WORLDS OF WEIRD
Your handy guide to the year’s most outrageous, bonkers reality shows
TRUTH is stranger than fiction. Reality TV is often a wild ride, but it can range from tame dating shows and game shows, to concepts that are so out-there that you wonder how the series ever got on the air.
Some shows were so bonkers, they had to be seen to be believed.
Here are the weirdest and wildest reality TV shows of 2023.
“Naked Attraction,” Max In September, the British reality series “Naked Attraction” was quietly added to Max, and soon became No. 1 on the streamer’s top 10 list. There’s a reason audiences couldn’t resist tuning in: the concept is outrageous. (Technically, it came out seven years ago overseas, but it counts as a 2023 show, since it landed on Max in the US this year).
The NSFW show follows contestants as they date “in reverse” by only seeing their potential suitors’ nude bodies, and eliminate each other based on their physical appearance. One person on X said that the show “might just be the greatest reality
show of all time.” “Squid Game: The Challenge,” Netflix
The original Korean show “Squid Game” was a sleeper hit about a contest where poor and desperate players compete in brutal deadly games for a chance to win millions. It was a drama series, and a biting social commentary about class, capitalism and wealth inequality. Now it’s a reality show, where real people compete for money, in challenges based on “Squid Game.” Contestants themselves called it “cruel.” “The Traitors,” Peacock On the surface, “The Traitors” is another show in a similar vein to “Big Brother” and “Survivor.” Hosted by Alan Cumming, the premise is that reality TV stars live together in a Scottish castle, participate in various challenges and eliminate each other until one person is left standing.
However, the devil was in the details to make this show especially wild. While half the cast included reality TV stars from previous shows, such as Brandi Glanville (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”), Cirie Fields (“Survivor”), and former Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, the other half of the cast involved regular people who were new to TV. And, they had no idea that they’d be mingling with celebs. Challenges were especially outthere, such as getting buried alive, and on the show, participants conspire to “murder” each other.
“Milf Manor,” TLC At first, this seemed like a relatively normal dating show: Single women between 40 and 60 seek love with single men in their 20s at a retreat in Mexico. So far, not so weird. Hulu had a dating show, “Back in the Groove,” with a similar concept.
However, TLC’s “Milf Manor” gave it a deranged twist: the women’s dating pool consisted of each other’s sons. To make it extra creepy and Oedipal, the women had to do challenges such as touch the men’s chests while blindfolded and identify which man was her son. The mother/ son pairs also shared rooms.
News of the show caused a stir on social media, where users with long memories couldn’t help but recall the 2008 episode of NBC’s “30 Rock” featuring a parody dating show called “MILF Island.” (The tagline: “20 super hot moms, 50 eighthgrade boys, no rules.”)
The show featured moments including real estate broker and fitness coach Kelle Mortensen, 51, saying, “I’m so excited to meet these other guys … sorry, ladies, I might be sleeping with your son.”
“Zombieverse,” Netflix In this Korean reality show, a group of contestants work to survive what they think is a zombie apocalypse. Seemingly, these Korean minor celebs (such as comedian Park Na-rae and actor Lee Si-young) thought they were participating in a different dating reality series called “Love Hunter,” until zombies started popping up.
It’s hard to tell if the participants actually buy this premise — they keep laughing — nevertheless, this whole scenario was an out-there idea for a reality show.
“Farmer Wants a Wife,” Fox We’ve seen plenty of real estate agents, self-described “content creators,” and fitness instructors find love on shows like “The Bachelor” and “Love is Blind.” But the show “Farmer Wants a Wife” put a spotlight on a more unusual profession and their dating habits.
This series has other incarnations abroad, but the American version made its debut this year. The show is essentially the reality TV version of a Hallmark Christmas movie, where women from the big city learn the meaning of Christmas — or in this case, life — through saltof-the-earth rural men. Contestant Sydney Groom, 22, told The Post that her doctor raised their eyebrows at some of the wavers she had to sign for the show. “My doctor was like, ‘I don’t feel comfortable signing a form saying you could potentially ride a bull,’” she said. “I was like, ‘I don’t know if I feel comfortable with that, either!’ ”