I Stay Up All Night Watching Reality Competition Shows

Rooting for people as if I know them while imagining myself enjoying the same idyllic locale is oddly satisfying.

I find people—all kinds of people—fascinating. It’s part of why I wanted to become a writer. And, in my unhumble opinion, there is no better way to study human behavior than watching a reality competition. I am obsessed with them: The Challenge, The Circle, The Golden Bachelorette, Love Is Blind, House of Villains, The Traitors (you get the picture). I’m currently binging Perfect Match, which is a hybrid of a bunch of other reality romance shows and it is damn brutal the way they are making folks couple and uncouple daily. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster!

It’s not just about living vicariously through others. These shows also allow me to imagine what I’d do under similar circumstances. Would I agree to marry someone sight unseen? (If the conversation is intriguing enough, I might.) Could my body withstand sub-zero-degree temperatures while scaling snow-capped mountains? (No, because I fear heights and hate being cold—but I have no problem cheering on others with the stamina and drive to do so.) And, given the chance to double-cross someone to win $100,000 would I do it? (It depends on the person, TBH.)

There is one genre I’d drop everything to pursue in real life: cooking competitions. What I lack in knife skills, I make up for in my ability to build layers of flavor in every dish I make. I even made an audition video some years back and sent it to Top Chef, but I did not, ahem, make the cut. (There weren’t many shows that would cast home cooks back then—at least that’s what I tell myself anyway). I’m not salty about it (that is such a lie), but now that I’m more seasoned I think I could dish up some heavy competition. (See how many food-related words I intentionally squeezed into one sentence, lol.)

To be completely honest with you AJPT fam, the #1 reason I watch these shows at night, sometimes all night, is that they offer such drool-worthy eye candy (food included)! I spend my days staring at a computer screen while working remotely in my one-bedroom apartment. Because most of these competitions are set in gorgeous surroundings, with top-shelf accommodations, interior design inspiration for the gods, and lots of silly challenges where the contestants often have to flash some (I mean a LOT of) skin, I can indulge my fantasies without any emotional heavy lifting.

Well, for the time being anyway. I’m here at AJPT trying to make my own Golden Bachelorette thing happen. But in the meantime, I have my shows to keep me warm at night.