Reality Television Programs

One of the original reality television shows that I watched when I was younger. The program was filmed in the wealthy suburb Sylvania Waters for six months in the families home. It was aimed at the UK audience and first aired in Australia in 1992. The program has many fans but also many critics.

The series premiered in the US on May 31, 2000. Currently season 24 is being aired in the USA with the host Jeff Probst appearing on all 24 seasons. The television show has travelled to may extreme area's of the world including Borneo, Australia, Africa and many series filmed on tropical islands in the pacific ocean.

Big Brother Australia ran for eight seasons from 2001 to 2008. There were many "memorable" moments which occurred on the show, many contraversial. The show was cancelled in 2008 but will be returning this year to our screens on the nine network with Sonia Kruger as the host.

Similar to Survivor, the Amazing Race has been on our screens since early 2000. It is currently broadcastin its 19th season. It involves teams of two travelling around the world, competing in challenges and trying to avoid being last to check in as they race to win $1000000.

Fear Factor is a reality game show which dares it's competitors to complete outragous stunts to win the prize money of $50000. The show was filmed between 2001 and 2006 where the competitors competed as individuals. Filming recommenced in 2011 with a similar format but the competitors now compete in teams of two people.

The seventh season of The Biggest Loser Australia is currently being shown on the 10 network and is hosted by former olympic champion Hayley Lewis. The program involves overweight contestant competing against each other to avoid elemination and loose the heighest percentage of body weight to win a share of the prize money.

The Australian series of Beauty and the Geek is based on the original series aired in the USA which was created by Ashton Kutcher. The Geeks are paired up with a Beauty and compete in challenges and try and avoid elemination to win the prize money of $100000.

Dancing with the stars is a successful Australian reality TV program which is based on the UK series Strictly come dancing. The program debut in October 2001 and the twelfth season due to begin this year. The program partners celebrities from many walks of life with experienced ballroom dancers to compete in dancing styles like the Foxtrot, Tango and Waltz. The celebrities raise money for their chosen charity when viewers phone in and vote for their favourite dancer.

So you think you can dance is a competitive dance show. It has been filmed in 23 different countries including Australian but the American version has been the most successful, starting in 2005 and airing eight seasons. The talented competitors compete against each other in a variety of dance styles to try and avoid elimination and win the prize money of $250000.

The X Factor Australia is based on the format of the UK show. It's aim is to discover new singing talent by conducting auditions all over Australia. The singers are then grouped by their age and assigned a mentor to assist them throughout the program. The winner at the end of the program wins a recording contract with Sony Music Australia

America's Next Top Model is currently filming its 18th season. On the show young ladies get the opportunity to gain modeling experience through challenges and try to avoid elimination from the judges to gain a head start on their modeling career. Model Tyra Banks created the program in 2003 and is a very popular series shown on TV in the USA.

My Kitchen Rules is a competitive game show where competitors from around Australia and New Zealand battle each other to prove who is the better home cook. The two judges rate the dishes and the competitors with the lowest score cook off against each other to avoid elimination. Currently the third series is being shown on channel 7.

Based on the Uk version of Masterchef, the Australian series has become a popular reality program. Last year saw the third series of the program shown in Australia. The Masterchef idea has branched off to Celebrity Masterchef and the very popular Junior Masterchef. All programs have a similar concept of cooking dishes and avoiding elimination from the judges. Junior Masterchef was very popular with the younger audience, which has encouraged children to experiment with food and cooking.