Reality TV is a staple in the Australian media and has provided us with water cooler chats for many decades now. However, over the years we’ve seen some super crazy things.
While big moments on reality TV have launched the careers of many, it’s important to note that not all contestants seem to be created equal when it comes to editing.
We’ll never forget Abbie Chatfield’s ‘sex villain’ edit on the 2019 season of The Bachelor, or how Bryce Ruthven infamously told Melissa Rawson on their Married at First Sight honeymoon that she wasn’t his “type”. Needless to say, these contestants had some words to say about the reality of reality TV when it went to air.
Keep scrolling for our favourite reality TV stars who’ve spoken out about the shows they were on and slammed their edits and the ensuing commentary.
Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson
Bryce and Melissa have been very open about their difficult time watching back their season of Married at First Sight, where Bryce was portrayed as a villain.
Fans were unimpressed with him from the start, when he mentioned that Melissa’s eye colour was not his preferred eye colour, that she wasn’t his “usual type”, and when he went on to rank her fourth best-looking out of all the women in the experiment.
The TV groom was also portrayed as controlling and possessive over Melissa and exposed for having a “secret girlfriend” back in his hometown of Canberra.
However, Bryce and Melissa have proven themselves to be an incredibly stable couple since finishing the show by beginning a relationship. They are engaged, expecting twins, and have just adopted a dog together.
Bryce has also claimed that the edit ruined his radio career.
“What came out on screen was not how our relationship played out at all, so to us they have deliberately gone out of their way to manufacture a relationship that reflected domestic violence – which it never did,” he said.
Abbie Chatfield
Although she made it to the top two on Matt Agnew’s season of The Bachelor, Australia was convinced Abbie could not win. She was a fame-hungry, overly sexual seductress – or, so her edit would have us believe.
The way Abbie was portrayed on The Bachelor enraged fans of the show, inspiring many to send her nasty comments, which had a profound effect on her mental health.
After her finale aired, Abbie took to Instagram with a bikini pic, penning a caption where she listed the things she was slut-shamed for on the show.
The list included multiple outfits she wore, kissing Matt without a date – in various locations with varying degrees of intensity, admitting she wanted to sleep with Matt, and ‘using sexuality to manipulate Matt’, which she wrote in inverted commas.
Even her iconic “I’m a Gemini” quote was edited to make her seem like a ditz – a fact she revealed on the ABC show, Reputation Rehab.
Despite her treatment from the public, Abbie has remained somewhat positive about reality TV, going on to win I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! this year.
Clare Verall
Clare, who appeared on season two of Married at First Sight, has been open about her terrible experience appearing on the show.
Speaking to Sunday Night a few years later, she said that things became so bad in the aftermath that she attempted to take her own life.
“I didn’t sign up to have absolutely no support. I didn’t sign up to be completely ripped to shreds. I didn’t sign up for that,” she said.
Clare was paired with Jono Pitman, who famously said ‘she’s not what I ordered’ as Clare walked down the aisle towards him. The two very quickly learned they were incompatible, but were encouraged to stay by the producers of the show.
“It was actually torture,” she said of the filming process.
“The sleep deprivation. You get to the point where you’re so broken and you just want to stop, that you’ll say whatever they feed you. Sure, it may have almost killed me.”
Jamie Doran
Jamie Doran first appeared on Angie Kent’s season of The Bachelorette in 2018, and went on to appear in the 2020 season of Bachelor in Paradise.
He was given the ‘stage-five-clinger’ edit early on in his appearance, and couldn’t help but come off as quite desperate on the show.
This edit followed him to Bachelor in Paradise, where Jamie’s behaviour was mocked by many. In one instance, he became so upset that his friend, Timm Hanly, was thinking of leaving the show, that he broke down crying, signalling that something was really wrong.
His appearance on Bachelor in Paradise turned out to be the final straw, and Jamie announced legal action against Channel 10 following the airing of the show.
“This is not the news I wanted to post, but I feel I owe this to at least my family, friends, and also fans of The Bachelorette and Bachelor In Paradise,” he on Instagram.
He went on to explain he would begin legal proceedings, but the post has since been deleted, and no legal proceedings have since been reported.
Ryan Jones
Another Bachelorette contestant, Ryan Jones appeared on Sophie Monk’s 2017 season of the show.
Sophie sent him home mid-chat when she realised they were incompatible, but his villain edit had already taken place, after a number of verbal faux pas and a highlighted lip-licking habit.
“The producers made me feel comfortable, and trusting,” he said on an episode of You Can’t Ask That that focused on reality TV.
“How naive of me to think that possibly someone had my best interests at heart,” he added.
“They get so much footage that they can do whatever they want with you. They can flip you, they can turn you, they can portray you however they want.”
Ryan was called ‘Australia’s most hated man’, ‘most punchable face’, a creep, and a serial killer, to name a few.
“The hardest thing for me was watching my family having to read the comments and my friends knowing that that really wasn’t the type of person I was,” he told WHO in 2017.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, visit Beyond Blue or call them on 1300 22 4636
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