Reality Show Contestants Are Speaking Out About The Real Effects Being On TV Had On Their Mental Health
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Recently, some contestants from Netflix's Love Is Blind have started speaking out on how participating in the series impacted their mental health, and not for the better.
But it's far from the only reality show to have talent come out of it disenchanted with the experience. Many reality stars have come to speak out about the negative effects of having such a public life, going from an average person to being a nationally-recognized figure, and how it can all affect your mental health.
1.Former Miss Great Britain Zara Holland, who was on Love Island in 2016, spoke out in 2018 about her experience, telling BBC Newsbeat that after leaving the show, she "noticed a massive change in my personality."
"I kind of had no go-to at all, and I wasn't really that happy," she said. "I never thought I'd be able to get out of this dark place I went to. It was really hard. It was a very weird experience, and I never thought I'd be able to get better."
After seeking help, she was prescribed an anti-depressant, sharing, "When I sat down and talked to them, we together pulled out the target points that triggered everything off, and unfortunately, that was from going on Love Island."
2.When Tully Smyth appeared on TV Blackbox in 2022 to talk about getting the villain edit in her 2013 season of Big Brother.
While she celebrated improvements to the show's process, she noted that her first time on the show was "horrendous," adding, "I had no support. … I had to reach out to the producers and tell them I was going to find my own psychologist, and they were going to be paying the bill. 'You caused me all this drama. You can pay for it… you did this.'"
3.The Bachelor's Clayton Echard told the Arizona Republic he "desperately" needed therapy a year after his stint on the show.
"I (had) a therapist from the show. And I got one pretty quickly from the time that I asked for it. I think (producers) realized, like, how badly I needed it,” he said. “There are resources (offered by the show), and I won't say there's a lack. The only thing I'll say is that I just think that it's sad that it's almost like you need it."
"I needed it desperately," he continued. "And I'm like, I don't like the fact that we're getting individuals to a point where they desperately need it.”
4.Chelsea Vaughn had a similar experience as The Bachelorette in late 2020, with her season airing in 2021.
"I had never felt like I'd experienced symptoms of depression before the show,” Vaughn told Arizona Republic. “I was not diagnosed ever — still to this day — but obviously, I'm aware now I have anxiety, and I probably had a little bit beforehand. But it was like, if I had a little before the show, maybe it was 5% — and after the show, it was 95%. Like, it was a very large, drastic change.”
5.Singer David Archuleta has talked about how his time on American Idol impacted his relationship with his dad and his mental health, telling Yahoo! Entertainment that competing "has its own kind of PTSD that comes with it."
Noting he started working with a therapist that specializes in reality TV contestants, Archuleta continued, "You’re basically a character on a TV show, and parts of it are worked so that it fits the TV show — but they’re using your personal life. So, you become this character, but it’s with your own name, parts of who you actually are, but other parts that are portrayed in a way that you’re not actually. Then everyone feels like they know you, and they know what you are, and they know how to treat you, and have certain expectations. … This was years ago, right? But there’s still certain things about us that we still had certain little tics that we’re paranoid about certain things. … Eight, nine, 10, 11 years later, we’re still kind of stuck in some of those patterns of thinking."
6.America's Next Top Model Cycle 12 contestant Aminat Ayinde slammed her time on the show as "traumatizing" after she alleged she was forced to use a hair relaxer she knew she was allergic to because it was "what Tyra wants."
Ayinde told Insider, "This is when I understood: Tyra doesn't give a f--k. The whole thing really left the most disgusting taste in my mouth. And honestly, I lost all respect."
7.Australian Survivor contestant Matt Tarrant opened up on Reddit about his mental health experience in 2016.
Comment by u/MattTarrantAu from discussion The Experience of Survivor Players Suffering from Mental Illness. (What is it like for them?) in survivor
8.Season 8 RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Thorgy Thor talked about how increased visibility after competing on the show can add to the mental pressures that come with a career in drag.
“I personally have dealt with major depression and anxiety my entire life. But I’m very vocal about it,” they told HuffPost. “I’ve come to a point in my life where when things become a little too much, it’s time to take a step back.”
“Look at what we do for a living! Every day, all day — we never sleep, we perform, people expect us in the subway to ‘turn on the fun’ when we don’t feel like it or we’re just shopping at the grocery store,” Thor added. “You have to be on all of the time! Especially within a gay spectrum as an entertainer, you go fucking crazy. But you have to know when it’s enough."
9.America's Got Talent winner Grace VanderWaal said she's "definitely faced the mental repercussions" of life in the spotlight after her win.
"I'm human, and obviously things hurt sometimes," she told E! News of negative social media comments. "I feel like I've been doing this for so long that you get desensitized to hate online. I went through a ton of hate online when I was really young. I'm happy it happened, though, because it prepared me for this life."
10.Anastasia Miller, who competed on Real World: Portland and later The Challenge opened up about the mental health impact during a 2021 episode of Mike Lewis's podcast.
She continued, "I think the television aspect, with mental health and the show, I don't think that the show is what caused my problems. I think the show exacerbated everything I was dealing with, and the show traumatized me. Honestly, I don't think that some people are equipped to do and handle being on shows like this."
"It's not necessarily the source of the problem, but I don't think it helps people who are sick," she later concluded.
Do you think there needs to be changes to how reality TV treats its stars? Let's talk in the comments.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.
