The blurred line between reality TV and real life

It is the first episode of the highly anticipated Real Housewives of Nairobi's Second Season, and the situation is already tense.

New cast member Zena Nyambu, a beauty entrepreneur, is meeting some of the ladies for the first time, and she is at a dinner hosted by Doctor Catherine Masitsa when things almost go South.

“If you are on my table, what’s your claim to fame?” Doctor Catherine asks Zena, and, a seemingly offended Zena claps back firmly.

“I feel like it is a little bit rude, do you understand? You have just met me for the first time,” Zena says, adding, “How about we discuss that at my table?”

Moments like these, when confrontation seemingly pops up from thin air, are common on reality TV shows, and sometimes, they escalate to heated levels.

While Zena and Dr Catherine’s situation quickly de-escalates in the scenes that follow, tense moments on Reality TV shows don’t always have such a smooth ending.

Reality TV is known to get so messy that explosive fights, drinks flying across the room and furious exchanges can occur at any moment.

For when American reality stars, sisters Kim and Kourtney Kardashian had a full-on physical fight on Season 18 of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

More outrageous Reality TV moments are featured on the out-of-control fights that break out on more shows including other Real Housewives installments, Love and Hip Hop, Basketball Wives and more.

This begs the question: How much of Reality TV is real, and how much is scripted?

“Nothing is scripted on the show,” the producer Eugene Mbugua said when asked that question in a 2023 interview, adding, “except perhaps voice-overs, like ‘next week on’, that we might write.”

“But for the most part, nothing is scripted. So what you call it is guided or directed reality. And how that works is you map out the cast members and you say ‘We think so and so has this story that can be pursued, and this is how it’s connected to that other person’ and you sort of almost map out what you consider would be the journey for every cast member.”

The producer notes that the trick to getting all the juicy storylines is in the good cast selection, as an expressive cast who speak their mind is often interesting to watch, and are leading an interesting life.

“They like to dress up and show up, they’ve got intricacies around them and have lived an experienced life so far. It also helps in some instances like when you have celebrities like Vera so that the audience already has some familiarity to who she is; or someone like Minne who is an actress.”

How Stuff Works reports that while footage may be real, reality shows are often subject to heavy editing, showing only limited sides to each storyline.

“Reality shows typically do not have scripts, but there is often a shooting script or an outline that details aspects of an episode or part of the show. For example, on shows like The Real World and Big Brother, which take place in confined quarters, the outline might give directions for which rooms or cameras to focus on.”

The hit Netflix reality show Love Is Blind, which is about singles finding love without seeing each other first has been rocked by multiple allegations, despite its massive success.

In Season 6, cast member Matthew Duliba was shown walking out on his date, with his controversial character later leading him to be labelled a villain by viewers.

"There were also many misrepresentations and falsehoods created in my opinion to smear my character. I look forward to telling my side of the story with the full truth at the appropriate time...Misrepresentation of the truth, I never walked out when a woman was talking,” Matthew said on social media amid the fury.