How does participating in reality TV effect mental health?

The dictionary definition of Reality TV is “Television programs in which ordinary

people are continuously filmed, designed to be entertaining rather than
informative” and actually dates all the way back to the 1940’s. Candid Camera,
from the late 40’s, is classed as the first example of reality TV as the contestants
were exposed to pranks or daft situations. This was classed as reality TV as it
was entertaining, unscripted and not informative.
Big Brother was a big change in reality TV. It first aired in the summer of 2000
but the concept was first created in 1949. The premise was from a novel called
Nineteen Eighty-Four, which is about a man’s struggle with a powerful
figurehead called Big brother. The novel, by George Orwell, shows a bleak future
where everyone is under surveillance. The show Big Brother was originally
started in the Netherlands but it caught the attention of executive producer, Ruth
Wrigley, who brought the show over to the UK. As Big Brother was new, the first
lot of contestants weren’t sure how to react or what to do but it then became
more problematic afterwards due to the new contestants being aware of what
happens so they didn’t have as much of a surprise.

I will be looking into reality TV and how it affects mental health of those who
take part, present and even those who watch. According to metro.co.uk, 38
suicides have been caused from reality TV after finding TV fame. I will be
focusing on Love Island and Geordie Shore as they both have different formats,
Love Island is to ‘couple up’ with the person you love or fancy and Geordie Shore
doesn’t have a goal but to entertain the audience with a series of episodes of
endless nights out.

Starting with Love Island, Presenter Caroline Flack committed suicide on

February 15th in her East London Flat. In reaction to recent articles before she
died, Flack wrote in an unpublished Instagram post “I am suddenly on a different
kind of stage and everyone is watching it happen”. The post was written before
she passed but advisors told her not to post it. The stage that is being referred to
is from the attention that was received due to allegations of assault on her
boyfriend Lewis Burton. I believe that without these allegations, Flack would
most likely be alive today.

Love Island contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon have also committed
suicide since being on the show. Mike Thalassitis has previously been liked to
having mental health issues on twitter by liking tweets such as “We could be
standing right beside someone who feels completely broken or facing the battle
of their lives and have no idea.” The Sun Online had reported that Thalassitis had
been battling depression for 6 months, taking anti depressants and tried to go
back to football. Where Thalassitis was found, it was in a park in Edmonton,
which he used to play as a child. I do believe that this could have been on
purpose to show that he missed being a child and his old life before TV but this
isn’t a proven fact.
As for Sophie Gradon, she also struggled with mental illness, tweeting things
such as “Anxiety is real!” and the advise of “Exercise. Take time to be alone and
focus on you and things you enjoy” when a fan asked how to cope with bad
anxiety. After leaving the villa, Sophie admitted that the intense experience left
her feeling “fucked up``. 20 days after Gradon’s suicide, partner Aaron Armstrong
also took his own life.

Geordie Shores Holly Hagan has previously talked about her “crippling anxiety”
during her time on Geordie Shore. Online on thesun.co.uk there is an article
about Holly Hagan stating “Holly admitting she had a huge panic attack just five
minutes before the picture was taken”. This shows that it isn’t just the suicides
from Love Island that are an issue as more reality stars have mental health
issues. Hagan gets a lot of hate from trolls, which she opened up about on MTV’s
Geordie OG’s, and stated on Twitter “I can’t understand why people feel the need
to be so nasty to me over social media” this takes an impact on her mental health
as it is constant and by hundreds of people.
Another Geordie Shore star, Charlotte Crosby, suffered depression but this was
through a personal experience of which she shared to spread awareness. In April
2016, Crosby suffered from an ectopic pregnancy and then battled depression
because of this. I have researched into this as Crosby used her high social status
to raise awareness of the ectopic pregnancy and her depression. Having both of
these situations from celebrities helps to raise awareness to those unaware of
them with their high social profiles.

According to YouGov, 24% of young people aged 18-24 have said that reality TV
give them worry over their body image and more than one in seven have self
harmed due to heir body image. I believe that this is because reality TV isn’t a
reality at all, reality TV consists of young good looking people to draw in an
audience as if it were a mix of body types then less people would watch it as it
wouldn’t appeal to them. In 2019, Anna Vakili entered the villa as a plus sized
contestant after complaints that the contestants are “too skinny”. Vakili has a flat
tummy but is a tiny bit curvier than the other contestants. It is actions like this
that cause mental health issues, Vakili being classed as plus size when she clearly
isn’t and viewers at home will feel more negative towards themselves, thinking
that they’ve even bigger than the “plus sized” girl.

In conclusion, I have found that reality TV stars are known for getting mental
health issues, as the shows have to have after care programs and extra support.
There is also a lot of hate on social media as there is endless comments on posts
by trolls commenting on stars life choices, bodies, faces and actions. This can’t be
nice, as it will affect their mental health knowing that whatever they do, someone
will judge them. After finding the statistics, I am shocked over how many people
are affected by reality TV stars and their bodies. I feel with a lot of diversity
within the shows that the number will drop as the younger viewers will feel its
okay with their bodies 0