Redditors who have been on a reality tv show such as Hardcore Pawn or Pimp my ride or Pawn stars how FAKE was it?

This goes back a while, maybe ten years now. American Idol.

My wife at the time, who would normally condemn reality TV, decided to try out for the show.

They held a huge event at Mile High Stadium, with more than 6,000 contestants. I didn't attend that event, but she made the cut along with a couple hundred others.

The second event was held at the Center for Performing Arts in Denver. An absolutely massive structure with indoor rooms the size of football fields. We lined up outside at 6am with the other contest "winners". Each contestant had two or three family members or friends with them.

We spent about four hours being slowly herded into the facility, passing security, ID, and disclosure form checkpoints. Throughout this process the contestants and most of their family members cheered and sang songs, often guided by a handful of costumed and very eccentric "contestants" who I'm certain were paid actors.

I should mention that I did not want to be in this place. The fact that my wife was willingly participating in this shallow bullshit corporate festival bothered me. This was the girl who had introduced me to punk rock. How the fuck did we get here?

Eventually we arrived in a giant room filled with hundreds of folding chairs, a few cameras, some audio equiptment and nothing else. Except for the song. One song that played on a loop over and over. This was the song that the contestants were supposed to memorize and then perform in groups of a dozen or so in front of a judge.

Slowly, over the course of half a day, the groups were called out to sing their song. Occasionally a contestant would return to report that they had been singled out in the group competition and were advancing to the next level of competition. A closed curtain solo performance in front of one of the shows producers.

My wife was in one of the last groups to be called out. And despite my most desperate prayers, begging the gods to let this madness end, to let me go home, she again made the cut.

You know that scene in American Idol where the family is standing on a flashy TV set, anxiously waiting for there loved one to emerge from the door behind them with either a ticket to success or bitter dissapointment?

When my wife came through the door I froze for a second and then pretended to support her. Pretended to comfort her in her dissapointment. It sounds horrible, I know. But I've never been more relieved by failure.

/r/AskReddit Thread