Last week I touched on the process of getting into reality television – what draws people to participate in reality television. Of course, there is the actual reality television portion, but what happens after the show? There is the instant fame (a reason why people go on shows in the first place) and of course they get that for a while. This fame at times could manifest itself for a long time or short amount of time. Regardless, it is immediate and can have a serious influence on what happens to the contestant after the show. The aftermath of reality television is too much to be covered in one post, so this topic will be covered over a few weeks.

The first aspect covered is the impact that your personality on the show has on how your post reality days may unveil. If your role was clearly the villain, this could result in turmoil when back in the real world. There is no hiding in a remote location that can deflect from the wrath of people’s beliefs and social media. The backlash can be brutal and likely could over scrutinize every decision made by that contestant. On the flip side, America could fall in love with a contestant putting them temporarily in the category of America’s sweethearts. If this is the case, they will experience lots of love and support, probably an overwhelming amount that could potentially be too exaggerated as well. The point I am trying to make is this all adds to the false sense of reality television.

When I began to research real accounts of life after reality television, I was surprised to see so many positive accounts. On many of the follow ups of the shows there are usually stories about how contestants were ruined after their television run, and they are never taken seriously again. However, I was able to find some success stories. Kristen Kish, the 2012 winner of Top Chef expressed that the success was too overwhelming and she could not keep up with it. She had to turn down jobs because she couldn’t keep up. Wish expressed a regret when having to say no to customers because “it was just so glamorous.”

Clayton English, the winner of the ninth season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing has claimed that his phone has been ringing ever since. When asked about the afterlife of reality television English expressed that he has seen “nothing but benefits to his win.” There is truly success that can come along with reality television. However, it takes the talent to backup this success that becomes the most important aspect to riding the reality television wave. The actions on the show could be what puts a person on the map. This is where they become a household name that glorifies their success.

But, what happens when they don’t have a talent to use to elongate the success? Odds are you could see them on another show in a couple of years. Scripted reality may be all they are good at….