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In 2023, Anna Peele wrote about the reckoning facing reality TV\u2014more specifically, the Bravo-verse\u2014in her explosive Vanity Fair<\/em> expos\u00e9<\/a>. She revealed the disturbing allegations of alcohol abuse and racism that allegedly pervaded the Real Housewives<\/em> franchise. At the time, former Real Housewives of New York City<\/em> cast member Bethenny Frankel was calling for reality TV personalities to unionize in hopes of more protections for the stars of these popular shows.<\/p>\n Reality TV has always been about drama, but some of the latest scandals have sent shows and their fans into an existential crisis. Most recently, ABC made the unprecedented move of canceling a fully shot season<\/a> of The Bachelorette<\/em> after the emergence of a disturbing video showing the season\u2019s star, Taylor Frankie Paul, in a domestic dispute. This season was expected to usher in a new era for the long-standing dating show, by bringing on a star of a different series (the very popular Secret Lives of Mormon Wives<\/em>) with the aim of pulling in new viewers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Secret Lives of Mormon Wives<\/em> is supposed to be about, \u2018Oh, these Mormon mom influencers, they\u2019re so perfect, but really everything\u2019s a mess,\u2019\u201d Peele tells Little Gold Men<\/a>.<\/em> \u201cThat\u2019s a different kind of series than Bachelorette,<\/em> which is one of the crown jewels of Disney\u2019s unscripted programming, and it\u2019s supposed to be this fairy tale.\u201d<\/p>\n The squeaky-clean image of the Bachelor<\/em> franchise has been tarnished, and its programming isn\u2019t alone in becoming embroiled in headline-making drama. Bravo\u2019s Summer House<\/em> is engulfed in its own scandal<\/a>, which follows in the footsteps of Vanderpump Rules<\/em>\u2019 now infamous Scandoval<\/a> from 2023.<\/p>\n It\u2019s so much that it\u2019s hard to keep track of it all, so this week on Little Gold Men,<\/em> we brought on Peele to take a long, hard look at the state of reality TV. What might be the future of the Bachelor<\/em> franchise? Peele believes it could go one of two ways: either it tries to recover and reboot after shelving this Bachelorette<\/em> season, or \u201cthey can\u2019t come back from this,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n On a sunnier side of the genre sits Love Island.<\/em> Peele, who has a book on the show, Enter the Villa: The (Unauthorized) Reality Behind Love Island,<\/em> coming out next month, says the series succeeds because it doesn\u2019t take itself too seriously. \u201cIt\u2019s so silly that I think that it kind of disarms the islanders so that then they are able to just relax enough to accidentally fall in love,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n So where does reality TV go from here? It has to either feel fresh as a new concept or bring together reality stars in a new way, as The Traitors<\/em> has done so successfully. Peele calls out two other shows that seem to be ushering in the new era of success in reality TV: Love on the Spectrum<\/em> (\u201ca very moral, goodly hearted warm hug of a reality show\u201d) and House of Villains<\/em> (\u201cThere\u2019s no gameplay. It\u2019s just, like, wild people in the house tormenting each other.\u201d).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n