The Best Reality Shows of 2023 Will Have You Absolutely Glued to Your Couch
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below."
The words of Sylvia Plath, Oscar Wilde, and Emily Dickinson mark one generation. The music from John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix mark another. And the voices on Too Hot to Handle, 90 Day Fiancé , and Love is Blind mark ours. What other generation, with our myriad advancements and enlightened worldview, could craft such cultural touch points as “the boom boom room” and “the duck phone,” and spend 12+ hours watching twelve hot people try not to fornicate in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In reality television, we’ve found an eternally renewable resource. We have shows about getting married and getting divorced. We have shows about finding “the one” and dating 20+ people. We have shows about hot people, housewives, plastic surgeons, deckhands, hoarders, and New Jersey. We’ve brought camera crews to every corner of the earth, we’ve become attention colonizers and insatiable consumers.
The effects of reality television on modern society are immeasurable and significant. We’ve even entered a new era of diplomacy, with Americans using Love Island UK sourced phrases like “mugged off” and “banter” in everyday conversation. That’s the power of reality television. So for those who pride themselves on being “born in the wrong generation,” we encourage you to look at what we’ve achieved, what we’ve made together. Marvel in it. Anywho, here are the newest and most anticipated reality shows of the year.
MILF Manor
TLC’s latest crime, MILF Manor invites eight mother-son pairs to a Love Island-style villa, where unchained Freudian chaos ensues. With four episodes currently available to stream, aptly named with puns like “MILF Said Knock You Out” and “She’s a Bad MILF Jama,” MILF Manor has been giving the internet much to discuss. Start streaming, join the conversation, call your mom.
The Traitors
Peacock’s newest murder mystery reality competition stars 20 contestants, all former reality show stars, and is hosted by Alan Cumming. Familiar names include former Bachelor Arie Luyendyk Jr., Below Deck’s Kate Chastain, Summer House’s Kyle Cook, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Brandi Glanville. Here’s how the game works: a handful of contestants, chosen by host Cumming, are labeled “traitors” and given the task of eliminating the “faithfuls” and claiming the $250,000 prize pot for themselves. Imagine “Among Us” IRL, that’s The Traitors.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15
Season 15 of Drag Race kicked off with a bang (bang), featuring guest judge Ariana Grande. The latest season of the Emmy winning competition series features the largest cast in Drag Race herstory competing for the largest cash prize. With only a handful of episodes currently streaming, the new season has already left its mark on the culture with soundbites like “walk that f*cking duck” and Sugar’s “Snatch Game” performance as Trisha Paytas.
The Bachelor season 27
ABC’s hit dating series returned to our screens in January, starring Zach Shallcross. After far too many seasons, The Bachelor continues to pull a sizable audience, though it’s no longer clear who is watching in earnest and who is watching in irony. Does it make things more exciting to say that Bachelor Zach was a DJ in college? Does it? Are we excited? Anyways, stream now.
Bling Empire: New York
The latest spinoff from the hit Netflix series Bling Empire dropped on January 20 and follows Dorothy Wang in her move from Los Angeles to New York. Wang previously starred in the second season of Bling Empire and the vintage E! reality series, Rich Kids of Beverly Hills. Alongside Wang, this new series follows six other affluent New Yorkers as they brush shoulders with the 1 percent.
Darcey & Stacey season 4
The 90 Day Fiancé alums Darcey and Stacey Silva are back with the fourth season of their spin-off reality show. The season kicks off with a sister feud at sea, wedding plans, and matchmaking services.
Perfect Match
A new reality series for Netflix, Perfect Match is set to star familiar faces from our favorite reality shows including Too Hot to Handle, Love is Blind, and The Circle. Pulling the fan favorites from the entire repertoire of Netflix reality content, Perfect Match will take place in—you guessed it—a villa (seriously, is Love Island getting residuals at this point?). The series premieres on Netflix on Valentine’s Day and will be hosted by Nick Lachey.
Real Housewives of New York City season 14
At BravoCon 2022, it was announced that the Real Housewives of New York would be split into two series, following a notably bad final RHONY season. RHONY: Legacy would star iconic original cast members including Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan, though the official contracted housewives are unconfirmed. The standard Real Housewives of New York season 14 would feature a cast of new names, including former J. Crew creative director Jenna Lyons. Amid recent cancellation rumors (as vaguely debunked by Andy Cohen?), RHONY: Legacy has no slated air date. Filming has reportedly wrapped on the 14th season of Real Housewives of New York City, with the premiere expected later this year.
Love Is Blind season 4
Everyone’s favorite Netflix reality show will return in 2023 with a fourth season, and while no release date has been announced yet, we can confirm that filming has wrapped. The series’ third season brought the drama, delivering two successful marriages and one iconic clementine feud.
The Ultimatum: Queer Love
Following the success of this pilot season, The Ultimatum will return to Netflix this year with a sophomore season reportedly titled The Ultimatum: Queer Love, and will feature an all-queer, mostly female cast. There’s no formal premiere date yet, but filming wrapped in 2022, so we can expect this series’ return sooner rather than later.
You Might Also Like
