Why do they do it? I’m referring to reality TV contestants. Of course, the answer is probably because they want to be famous. They want to be recognised or find a shortcut into a TV or radio career. 

The fact so few make it doesn’t seem to deter them, but neither does the obviously carefully orchestrated portrayal of them as a caricature of themselves.

So it was bound to happen sooner or later than one of them would sue a network for the way they were made to look.

A former contestant on Seven’s House Rules has sued for being made out to be the “villain” of the show…and she won! The network has been forced to pay compensation for psychological injury! The host of the show, Johanna Griggs even left the show over the treatment of contestants.

But should the contestant have known better? Surely going in, you have to realise that you’ll be edited to with an inch of your life and be made to look exactly how the producers want you to look.

However, at some point, I believe it will get more serious than that with one particular show seeing contestants driven to emotional despair by paid psychologists. The consequences will eventually be dire.

I wonder if this recent legal result against Seven will be the catalyst for a very different reality TV experience moving forward.