PR relationships, a marriage that was over before it made it to reruns,
and a Disney Princess's rejection — we can only be talking about reality TV.
Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries
Unless you've just recently been found in ice by scientists and thawed out,
you're most likely well aware that the 72-day fairytale marriage of Kim
Kardashian and former NBA baller Kris Humphries was at least in part fantasy.
"Scared?"
"Am I scared?"
"Yeah!"
"A little nervous."
"I would be!"
According to Radar, aspects of the allegedly faked relationship were
exposed by a producer of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," who admitted to scripting,
reshooting, or editing certain scenes in a deposition pertaining
to Humphries' court battle with Kardashian — supposedly including the proposal scene.
"Uh, you have a ring?!"
"WHAT?!"
"It’s a fake ring."
"What is on your hand?!"
"Is this real or is this a joke?"
In their drawn-out divorce proceedings — which unfortunately lasted much longer
than their union — Humphries claimed that their televised and famously lavish wedding
was also contrived by the show's producers for ratings.
In his 2019 NBA retirement announcement in The Player's Tribune,
Humphries didn't exactly mince words about his high-profile fauxmance, writing in part:
"I should have known what I was getting into."
Meanwhile, Kardashian has also spoken out about their short-lived marriage,
even stating during the "KUWTK" 2021 reunion special that she felt
"pressured" to tie the knot, according to People magazine.
Not to mention, during an episode of the Hulu series "The Kardashians" the following year,
when Kardashian asked Scott Disick for advice for
an upcoming wedding speech she was to deliver at Simon Huck's nuptials,
she seemingly threw shade at her marriage to Humphries. She shared with Yahoo! Life:
"I feel like after 'SNL' the pressure is mounting. So I think I'll say something along the lines of,
'I love a gay wedding. I haven't been to one since my second wedding!'"
Lauren Conrad and Brody Jenner
When it comes to reality television romances, Brody Jenner and Lauren Conrad's faces would
appear on the genre's Mt. Rushmore if we had that sort of thing, right? But for fans of "The Hills,"
your fairytale romance dreams are probably more like the stuff of nightmares.
If there was an award for most convincing fake relationship ever, Jenner and Conrad would take
home the prize. The original MTV series aired from 2006 through 2010, but Jenner
continued playing his role until 2014, when he finally came clean on his podcast. He admitted:
"Lauren and I have always been just friends.
We had to pretend like we were dating but we never dated."
If Jenner could be that convincing on camera,
we're going to assume he's never really off the market. In 2019, Jenner sat down with ET's Keltie
Knight and stated the "chemistry" they had as friends had the producers salivating, revealing:
"I think that they, the producers, really wanted us to keep that going,
even though we just wanted to be friends. It was so easy to film
scenes with her and do stuff and act like we were [together], because we really did
enjoy each other's company. We really liked each other, just not in that romantic way."
Caitlyn Jenner and Candis Cayne
Faking reality TV romances seems to run in the family,
as Caitlyn Jenner has also come under fire for a potentially faux relationship on "I Am Cait”.
"You’re the type of person that’s going to date their best friend."
According to Radar, all that flirting between the former Olympian and trans actor Candis Cayne was
reportedly staged for dramatic effect. Rumor has it, Cayne auditioned to be on the reality TV show
and, after landing a spot, was then introduced to Jenner. A source claimed to the gossip site:
"Caitlyn didn't just meet all of these already famous transgender people by accident.
They were cast and, yes, they are getting paid."
It seems Jenner was more in the friend zone with Cayne, who told Access in 2015:
"We're just really, really good friends."
Kenya Moore and Walter Jackson
"The Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Kenya Moore always seemed to be unlucky in love,
leaving fans of the show wondering if she would ever settle down.
That all changed in 2012 when she started dating Walter Jackson. But once again,
Moore quickly found herself in a relationship that fizzled out fast.
"My relationship is fine. And, most importantly, it’s my business."
Looks like Moore was being serious when she said it was her business.
In 2014, Jackson revealed that the entire relationship
was fake — cooked up by Moore to give herself more screen time. He explained to The Richest:
"Kenya is a great actress; you have to give her that. She's very good entertainment,
and the viewers want to tune in and watch what she's going to do or say next,
but nothing you see is real, I mean come on, does anyone actually believe what she says anymore?"
"That’s what we call a premium appearance fee."
Farrah Abraham and Brian Dawe
In January 2014, Radar exposed a VH1 scandal for the reality TV history books.
According to the site, "Teen Mom" alum Farrah Abraham was scheduled to appear
on the network's hit show "Couples Therapy" with her supposed boyfriend,
Brian Dawe. The only catch? The couple reportedly wasn't a couple.
Dawe apparently got cold feet before filming, which landed him in hot water with Abraham
and Irwin Entertainment, the reality show's production company.
According to legal documents shared on the site, Dawe was reportedly told he'd face
serious legal ramifications if he didn't participate on the show.
Despite the alleged pressure, Dawe didn't break, telling Starcasm:
"I decided my morals and integrity were worth more than any amount of money. I stepped out
of the security line [at the airport] and made a life-changing decision to stand up for what
I believe in and turn down the check I would be receiving for my appearance on this show."
For her part, Abraham still went through with the televised therapy, saying her boyfriend
"disappeared" — and later claimed on social media that their relationship had been the real deal.
Joshua Albers and Tenley Molzahn
Still reeling from her breakup with "Bachelor Pad's" Kiptyn Locke,
Tenley Molzahn joined the 2015 cast of "Bachelor in Paradise" in search of
love — by using the same franchise that had burned her twice before.
This time around, a smarter, more experienced Molzahn reportedly charmed co-contestant
Joshua Albers and convinced him to stick with her through the season
finale to supposedly cash in on the publicity.
That's according to Reality Steve, anyway, everyone's favorite Bachelor-Bachelorette
guru. Steve allegedly revealed to International Business Times:
"She was never going to continue a relationship
with Josh outside of this show — but she sure made him think she would.”
Former Disney Princess turned brilliant badass? We can't say for certain. But Molzahn
eventually got married to another man named Taylor Leopold in 2018,
and the pair welcomed their first child in 2020.
For his part, Albers railed against the producers of "Bachelor in Paradise" for
allegedly editing scenes to make it seem like he struggled with drug addiction, telling TMZ:
"I don't know how 'Bachelor in Paradise' producers sleep at night.”
After a quick scroll through his Instagram,
it appears that Albers is now happily married to a former Army officer,
and the couple have two children. We guess everything worked out okay for everyone, huh?
You might want to sit down for this shocking news, because we're back to "The Hills" again. We feel
you clutching your pearls as you hear this. One of our favorite reality TV show relationships
was the tumultuous coupling of Beverly Hills girl-next-door Audrina Patridge and Justin Bobby.
Alas, Bobby told the Los Angeles Times in 2009 that their romance
was a farce and described his love life as a "dating montage."
Like Brody Jenner and Lauren Conrad, he claimed the pair were just good friends
and said producers edited their scenes to make it look and feel like the couple was an item.
When straight up asked if he and Patridge were ever romantically involved, he added:
"Realistically, no. I've only had two loves of my life."
"It was— we were mostly friends, for the most part."
The show has been around so long that it eventually got what everything does that's
popular — a reboot. Bobby and Patridge crossed paths once again in "The Hills:
New Beginnings," and the status of their relationship sounded more like acquaintances
running into each other at a funeral, with Patridge revealing to Us Weekly in 2020:
"I haven't seen him since the finale, but I'll be seeing him again once we start filming, I'm sure."