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Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that reality TV is a guilty pleasure many of us share. 

Do you ever find yourself rolling your eyes at ads for tacky reality shows but once it starts you become sucked in? 

There is something about these bottom of the barrel shows that keep us hooked. Of course, there are those of us who don’t like reality TV (liars) and those who love it (honest people) 

Here are the best guilty pleasure Australian Reality TV shows we all can’t help but watch. 

Married at first sight (MAFS)

Unless you have been living under a rock you should know what MAFS is all about.

For those of you that don’t know it basically involves several single people meeting for the first time at their “wedding”

Well, it’s not really a legal wedding but that’s a different story. 

When MAFS started in 2015 it was marketed as a wholesome TV show about singles looking for love. And that is why it didn’t do well in the ratings in its first few years. 

In 2018 everything changed. The once wholesome show was flooded with fights and cheating scandals and it was brilliant. Ratings went up and Australia was hooked. 

Let’s face it, none of us are watching MAFS for the love stories. We’re all watching for one thing and that is the DRAMA.

If you want to watch I suggest skipping the first 4 boring seasons and going straight to season 5. You can watch it all on 9NOW and you will be hooked. Trust me. 

The next season of MAFS airs on February 3, 2020, and I don’t know what to do with myself until then.  

Bride and Prejudice

This is show is a real whirlwind. The show follows couples on their journey to getting married. Sounds boring right? Wrong. There is one problem. One or more members of the couple’s family disapprove of the upcoming wedding and not for reasons you may think. 

There is one woman who dislikes her son’s fiance simply because his fiance wears hair extensions, fake tan, and fake nails. There are several parents who disapprove of their children’s marriages simply because they are gay and even one woman who calls her son’s fiance a slut for no apparent reason whatsoever. 

While some of the parent’s concerns are completely justified most are not. Most of these parents will have you screaming at your TV.

Tragically one of the participants in the 2019 season passed away in December 2019 of a drug overdose. His mother in law to be disapproved on him because of his history of drug use. 

It appears that the Australian series is no longer available for streaming on the 7plus website but you can watch the US version still here. 

Seven-year Switch 

The name of this show was inspired by the phrase “seven-year itch”. Basically it is insinuating that couples start to grow tired of one-another after the 7-year mark in their relationship. Charming. Who said true love no longer exists. 

The show follows couples with SEVERE relationship problems.

Instead of counseling or just going their separate ways, the couples decide to participate in a trashy reality TV show. 

At the beginning of the show, the couples switch spouses and participate in a simulated marriage with a complete stranger. What could go wrong? Two people with problematic relationships on the verge of separating pretending to be married. 

The Australian version on Seven-Year Switch is no longer on the 7Plus website but they do have the US version for some reason. 

My Kitchen Rules 

My Kitchen Rules (MKR) is allegedly about people inviting others into their homes for a dinner party. The couple throwing the dinner party cooks a three-course meal for their guests. While this may sound like a major snooze fest don’t worry. Australian reality TV producers know how to make anything interesting, 

This show is not about cooking and pleasant dinner parties. They aren’t fooling anyone. We all know It’s about the drama and the villains. One thing you will learn from watching MKR is that there are always villains in each season. Some of the villains are so unbelievably evil that most viewers believe they are paid-actors. 

A cooking show doesn’t last for 10 seasons without some entertainment. You can watch last year’s season on the 7PLUS website.

Real Housewives of Melbourne

This show forces wealthy and bitchy Melbourne women to hang out with each other. There is something so entertaining about watching people who live in the same city as you but have 100000 times more money than you do. 

Apprently these women are friends but they seem to hate each other. 

If you watch you can think to yourself “ wow maybe I can be that bitchy to my friends one day” 

You can watch it now on Foxtel. 

Yummy Mummies 

This show follows new and wealthy* mothers who make having a baby all about who can spoil their newborn the most. The babies are decked out in designer outfits that they immediately grow out of or vomit on. 

As a gift for giving birth one of the mothers is gifted a Rolex and one is gifted a brand new Range Rover.

Not all of the mothers in the show are“rich” I mean one of them has a boyfriend who is a  part-time barber and she is unemployed. Nonetheless, she has somehow spent 1000’s of dollars on expensive baby clothes. 

If you love watching women compete, and fat shame each other after giving birth you can watch it now on Netflix.

Don’t tell the Bride Australia 

This show provides couples with a free wedding up the value of $20,000. There is only one catch. The groom plans the entire wedding. Everything from the dress to the venue. All the bride has to do is show up on the day. 

Surprisingly some of the grooms get it right but a lot of them get it very wrong. 

It makes for some great entertainment. 

Love Island 

Most Australians probably wouldn’t make it onto this show and that is probably because most of the contestants aren’t over 25 and have the most perfect beach bodies you have ever seen. 

Contestants on this show pretty much spend the duration of the show in bikinis or board shorts. 

A house full of young and attractive people usually causes a lot of antics. Cheating scandals, fights, it has it all. 

 

Beauty and The Geek Australia

This show ran for 5 seasons and between 2009 and 2014. The show featured 8 stereotypical beautiful women and 8 stereotypical geeks and paired them together. I can’t help but think that this show would be highly offensive today. 

In one season they shook things up a bit and had a male beauty and a female geek. I would have liked to see more female geeks on the show. 

It was actually really beautiful when people from different walks of life came together and learned from each other. 

You can still watch all 5 seasons on the 7Plus website. Check it out.