The Best And Wildest Reality TV Show Moments Of 2023

When you’re looking for something to watch on TV that allows you to truly decompress and not think of your own drama, reality TV is often just a channel flip away.

It is mindless entertainment that can be enthralling, messy and fun, but best of all, the drama is never, ever your problem.

In this list, HuffPost reporters and editors look back on the year for our best and wildest moments on reality TV and recall the times where our favorite reality stars made us laugh, scream and, very often, shake our heads.

There are so many epic moments from the Salt Lake City housewives’ trip to Palm Springs. It was epic and reminded me and all “Housewives” fans of the best parts of the franchise. There has to be equal parts mess, fun and downright hilarity. From Meredith Marks’ new accent(s) and ruuuumooors, to well, almost all the cast mates in some crazy attire at that dinner, to Mary M. Cosby’s one-liners and Heather Gay’s literal struggle bus moment with some espresso martinis, I could ride the magic of this episode of “RHOSLC” for so many days to come. — Erin E. Evans

This explosive fight was amazing reality TV. Kim and Kourtney Kardashian went at it in a phone call in the Season 4 premiere of “The Kardashians” and it all felt very, well, real. Kim told Kourtney that family and friends have a group chat called “Not Kourtney” and then in a real low blow, told Kourtney that her kids have “problems” with their mom. Kourtney, in my opinion, called Kim out on all of her bullshit, and told her she was a narcissist (truth!) while also saying she hated her. Most of the episodes since this one have been kind of a bore unfortunately, but at least we got this great scene of television. — Cambria Roth

We’ve finally made it to the much anticipated third and final part of the “Vanderpump Rules” reunion where Rachel “Raquel” Leviss arrives to face the cast, and more importantly Ariana Madix, for her part in the seven-month affair with Tom Sandoval. As expected, Ariana has wielded her words like a sword to cut her enemies and it’s been the most satisfying thing to watch, especially for anyone that’s ever been wronged — we were all living vicariously through her in those moments. Now I’m not one for unnecessary cruelty, but I can appreciate a good verbal lob here and there. At about eight minutes in, Ariana, like the literal wordsmith that she is, hurls one of the most creative insults at Rachel/”Raquel” that I’ve ever heard: “Fuck yourself with a fucking cheese grater.” As she continues her rant, the camera momentarily pans out to show the entire cast watching on in a very uncomfortable silence — which I don’t think production intended to be funny by any means, but it was actually hilarious. — Tessa Flores

If you aren’t watching “Sister Wives,” you’re really missing out. Third wife Christine Brown left Kody Brown last season, and he’s been losing wives ever since. Kody and his second wife, Janelle Brown, have been on the rocks for a while, but one heated argument this season completely put things over the edge and led to their separation. Kody accuses Janelle of keeping him from having contact with his entire family (which makes no sense) and she fires back with, “You shut your fucking mouth and let me talk to you for a minute.” Kody ends up acting like a total child and slams the door in her face. Both Janelle and Christine are finally calling Kody on his shit and saying out loud what viewers have been thinking for seasons at this point. It was so refreshing to see Janelle stick up for herself, and it had all of us applauding! — Roth

I’d never tuned in to “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” before this year. I didn’t know what to expect, but the franchise quickly wrapped me up into its mess, especially anything centered on Sutton Stracke. Her outburst at the Magic Mike show was really funny, but nothing takes the cake like her unhinged conversation with Kyle Richards. Richards was calling out Stracke for often losing her shit in certain moments. But that vague callout wasn’t enough for Stracke, and she proceeds to repeatedly tell Richards to “name ’em, name ’em, name ’em” in her rich Southern accent. It was comedic gold. — Evans

If you’re a fan of “Survivor,” then hopefully you tuned in to see fan favorite Cirie Fields on Peacock’s “The Traitors.” She played the game so gracefully — somehow even when she was being deceitful — and makes it to the final to pull a big move for the win. “The Traitors” returns in January for a second season, and I just cannot wait. — Evans

I’m going to take us back to April. I know, it feels like a lifetime ago, but it WAS this year that Netflix completely botched its first live reunion taping of “Love Is Blind.” I was really into Season 4, so I left a meetup with friends early to go watch the live reunion on a Sunday night. The taping was supposed to go live at 8 p.m. ET, but I sat there for more than an hour before it finally started — and I was one of the lucky ones. The taping never started for many people due to Netflix’s technical issues and it ended up being a total shitshow for the streaming platform. They became a laughingstock on the internet and most weren’t able to watch the reunion until 3 p.m. ET the next day. I don’t think Netflix will ever do anything live ever again and it gave everyone another reason to despise them. — Roth

I only tuned into the premiere episode of “House of Villains,” and then quickly gave up on the show because it seemed like a bore. But this viral clip of Tiffany “New York” Pollard calling out Omarosa Manigault Newman is pure gold. Tiffany calls Omarosa a number of choice words and then says, point blank: “I sleep better at night knowing that you’re not in the White House.” Well said. — Evans

Several HuffPosters tuned in to “The Bachelorette” for its 20th season, which featured Charity Lawson looking for love. It became evident very early on that Dotun Olubeko was the front-runner to her heart. So it came as no surprise in the end when Charity chose him and Dotun gave her the proposal of her dreams. It was such a sweet moment. — Evans

Pepsi quickly emerged as the star of “Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip” in Season 3, with his witty retorts and his ability to keep the eight housewives happy over their vacation. Pepsi, a concierge at the Phuket villa where the ladies were staying, even was able to blast them for their bad behavior in the middle of the trip. Perhaps Pepsi should be promoted to “friend of” status on one of the next seasons of the franchise. — Evans

This was just absolutely diabolical and hilarious and quite possibly the longest fart I’ve ever heard in my life? Sandra, a contestant on “The Golden Bachelor,” wowed viewers with her beauty, smarts and strong physique early on in the show. But on the “Women Tell All” special, Sandra, perhaps, surprised us all when she literally let it all go. — Evans

This “90 Day Fiancé” couple is…everything. They give me life. Gino and Jasmine have had many, many explosive fights over the past few seasons on many different “90 Day” franchises, but a fight in Season 10 of “90 Day Fiancé” really took the cake. Jasmine drops her phone in Gino’s car and, while trying to get it, finds some lip gloss, which completely sets her off. Jasmine proceeds to scream at Gino and accuse him of cheating on her. She sobs, and her theatrics are incredible as she screams, “I want to go home” before Gino parks his car. She gets out of the car in the rain, drops her phone and the camera follows as she cries about not having any money. The camera then pans to her behind a building, crying and gasping for air. This woman is unhinged, dramatic and was born for reality TV. — Roth

Have you ever heard the phrase “I support women’s rights, but more importantly, I support women’s wrongs”? That’s how I feel about Chrishell Stause of “Selling Sunset,” who I think is the only person on the show that has healthy work/life boundaries and sensible outlooks on problems. In Season 6, longtime agent and new cast member Nicole Young joins with a seemingly long-standing vendetta against Chrishell that extends throughout the season, with the drama culminating in an explosive argument at dinner during a company Palm Springs retreat. As Nicole lobbies accusation after accusation toward Chrishell and then says she just wants to move on, Chrishell delivers a shocking retort: “I’m sure you would because you don’t have points and you’re on drugs.” Albeit a low blow (which I support in this instance), it is one of the funniest comebacks ever tossed on “Selling Sunset.” Chrishell later expresses regret for sinking to Nicole’s level — but even though Michelle Obama says that we should go high when people go low, I think going low when other people go low makes for stellar reality television. — Alexandra Niforos

This scene in “Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard” solidified my appreciation for the new series simply because I’m a sucker for cheap, sophomoric humor and a good nonsensical fight — a fight about who’s pooping in whose toilet, to be specific. Phil, the new housemate, has been in the house for a total of three seconds and already he’s rubbing all of the cast the wrong way. The man hasn’t even unpacked his bags and already he’s hitting on the women and insulting people’s shirts. But the real nail in the Phil-Summer-House coffin was him pooping in a toilet that wasn’t his, not flushing and then proceeding to brag about the lawless turd to the other housemates. The ensuing (and very earnest) argument between Phil and Jordan involved Phil threatening to poop in Jordan’s toilet next, with Jordan’s final words being: “Do it. It’s upstairs. Flush the toilet, bitch. I’ll be watching.” If that’s not iconic Bravo material, then I don’t know what is. — Flores