LGBTQ+ Reality TV Stars Who Changed the Game

From Pedro Zamora to Chrishell Stause, these LGBTQ reality TV stars not only broke ground for the community, but they entertained and educated us while doing so

Whether it's Pedro Zamora's openness about living with AIDS or Chrishell Stause's journey to finding her happily ever after, LGBTQ+ reality TV stars have been part of some of the best storylines on TV — using their platforms to bring awareness to issues, share their joys and just plain entertain their fans.

While some stars' stories, like Zamora's, have helped push progress on LGBTQ+ rights and education forward, others instances, like Zeke Smith being outed on Survivor, show us that there is still a long way to go.

As Pride Month kicks off, read on for some of the LGBTQ+ stars who made an impact, changed the game and keep us tuning in.

Norman Korpi

The Real World: New York was a groundbreaking series not only because it was the first of its kind, but the way it authentically addressed the issues.

During that inaugural season in 1992, Norman Korpi came out to his housemates, becoming one of the first people to do so on television. And the impact of his honesty and the support he got from his fellow roommates is something that has stood the test of time, much like the show itself.

"I still have like, 25 boxes of these long, touching letters from people that didn't have a voice," he told PEOPLE in 2021. "When they saw a group of seven people living together and that six of them loved and supported a gay person, forget me coming out. It was really that relationship of those people — the Beckys and Erics and the Julies — that the people could see themselves and say, 'Look, he's part of the cool kids, he's on the cool network. That's the coolest thing that you could be on, and that's me.'"

Pedro Zamora

As one of the stars of Real World: San Francisco in 1994, Pedro Zamora was the first person openly living with AIDS to be featured on television.

Prior to his casting on the show, Zamora had dedicated his life to raising awareness about the illness and advocating the importance of education and prevention.

His stint on The Real World gave him a bigger platform to reach wider audiences and shattered myths about HIV/AIDS in the process. He also broke barriers when his commitment ceremony to partner Sean Sasser was the first same-sex ceremony in television history.

Zamora died on Nov. 11, 1994, at age 22, hours after the finale of The Real World: San Francisco aired on MTV. His castmates keep his legacy alive, encouraging others to focus on the way he changed the world rather than on his untimely death.

Richard Hatch

The first season of Survivor in 2000 was a blockbuster success in no small part to Richard Hatch, who was openly gay (at the time, still rare to see on television), a skilled player and, it must be said, constantly naked. Hatch's season also was memorable for the relationship he developed with former Navy SEAL Rudy, who was not shy about his homophobia but ended up becoming great friend with Hatch. ("For a homosexual, he’s one of the nicest guys I ever met,” Rudy said, according to the Inside Survivor blog. “You know, he’s got leadership ability, and if these people here would listen to him, he would take ’em a long way.”)

In the years that followed, Hatch had some highs and lows; he spent nearly three years in federal prison for failing to pay taxes on the $1 million prize, and told PEOPLE that the federal fees and missed work “more than wiped out” the prize money.

But when PEOPLE checked in with him for the show's 20th anniversary, he had a positive outlook. “I'm doing well," he said. "I have a lot going on. I've got a great family. I've been with a wonderful man since 2003. I'm happy."

Danny Roberts

Danny Roberts' tenure on Real World: New Orleans back in 2000 may perhaps be one of the most memorable in reality TV history.

At the time, Roberts was a newly-out gay Southerner, dating a man whose identity had to be concealed because he was in the military and the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was still in effect.

"My coming-out story is the genesis of a lot of other people's in that generation's coming-out story, but I think so much of that is timing," Roberts reflected 22 years after the show premiered. "Matthew Shepard was murdered [for being gay] a year before [that] season filmed and it kicked off a whole new energy in the LGBT movement. And then I landed right in the middle of that."

In 2022, he returned back to the series for Paramount+'s The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans. Following the end of the season, however, Roberts called out the network for not sharing his HIV diagnosis, which he'd first shared publicly in 2018.

"I just kept waiting: 'Are they going to shoehorn this into the end?' And then I realized, 'Wow, that's the end of it.' And they absolutely cut it," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It feels like a huge missed opportunity."

The 'Fab Five'

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was a revolutionary concept when it launched in 2003, making its "fab five" group of experts Ted Allen, Jai Rodriguez, Carson Kressley, Thom Filicia and Kyan Douglas and household names and bringing a kinder type of makeover show to the masses.

Reflecting on the show's runaway success, Kressley said, "Part of it was because out-of-the-closet queer men had never really been allowed to just be themselves on TV before and that turned out to be revolutionary ... What we did so well on the show was, we celebrated people. We never said, 'Oh, you're terrible. Change this, change that.' We said, 'You're great. Let's make you unbelievable.'"

Jillian Michaels

Jillian Michaels rose to prominence as the no-nonsense, tell it like it is, tough coach on The Biggest Loser, which premiered in 2004. However, she left after season 11 of the hit NBC show to focus on her family with her then-partner, Heidi Rhoades.

The two unexpectedly welcomed son Phoenix Michaels Rhoades and adopted daughter Lukensia Michaels Rhoades, at the same time: The fitness trainer received news that Lukensia’s visa had been approved right as Rhoades was going into labor with Phoenix. A few days later, they brought their two-year-old daughter home from Haiti.

Michaels later made a comeback for season 14 and 15 of The Biggest Loser, before exiting for the last time due to “some fundamental differences [with Loser‘s producers] that have existed for a while.”

She and Rhoades split in 2018 and she began dating fashion designer DeShanna Marie Minuto, whom she married in an intimate ceremony in 2022. 

Aneesa Ferreira

Coming into The Real World: Chicago in 2002, Aneesa Ferreira pulled no punches about who she was, telling everyone she is "gay, Black and Jewish."

And while she was proud of who she is, at the time, she wasn't aware that her actions were as pivotal as they turned out to be.

"I was self-aware, but not to the point where I was ever doing anything purposely. I was just living very rebelliously, [thinking], 'I'm a female lesbian. I don't care what you think about my life and my choices.' I didn't think about how people were going to receive me or how the community was going to look at me," she told Nylon.

"I kind of lived like nobody was watching. I think that gives you the most authentic perspective and that allows you to really see something for what it is because no matter how you edit it, it still is me."

But whether she meant to or not, she became a representative of the LGBTQ+ community, with many people expressing their gratitude for her honesty to this day.

"I still have people that come up to me, and they're like, 'Hey, you were our only representation.' And these are white, very white, straight-looking men that are like, 'Thank you,'" she told the publication. "You would never think that there could be a connection there, but I guess that if there's some type of visibility and it has a strong presence, then that's something positive for the community."

Clay Aiken

Five years after his run on American Idol, Clay Aiken came out as gay in a PEOPLE cover story in 2008.

The announcement also coincided with the announcement of "the most important thing in my life," newborn son Parker, whom he had just welcomed with his best friend, music producer Jaymes Foster.

In the months that followed, Aiken reflected on what coming out meant to him: "I think that hopefully, less than inspiring people, I will have an opportunity to open people’s eyes to different viewpoints and different possibilities in their life.”

Karamo Brown

Karamo Brown made history as the first openly gay Black man on reality TV when he made his debut on The Real World: Philadelphia in 2004.

Following the The Real World, Brown went on to compete on Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II before pivoting into becoming a TV personality, appearing on Dr. Drew On Call, The Young Turks as well as HuffPost Live.

Most notably, Brown began serving as a culture expert on Netflix's revival of Queer Eye in 2018. He also competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2019.

In addition to his Queer Eye duties, he currently hosts his syndicated talk show, Karamo, and is a father to two adult sons, Jason and Chris.

Christian Siriano

Christian Siriano became the youngest winner of Project Runway when he snagged first place on season 4 of Bravo reality competition series — a distinction he still holds today.

“I was a young, gay boy on a television show in 2008. [I was] very out, and the whole world got to judge me. And that was really hard. 2008 was a totally different time,” Siriano told Glossy ahead of Pride 2021.

In the years since that experience, Siriano has become a bit of an "accidental activist" (in his own words) and helped others who haven't been as well-represented be seen on the red carpet.

JoJo Siwa

At just nine years old, JoJo Siwa became the youngest competitor on Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, the spinoff competition series to Dance Moms.

In 2016, Siwa shot to fame when her songs "Boomerang" and "I Can Make You Dance" went viral, and she became a superstar among the tween set.

Five years later, the dancing phenom, then 17, came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

"Personally I have never, ever, ever been this happy before and it feels really awesome. I've been happy for a little bit now. It's just so, so, so awesome," Siwa said during an Instagram Live. "You guys probably haven't seen me this happy since I was on tour."

Rachel Robinson

Life is all about family for former Road Rules and The Challenge star Rachel Robinson.

She and her partner, Natalie Gee, welcomed twin boys Jesse and Jack in 2017 and announced they got married in the same post.

“The world is brighter, this life has more meaning, oh & we got married today — please refer to @natgeebeauty as my wife. Thanks 😘 ,” Robinson wrote.

The pair later welcomed a baby girl — Ari Gee Robinson — in 2018.

Latrice Royale

Latrice Royale first graced our small screens in 2012 on season 4 of RuPauls Drag Race, came in fourth place and walked away with the title of Miss Congeniality her original season.

Her big personality and memorable backstory (going from serving 18 months in prison for missing a probation meeting in 2006 to becoming a Drag Race contestant just a few years later) made her a fan favorite, and Royale came back again for RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars seasons 1 and 4.

Jazz Jennings

Jazz Jennings became a face of LGBTQ+ advocacy at a young age, as one of the youngest documented children with gender dysphoria who told her story on 20/20 and The Rosie Show. In 2015, she began starring in a TLC show, I Am Jazz, which has followed her through adolescence and into her college years at Harvard.

Unfortunately, that comes with a price as she told PEOPLE, “I get death threats almost on a daily basis. People will comment on my photos saying, 'Burn in hell. Kill yourself. You're in abomination.'"

She continued, "But when someone sends a threat to where you live and they know your location, it's a really, really scary feeling knowing that someone is kind of stalking you a little bit and they have these ill intentions."

Still, Jennings chooses to march forward without fear or hesitation. “I know I can handle a lot and that I have a thick skin, and life has challenged and tested me in so many ways," she told PEOPLE ahead of the season 8 premiere of the TLC show. "Looking back like, Damn, I'm a badass bitch. And I know it and I claim that."

Audrey Middleton

Big Brother welcomed its first trans contestant when Middleton entered the competition series in 2015.

Though she was eliminated early on in the game, Middleton became an early fan favorite as she was open about her transitioning journey. However, in 2019, she alleged that the decision to reveal she was trans wasn't necessarily hers.

"The producers told me, there was so much positivity around Caitlyn Jenner’s coming out, they didn’t want to be the only network airing negativity," she wrote in a thread on Twitter. "They said if I didn’t come out it would look bad and then told me I should come out when the [Champagne] was popped. #BB21."

CBS refuted the tweets, telling Newsweek, "Audrey made it clear that she wanted to use this platform as an opportunity to openly share her story, which we completely respected was hers to tell. We were then, and remain now, excited and proud to have had her on the show and continue to consider her a part of our Big Brother family."

Zeke Smith

When Zeke Smith joined Survivor in 2017, he planned on playing his best game, with zero intentions of coming out as trans.

That decision was taken away from him by fellow castmate Jeff Varner, who outed him during a tribal meeting in an effort to paint him as "deceitful" and turn fellow competitors against him.

“I think he hoped others would believe that trans people are dangerous and fraudulent," he told PEOPLE. "That reasoning is infinitely worse than him outing me because it’s the same one used to discriminate against, attack and murder trans people."

Thankfully, no one took the bait.

“What’s great is that nobody bought it," Smith said. "It’s important people see he lost that fight. The message should be clear that hate will always lose.”

In 2022, Smith proposed to his longtime beau, Superstore actor Nico Santos during the GLAAD Media Awards.

Kaycee Clark

Another history maker, Kaycee Clark became the first openly lesbian winner of CBS' Big Brother when she took home the $500,000 cash prize in 2018's season 20 of the hit show. The then-30-year-old fan favorite beat out Tyler Crispen, who was the purported front-runner throughout the show.

Clark's win came five years after Andy Herren, the first openly gay man, took home the grand prize in 2013.

Following her stint on Big Brother, Clark went on to compete in The Challenge franchise and took home another 'W' when she won The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies in 2021. She is currently in a long-term relationship with The Challenge fan-favorite Nany Gonzalez.

Are You The One Season 8

Though MTV's dating show (with the premise that a bunch of hot singles are flown to an island where they must try to find which of the contestants their producer-designated "perfect match") had been going on since 2014, the show's 2019 cast was comprised of sexually fluid, bisexual and nonbinary members so that there were no limits on potential love matches. This led to compelling TV well beyond the hookup factor; Time declared, "Instead of representing small variations on ideal male and female bodies in search of their diametric opposite on the gender spectrum, each comes across as an individual looking for a person who really gets them."

Chrishell Stause

The journey to finding love was a bit complicated for Stause, who — for most of her life — identified as being straight. In an interview with Vogue Australia, she even admitted to kissing girls her whole life, but "more for the guys' reaction."

However, an encounter with Australian singer G Flip (who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns) led her to see things differently.

The two first met in 2021, and shared a kiss while at the Selling Sunset star's home in February 2022. Though she was still unsure, Stause said she felt an attraction to the "Get Me Outta Here" singer, and that started to change her outlook on dating: "[It] opened my brain up to the fact that I'm attracted to energy, not whatever physical thing that people have in their head. I don't have a type."

The love connection clearly stuck, as the lovebirds announced they tied the knot in a non-traditional ceremony on May 10.

Francesca Farago

On May 2, Too Hot to Handle and Perfect Match alum Francesca Farago announced she was officially engaged to her boyfriend, TikTok star Jesse Sullivan, who is trans.

"WE'RE ENGAGED🤍 a glimpse into the most magical night ever💍 obsessed with our family.. what is life !!" Farago captioned a carousel of images from the special moment.

The two began dating shortly after Farago filmed Perfect Match in 2022.

Alex Newell

Being the breakout contestant on The Glee Project launched a big career on Broadway for Newell, who became a superstar through their showstopping parts on Broadway's Once On This Island and Shucked, as well as TV roles in Zoey's Infinite Playlist and more.

Newell, who is nonbinary and uses he/she/them pronouns, broke a boundary in 2023 (along with Some Like It Hot's J. Harrison Ghee) by being the first openly nonbinary people to be nominated for a Tony Award.

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