12 Reality Stars You Might Not Know Are Dead – TheShockNews

Actuality tv is without doubt one of the few actually enduring genres of the final 30 years, hardly ever waning in reputation and solely seeming to get more and more extra ubiquitous as time goes on. And to that finish, the individuals who have develop into well-known by way of their appearances in actuality exhibits have develop into some of popular culture’s largest celebrities. In truth, a sure host of a sure NBC actuality present even grew to become a twice-elected president of the US — and it’s arduous to get extra well-known than that. 

However the style also can have a destructive impact on somebody’s celeb standing, as evidenced by the controversial actuality TV moments that killed celebrities’ careers. And the dying of a actuality present star usually grabs the identical quantity of headlines because the passing of a significant actor or musician, typically much more so. Nevertheless, there are additionally occasions when a actuality present star passes away with out getting loads of media consideration. 

In some circumstances, it’s as a result of the particular person has shifted to a extra non-public life following their time on the truth present or exhibits that made them well-known. Different occasions, it’s simply a type of issues the place the dying occurred concurrently with another main information story and the obituary acquired overshadowed. Each of these embody among the individuals on this listing — in addition to individuals whose deaths would possibly come as an entire shock to followers for varied different causes.

Duane “Canine” Chapman was an actual life bounty hunter who grew to become well-known when he captured cosmetics inheritor Andrew Luster in 2003. Solely a 12 months later, “Canine the Bounty Hunter” debuted on A&E and ran for 9 seasons, spawning a number of spin-offs — together with “Canine and Beth: On the Hunt,” which gave his spouse and bounty hunter companion, Beth Chapman, equal billing. Beth rose to celeb standing herself, changing into a family identify alongside her well-known husband.

In 2017, A&E aired the movie “Canine and Beth: Battle of Their Lives,” the Chapmans’ most private venture as much as that time, because it centered on the titular couple coping with Beth being identified with throat most cancers. For a time, it appeared like Beth turned a nook on the illness as her most cancers went into remission. The pair launched one other collection in 2019 referred to as “Canine’s Most Wished,” which might in the end serve to be Beth’s last venture — she died throughout manufacturing of the present’s first and solely season, because the most cancers had not solely returned however had unfold to her lungs. She continued engaged on the present up till her last days, passing at simply 51 years previous. 

Not solely has MTV largely given itself over to actuality tv, but it surely typically runs marathons of web clip present “Ridiculousness” for what seems like a number of days on finish. The host and creator of that present, actor and skateboarder Rob Dyrdek, had first established himself as a actuality present hitmaker for the cable community when he co-created “Rob & Huge” in 2006 with pal and then-bodyguard Christopher Boykin, aka “Huge Black” or just “Huge.” Like many MTV actuality exhibits starring a star, “Rob & Huge” positioned itself as merely following its stars round as they lived their lives, however after all contained numerous conveniently-occurring stunts and different outlandish occasions. 

Boykin was concerned within the follow-up collection “Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Manufacturing facility,” which at that time had given Dyrdek a lot clout that when he pitched “Ridiculousness,” MTV purchased it on the spot. As for Boykin, he additionally continued to develop his personal celeb, occurring to develop into a fixture on varied different MTV exhibits all through the 2010s — together with “Man Code,” “Snack Off,” and naturally, “Ridiculousness.” However Boykin’s profession, in addition to his life, have been lower tragically quick when he died of a coronary heart assault in 2017 at solely 45 years previous. 

“American Idol” — or, to be extra particular, its U.Okay. predecessor “Pop Idol” — helped to usher within the expertise competitors period of actuality tv. Past apparent influences like “The Voice” and “The Masked Singer,” there probably wouldn’t be “Dancing With The Stars,” “America’s Received Expertise,” “High Chef,” and the like if “American Idol,” “Survivor,” and “Highway Guidelines” hadn’t offered the blueprint for the aggressive actuality exhibits to comply with. 

And that’s to say nothing of the celebrities that “American Idol” has given the world, with the 2 largest arguably being nation famous person Carrie Underwood and Season 1 winner and eventual discuss present host Kelly Clarkson. The present tried to make stars out of not solely Clarkson but in addition her runner-up, Justin Guarini, who went on to have a prolific profession in reside theater. In the meantime, Season 1 third place finisher Nikki McKibbin was a part of the primary “American Idols Reside!” tour in 2002 and launched a number of singles over the following few years, however struggled with substance dependancy — finally showing on “Superstar Rehab with Dr. Drew.” 

McKibbin advised People in 2019, “I’ve battled substance abuse and I’m successful,” including that she was in place. Sadly, she would lose her life solely a 12 months later following a mind aneurysm. Guarini posted a really heartfelt tribute to his fellow “Idol” finalist following her passing, sharing the story of McKibbin’s idol, Stevie Nicks, sending McKibbin flowers and a letter praising her expertise. 

It was solely a matter of time earlier than streaming providers determined to get a chunk of the truth present pie. For Netflix particularly, it has develop into a large share of the streamer’s slate of unique programming. 2021’s “Bling Empire” follows a gaggle of Asian American socialites in Los Angeles comprising heirs, heiresses, surgeons, actual property tycoons, film producers, enterprise traders, and extra. The present proved well-liked sufficient to stay round for 3 seasons — it’s an accomplishment for a Netflix present to even final a couple of — in addition to spawn a New York-based spin-off. 

One of the well-liked forged members of “Bling Empire” was Anna Shay, who made her cash by being a part of the household who based protection contractor Pacific Architects and Engineers. Her son, Kenny, was additionally a part of the present. In a profile of Shay’s life for City & Nation, Shay advised tales of her extraordinarily fascinating life, involving every little thing from armed robberies to disguising monkeys as individuals, a few of which have been so wild that they could possibly be the premise for a whole big-budget action-adventure film. Too unhealthy Hollywood gained’t ever get the prospect, as Shay died from a stroke in June 2023, solely eight months after the ultimate season of “Bling Empire” hit Netflix.  

Discovery Channel’s contributions to the truth tv area have largely centered on unorthodox and/or harmful jobs, and individuals who reside on varied fringes of society. One among its hottest entries within the latter class is “Alaskan Bush Individuals,” which ran for 14 seasons between 2014 and 2022 and adopted a household that was attempting to reside solely off the grid — past being on a actuality TV present, after all — and use solely the encircling Alaskan wilderness for his or her primary requirements. 

Not less than, that’s what the present wished the viewers to suppose. Over time, proof appeared to mount that “Alaskan Bush Individuals” was a type of actuality exhibits that was extra scripted and manufactured than not, which positively damage the general public’s notion of each the present and its stars. However the Brown household have been definitely not skilled actors — and even when among the particulars of their lives and their supposed wilderness-based survival was faux, their personalities have been something however. 

Patriarch Billy Brown went a good distance in giving the present its appeal, and absolutely saved individuals tuning even after the accusations of deceit. Billy suffered a seizure and died in early 2021, with “Alaskan Bush Individuals” solely occurring for yet another season with out him earlier than being canceled. 

Falling a bit extra into responsible pleasure territory within the actuality present panorama was TLC’s “90 Day Fiancé.” It centered round a rule in the US that enables somebody to journey from one other nation on a brief visa for the categorical objective of marrying an American citizen with the intention to develop into residents themselves — however that marriage must occur inside 90 days, therefore the title. Every episode of the present follows a pair that features an American citizen being visited by their companion from one other nation — who they’ve been sustaining a long-distance relationship with — to see if they will mutually determine to get married throughout the 90 days earlier than their visa expires.

Not all “90 Day Fiancé” forged members get their inexperienced card, however Cassia Tavares did when she married Jason Hitch after their courtship in Season 2 of the present. But their marriage was removed from wedded bliss, as Tavares leveled home violence accusations in opposition to Hitch. By 2018, Hitch had filed for divorce, solely 4 years into their marriage. He largely retreated from the general public eye after that, till 2021 when he handed away from problems associated to COVID-19. Regardless of their troubled relationship, Tavares stated nothing destructive about Hitch within the wake of his passing when discussing it on social media, expressing solely shock and unhappiness whereas providing condolences to his buddies and family members. 

There was a time when VH1 continued to give attention to as a lot music-based programming as attainable even whereas MTV had already develop into largely actuality exhibits. But it surely wouldn’t be lengthy earlier than VH1 adopted swimsuit and in addition grew to become one more cable channel inundated with actuality TV. Whereas issues nonetheless began out considerably tangentially associated to music — such because the exhibits devoted to discovering girlfriends for musicians Taste Flav and Bret Michaels — by the 2010s that was all however completed as nicely. 

2011 noticed the debut of VH1’s “Mob Wives.” Within the custom of the “Actual Housewives of [insert location here]” franchise, “Mob Wives” centered on the spouses of assorted males in positions of fame and/or energy. However on this case, these males had been or have been at present in jail for unlawful actions associated to the Mafia. 

Not the entire forged members, nevertheless, have been particularly wives of criminals. Some, like Angela “Huge Ang” Raiola, who joined in Season 2, was the niece of 1 — although she did date loads of shady characters earlier than lastly marrying the seemingly law-abiding Neil Murphy. Raiola was on “Mob Wives” for its remaining 5 seasons, although she handed away from most cancers on the age of 55, one month previous to the airing of its finale in 2016. 

The TLC collection “My 600-lb Life” makes an attempt to assist individuals flip their life round by having medical professionals information them to a more healthy life-style geared toward bringing down their weight, which usually consists of surgical procedure. However the tragic actuality is that after a human physique has reached that measurement, there has already been a big quantity of stress and trauma performed to the physique that may be tough to completely come again from. Up to now, a staggering 17 “My 600-lb Life” stars have sadly handed away, a few of whom have been truly on path to getting their well being again on monitor.

Nevertheless, not the entire present’s former forged members who’ve misplaced their lives did in order a direct results of well being problems associated to their measurement. Paul MacNeill was featured on Season 10 of “My 600-lb Life” in hopes of shedding among the 757 kilos that his weight had reached at that time. In 2021, 9 years after his episode aired, MacNeill posted an replace to Fb revealing that he had misplaced 200 kilos and was nonetheless taking his well being critically. Sadly, two years later, MacNeill died in a automobile accident whereas driving to work. He was survived by his fiancé, Jenn, with the couple planning to get married in two months on the time of MacNeill’s dying. 

A rising variety of forged members from Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” have sadly handed away, some as a direct results of their extraordinarily treacherous job and others for unrelated causes. Captain Phil Harris was the primary to die when he suffered a stroke in 2010, within the midst of filming Season 6 of the collection. The newest dying was truly revealed to the general public throughout Season 20 of the present itself, when Jake Anderson acquired a cellphone name on an episode that aired in October 2024 informing him and his crew of the dying of Tom Brossard.

One “Deadliest Catch” dying that flew a bit beneath the radar, nevertheless, was that of Ross Jones. Jones had solely appeared in two episodes of this system, which is probably going a part of the rationale why his passing in 2022 didn’t make headlines. In truth, it was the Deadliest Catch World web page on Fb that exposed the information, with the publish explaining it wasn’t the web page’s place to present any particulars on his dying and that it was as much as the household to disclose that data in the event that they selected to take action. As of this writing, there hasn’t been any additional data given about how Jones died. 

MTV may need tried to initially place “16 and Pregnant” as a docuseries in keeping with its earlier exhibits like “True Life” — and possibly it actually did begin out that method — but it surely wasn’t lengthy earlier than the present veered firmly into actuality tv territory. This grew to become very true when the present spun off into “Teen Mother” and made family names out of among the women who appeared on the present. 

Want additional proof that these exhibits fall into lots of the common actuality present trappings? How about the truth that Autumn Crittendon and Millina Kacmar, two women from Season 5 of “16 and Pregnant,” have been reported to have began courting following the airing of their season? No matter occurred between the 2 was clearly short-lived, as Autumn later married a man named Brad Oxley. That couple divorced simply two months later, with Autumn and her unique “16 and Pregnant” boyfriend Dustin Franklin subsequently having one other baby collectively in 2022. 

In July 2024, information broke that Autumn was discovered lifeless in her Virginia dwelling. The reason for dying was later revealed to be an unintentional opioid overdose. 

Provided that the primary season of “Survivor” — retroactively known as “Survivor: Borneo” — first aired over 20 years in the past and featured forged members of their 60s and 70s, it’s not stunning that a number of members of that season are among the many “Survivor” contestants you may not know handed away. Following Rudy Boesch and Invoice “B.B.” Andersen, Sonja Christopher grew to become the third “Borneo” contestant to run out when she died in April 2024 of undisclosed causes. She was 87 years previous.

Christopher had an especially distinctive place in “Survivor” historical past, far past merely being a part of the long-running present’s debut season. Christopher had the excellence of being the primary contestant ever despatched dwelling, when she was voted off within the very first Tribal Council throughout the present’s pilot episode. Remarkably, that didn’t trigger her to have any in poor health will towards “Survivor.” In truth, in a video she posted to the Survivor Central account on X (previously Twitter) in 2017, Christopher claimed to be the present’s largest fan and stated she’d watched each episode of all 17 seasons as much as that time. 

Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock grew to become a family identify along with his head-turning 2004 movie “Tremendous Measurement Me.” The movie chronicled Spurlock consuming nothing however menu gadgets from quick meals chain McDonald’s for a whole month, with the self-imposed rule of agreeing to “tremendous measurement” his meal any time the choice was provided to him. McDonald’s would subsequently discontinue super-sized drinks and fries lower than two months after the movie’s premiere, although the corporate insisted the timing of the choice in relation to the arrival of the movie was solely coincidental.

A 12 months after the discharge of “Tremendous Measurement Me,” Spurlock introduced the movie’s conceit to actuality tv when he launched “30 Days” on FX. Every episode adopted both Spurlock himself or one other particular person/different individuals spending a month doing a sure factor and/or residing a sure life-style — usually selecting individuals whose common life have been in direct opposition to the conduct they’re tasked with pursuing on the present. Examples included spending a month on anti-aging dietary supplements, residing off the grid, working in a coal mine, and being in jail. “30 Days” ran for 3 seasons.

Spurlock largely retired from public life in 2017, whereas admitting to a historical past of misconduct after the #MeToo motion gained important traction. Little else was heard about him till Could 2024, when it was revealed the controversial director was lifeless at 53 from most cancers. 

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