probably staged, edited, and/or partially scripted for optimum entertainment value. It's just the nature of the beast, but it doesn't necessarily sway us from tuning in week after week.
Naturally, one of the aspects most appealing is watching reality TV couples fall in love, fight, break up, reunite, get married, or get divorced and start dating other people. It's like living somewhat vicariously through these people, who are supposed to be like us. Sort of. And we'll go along with it, even if we know it might not be real.
Then there are the reality shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette (and all the spin-offs from it like Bachelor in Paradise). Out of all of them, these shows have the most propensity to perpetrate disingenuous relationships because that is the exact premise: one bachelor or bachelorette has to sort through so many suitors to find one they can spend the rest of their lives with. How can two people honestly find their soulmates in such a short period of time? It's next to impossible -- but it does make for great TV.
Here are 18 Reality TV Couples That Faked It For The Cameras.
KRIS AND CAITLYN JENNER (KARDASHIANS)
Kris and Bruce Jenner, now Caitlyn Jenner, must have been a happy couple when they married in 1991. They had two daughters (Kendall and Kylie), so to some degree the marriage was an authentic one – at least in the beginning. Of course, that was all before the hit E! reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians began airing in 2007 – and we now know how the Jenners' relationship turned out.
Any of the “affection” shown between the two while the cameras were rolling cast some real doubt, especially as seasons of the show went on. It never felt real.
Then when Bruce publicly became Caitlyn Jenner in 2015, it all made sense, even if Kris insisted she never knew her husband of 23 years was struggling with her gender identity.
REBECCA BYLER AND ABE SCHMUCKER (BREAKING AMISH)
When Breaking Amish first aired on TLC in 2012, the reality show revolved around five young adults leaving their Amish or Mennonite communities and moving to NY to see if living in the outside world was something they wanted to do.
In the first season, fans were immediately drawn to the love story between Rebecca Byler and Abe Schmucker, who met on the show and eventually got married.
Or so they said. Rumors started flying the two actually lived together before the show started and have a daughter. Rebecca and Abe both denied it, steadfastly claiming they had never met before the show. Rebecca claimed she was divorced and had the baby with her ex-husband, whom she never named.
In a reunion show, the young woman snapped, "If [fans] want to know, they can watch the show. If they don't want to believe, they don't have to believe it.”
MAMA JUNE AND “SUGAR BEAR” (HONEY BOO BOO)
The wonderful trainwreck that was Here Comes Honey Boo Boo had so much craziness going on, including the relationship between matriarch “Mama” June Shannon and her now-ex, Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson.
As the father of Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, Sugar Bear seemed to be happy being the mild-mannered spouse, while Mama June ruled the roost. Real or fake, it was damn entertaining.
When their split was announced in 2014, however, there were reports it was all done for the sake of the show, which had declined in ratings. Sugar Bear was rumored to be upset he had to play along with it, while other reports said Mama June did indeed kick Thompson out and leaked the story herself.
We know now that they were definitely on the outs, and the animosity has since grown.
JAKE PAVELKA AND VIENNA GIRARDI (THE BACHELOR)
Ah, the first of many Bachelor couples to make our list. As season 14's The Bachelor, Jake Pavelka was a sweet-natured pilot who “fell” for two women: Tenley Molzahn and Vienna Girardi.
Fans screamed for Pavelka to hand the final rose to Molzahn and propose because Girardi was painted as a villain. Whether or not that was true (it was probably exaggerated by editing), Pavelka did propose to Girardi – but then the two rather publicly broke it off just a few months later.
No one was at all surprised by the split since they just seemed so awkward throughout the process. Rumors are that they pretty much played it for the cameras, but the proof was in the pudding after they split, with each of them doing separate on-air interviews and Girardi telling her side of the story to Star magazine.
BRODY JENNER AND KRISTEN CAVALLERI (THE HILLS)
Before his step and half-sisters took reality TV to a whole new level, Brody Jenner - the youngest son of Caitlyn Jenner and Linda Thompson - was a pretty popular reality TV star on The Hills and Laguna Beach. He also had fake relationships, especially with Kristin Cavallari.
Cavallari was particularly candid about how their romance on The Hills was only for the cameras, even if they did have a fling before the show started. Jenner was actually dating Jayde Nicole at the time. Cavallari once itted, “Jayde and I got into a huge fight because she saw us in a club. It wasn’t real at all. They were together the entire time.”
Jenner also had to fake it with the show's other star, Lauren Conrad, much to the fans' chagrin. Most viewers thought Conrad and Jenner were perfect together, but alas, it was just a great friendship.
THE BACHELOR'S JUAN PABLO GALAVIS
Juan Pablo Galavis has reportedly gone down as one of the most hated Bachelors of all time. He started out as a contestant on The Bachelorette with Desiree Hartsock in 2013, and then took his turn as The Bachelor in 2014. But the former soccer player just wouldn't play by the rules, and it seemed like he was only there to have a good time, rather than find a wife.
It was rumored he had relations with at least three of the contestants, and reportedly told runner-up Clare Crawley he just wanted to “bang” her. What really ticked people off, however, was how he treated Nikki Ferrell, the women he ostensibly chose to receive the final rose. She professed her love for him, but he couldn't reciprocate, ending the show without a proposal. He faked it for all it was worth.
LAUREN CONRAD AND STEPHEN COLLETTI (LAGUNA BEACH)
The Brody Jenner-Kristin Cavallari faux romance isn't the only time the MTV reality shows faked relationships. On Laguna Beach, the show producers reportedly pushed Stephen Colletti together with Lauren Conrad, when in reality he was actually dating Cavallari.
In Cavallari's book Balancing in Heels, she claimed the show wanted to create the drama of a love triangle. She wrote, “One of the most hurtful things they did was pressure Stephen to spend time with another girl from the show, Lauren, while he and I were dating. It certainly provided some juicy conflicts, but it also affected me deeply.”
Cavallari cited an example in which Colletti was sweetly mouthing “I love you” to her at dinner, but the scene was edited to make it look like he was saying that to Conrad.
JOSHUA ALBERS AND TENLEY MOLZAHN (BACHELOR IN PARADISE)
After all the drama she went through with Jake Pavelka on The Bachelor, Tenley Molzahn knew the deal when she signed up for Bachelor in Paradise. Rumors swirled she only took the gig to seek fame and money and wasn't at all interested in really putting her heart out there again. Plus, she got to hang in a gorgeous tropical locale!
Problem is, the guy Tenley picked to have a faux romance with, Joshua Albers, reportedly fell hard for her, and so he got his heart broken when she didn't want to continue the romance after the show ended.
According to sources, “She was never going to continue a relationship with Josh outside of this show—but she sure made him think she would.”
KENYA MOORE AND WALTER JACKSON (REAL HOUSEWIVES)
When Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kenya Moore first came on the show, she had some bad luck in the romance department. Then, things seemed to pick up in 2012 when she started dating Walter Jackson, but it didn't last all that long, either.
It turns out the whole thing was staged by Moore. Jackson opened up that she had asked him to pretend to be her boyfriend to have more relevancy on the show. He said at the time, “Kenya is a great actress; you have to give her that. She’s very good entertainment, and the viewers want to tune in and watch what she’s going to do or say next, but nothing you see is real, I mean come on, does anyone actually believe what she says anymore?”
Moore did finally find the right man and married former banker-turned-restaurateur Marc Daly in 2017.
BEN FLAJNIK AND COURTNEY ROBERTSON (THE BACHELOR)
While Bachelor Ben Flajnik and his girl of choice, Courtney Robertson, did have some genuine feelings for each other, it turns out it was more lust than anything else. The two broke off their engagement pretty quickly after the initial proposal since there wasn't anything lasting there.
In 2014, the former model wrote a tell-all book and dished about her experience on the show. First, Robertson being tagged as the season's villain was a tad surprising to her since she actually made a few close friends on the show, and she blames editing.
Then she talked about how she and Flajnik did have relations while skinny dipping in the ocean – on camera, no less -- and definitely had a wild night in the Fantasy Suite. So, the love thing? Not so real. Hooking up? 100 percent.