10 Celebs Who Have Surprisingly Wanted to Be on Reality TV

You would think that most actors, singers, and other performers would want to stay far away from reality television. After all, actors and singers have things like talent. Whereas reality TV performers, well, we don’t want to be cruel, but…

Surprisingly, though, Hollywood stars are just as enamored with reality TV as the rest of us are. And many of those talented A-listers actually want to be on various reality shows! That’s right—the biggest stars on the planet binge-watch reality programs just like us. And then they fantasize about what it might be like to pop up on those shows themselves. Shocking, right?

In this list, we’ll tell the interesting and unexpected tales of ten incredibly famous people who have otherworldly talents that have rocketed them to fame and fortune but who nevertheless dream of the day they’ll get to appear on reality TV. These ten superstars would let it all out in front of the camera if the opportunity arose. Just imagine what it’d be like to see them being so “real” on television for a change!

Related: Top 10 Celebrities with Doppelgangers from the Past

10 Amy Schumer

Amy Schumer really, really loves The Bachelor. In fact, before she ended up getting married to her current husband, the stand-up comedian fell in love with the show so intensely that she was ready to star on it. To be fair, she had a few conditions when it came to taking up the reins on the reality TV juggernaut. But she desperately wanted to show up on one of the seasons and compete for the hearts and adoration of a hunky leading man. Still, though she begged to be on the show and pleaded to join the cast in one season, she did have one major ask: that the show allow her to be unapologetically herself.

“They would have to say, ‘We will let you be yourself,’” Amy explained to E! News upon admitting her dream to star in the series. “I would be very honest. The casting process would have to be different. First of all, their job descriptions are so weird. It’s like, ‘former investment banker.’ They’re like, ‘flower enthusiast.’ You’re like, ‘But what do you do? How come you could leave your life?’ I love when it’s like, ‘I have five kids at home, but I just came here to follow my heart.’ It’s like, ‘Maybe go take care of your kids?’ I would keep it very real.” That would be very funny, indeed. And that’s why we love her!^[1]

9 Kylie Minogue

The Australian pop star has one very simple dream when it comes to her life: to appear on RuPaul’s iconic reality television series Drag Race. Sure, Kylie may have done absolutely everything a pop princess could possibly do in the world. And sure, she may have throngs of adoring fans and decades of massive successes to boast about and tout as a living legend. But for her, life won’t be complete without an appearance on Drag Race.

But it’s not that she hasn’t tried! She has asked to pop up as a guest judge multiple times in the past. Unfortunately, though, her schedule has never worked out with the show’s filming plans. “Hell yeah,” Minogue bluntly told EW when they asked if she’d ever really do Drag Race in the future. “I mean, I have to, right? It’s well overdue, and I can totally see myself doing that, and I would love to. I think we’ve tried to do it before, but it’s just [conflicting] schedules.” Ah, well. Maybe one day, we hope!^[2]

8 Keke Palmer

Actress Keke Palmer became a fan of the reality TV show Survivor during the COVID-19 lockdown early in 2020. She had nothing else to do and was stuck at home all day (pretty much like all of us), so she decided to start watching the old seasons of the show. Naturally and quickly, she got hooked. So hooked, in fact, that she even tweeted CBS and asked when they were planning on doing a celebrity season of the show and if she could take part in it. That’s how you know you’re in deep, right?

A few years after that, Palmer went on the “Hot Ones” interview show. During her time eating hot wings and answering tough questions, she was asked about what her strategy would be should she ever actually go on Survivor. She explained: “I’m playing a social game, all the way. ‘Hey, what’s up, what’s up, what’s up? How y’all doing? Look, I’m gonna tell y’all right now, I really don’t know everything with this stuff, but I got y’all back with it.’ Then, when it gets toward them last things, I’m showing them how I know how to really hone it in. I’m pulling from the inside out. I’m going to the back of my mind with that meditation level of concentration. It’s going to come out of nowhere. I’m going to win every single one of those ones leading up to the final countdown, and I’m going to take it all home.” How cunning!^[3]

7 Neil Patrick Harris

Just like Keke Palmer, Neil Patrick Harris is a huge fan of Survivor. And he has been for a very long time, too—even long before the pandemic swept across the globe and locked us all down to watch marathons of the reality series inside our homes. No, Harris has been a fan of the show pretty much since its inception. He once even met up with the show’s host, Jeff Probst, at a Grammy party and begged for a shot at the series. In that meeting, Neil propositioned Jeff about hosting a celebrity version of the show. Just like Palmer, he wanted to see how celebs might fare stranded on a deserted island!

Probst revealed that conversation later on when People Magazine asked him about it. “Mark Burnett and I really want to do a celebrity version,” Jeff told the outlet. “We were just talking about this at a Grammy party last week. Neil Patrick Harris was there, and he told me flat out he wants to play. I challenged him and said, ‘Do you really want to do it, or is this just a fun fantasy that will never happen?’ He said, ‘I want to do it.’” Now, we’ll just have to see if it’ll ever actually happen! Sure would be fun to watch…^[4]

6 Billie Eilish

Three list items, three celebrities, and THREE Survivor fans! Let’s complete the trifecta with a look at Billie Eilish’s reality TV obsession, shall we? The pop superstar is also obsessed with Survivor, just like Keke Palmer and Neil Patrick Harris. And just like Palmer, Eilish got into it relatively late—years after the show first came on air. Billie actually watched the show for the very first time in 2022. It wasn’t quite what she expected at first. But she quickly fell in love with the strategy of the game and began to think about how she might play it were she ever on the show.

Speaking to Variety about her reality TV obsession, Billie said this about the show’s fascinating interplay between cast members; “I kind of had this idea that it was this, like, oh, you jump through a hoop and you, like, run through a thing. And it’s not. It is like people almost dying and s**t. I don’t know. I kind of wanna go on it.”

She continued, too, by referencing one celebrity who has already been on the show—television writer and producer Mike White. She reasoned: “What’s his name? Mike White, who went on? Amazing. That was actually the season I was watching when I wrote that line. I think that the physical stuff I’d be great at, but you have to do, like, math and s**t, and I would not be good at that.” Hey, we’ve all gotta know our strengths and weaknesses, right?^[5]

5 Katy Perry

Katy Perry already had a turn on a reality TV show: American Idol. Okay, so, to be technical, it was as a host—and not as a contestant. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t thinking about future reality TV appearances! The pop star can’t get enough of the genre, and she wants more. Specifically, just like Kylie Minogue before her, Katy has been begging to get on RuPaul’s iconic Drag Race so she can judge the fiery and fierce competition there.

“Oh, I want to,” she told Rolling Stone when the mag asked whether she’d ever go on RuPaul’s reality TV empire as a judge. “I think it’s just been timing, and it’s been one of those things where we tried to do it a couple of times, but the timing hasn’t worked out. I’m definitely going to do it in the future, I hope. Quite honestly, if it weren’t for drag queens, I probably wouldn’t have a career because I probably learned everything from them.” Well… at least she’s honest.^[6]

4 Jennifer Aniston

Even though Jennifer Aniston rose to fame on the sitcom Friends and then did a whole host of movies to follow, she has her eyes on something else entirely for the future: The Bachelor. Yes, really. How’s that for an unexpected left turn from one of the most famous women on the planet?

It’s not quite what you think, though. See, Jennifer doesn’t want to go on the show to find love for herself. Instead, she wants to pop up on The Bachelor to help the contestants through their problems and give them a shoulder to cry on. Think of her as the show’s prospective therapist… or something.

The sitcom alum explained her theory to InStyle Magazine once: “I think they need a psychologist or psychiatrist… There should be someone they can go and talk to. Okay, well, I’ll do that. Gladly. I’ll be the one picking roses in the rose garden.” We can’t imagine that role would really come up on the show in the future, but hey, you never know! Especially for somebody as famous as Jen!^[7]

3 John Mayer

Jennifer Aniston isn’t the only person who is a fan of The Bachelor. Ironically, her ex-boyfriend John Mayer is also a major supporter of the romantic reality TV series! And since Jennifer and John dated for a bit before splitting up in 2009, we can’t help but wonder whether they watched it together back in the day. Little do we know, but maybe celebrities really *are* like the rest of us, busy binging trashy reality TV offerings in their free time. Huh!

Anyways, John went on Ellen DeGeneres’s talk show back in 2017 and admitted to absolutely loving The Bachelor. It’s more than love, too—he wants to go on the show! But unlike Aniston, who wants to play the therapist for the romantic hopefuls and ill-fated contestants, John actually wants to *be* the bachelor leading the series. He doesn’t think he’d actually find love doing it, but he at least wants to try.

“I think it would be really fun to be the bachelor,’ he told Ellen DeGeneres during that talk show appearance back in the day. “I don’t think that I would find love there unless they would change the vetting process for who would be the contestants.” Jokingly, he then added: “Yeah, I think it would be one of the lowest-rated shows.” Not sure about that. Something tells us that a lot of people would tune in to see someone as famous as John try his hand at it!^[8]

2 KJ Apa

Model-turned-actor KJ Apa may be a beautiful and talented person in a lot of ways. But deep down underneath what we see on screen, he’s got an alter ego. And her name is Fifi! No, we’re actually not kidding about this. He has been developing the character since he was a child, with the purpose of using it to “express the feminine side” of his life, as he has explained to media outlets in the past. Accordingly, Fifi has a very keen interest in RuPaul’s Drag Race” reality TV show.

And even though KJ hasn’t done Fifi up in hair and makeup yet, the interest in drag makes that reality series a natural point of focus for the actor and his, um, alter ego. It is so much of an interest, in fact, that KJ has been lobbying his agents and management team for a chance to get on the show one day. But unlike a few of the celebs already listed here (Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry), he wants to be on it as a contestant and not a judge!

“I love watching RuPaul’s Drag Race and I’ve told my agents I want to be on that show,” the actor once told NME. “But at the same time, RuPaul’s Drag Race and the characters on that show, they’re the real deal; they’re the most authentic. I don’t think I’d be allowed on that show because I’m not the real deal. But why did I share Fifi with the world? Because it’s not something that I feel like I need to hide. I am proud of Fifi. I really enjoy that [side of myself].” Hey, whatever floats your boat, right?^[9]

1 Khloé Kardashian

Yeah, yeah, we already know what you are thinking: Khloé Kardashian is already on reality TV. So how could she be begging to be on it some more? That’s not a bad point. But here’s the thing: Khloé doesn’t want to do more reality TV within the KarJenner family broadcasting-slash-influencing empire. She wants to take part in the reality world of… drumroll please… Love Is Blind. That’s right! The uber-hit Netflix show has taken the streaming world by storm over the last few seasons. And just like the rest of us, Khloé got caught up in the excitement.

After meeting one of the show’s former (and most popular) contestants, Alexa Lemieux, Khloé took to Instagram to explain her theory that some of the single Kardashian sisters ought to maybe sign up for LIB themselves. After all, both Khloé and Kim Kardashian are currently single. And little half-sis Kendall Jenner is, too! So it was surprising but also not surprising when the KarJenner mogul wrote this on Instagram: “When Hulu and Netflix collide @mrsalexalemieux you beautiful girl you! Twins! I think some of us single K sisters should go on LIB. What do you think?” Sounds like a fun time to us!^[10]

fact checked by
Darci Heikkinen