Have you ever found yourself scrolling through TV channels, and you suddenly see a face that you haven't even thought about in years? Chances are, it's a face from one of your favorite early oughties reality shows. Reality TV is a mainstay now, but 20 years ago was really the start of it all. Of course, shows like The Real World and Road Rules existed before then and launched the careers of a number of celebs including Jamie Chung and Karamo Brown, but they weren't ubiquitous the way they are now.
It was really during the early 2000s that multiple genres of unscripted reality TV took off, and shows like The Bachelor, Survivor, and MTV's Newlyweds changed the TV landscape forever. It's honestly hard to remember a time when our screens weren't saturated by reality competitions and unscripted reality series. Throughout the years, we've seen hundreds, if not thousands of faces on reality shows, and that's just in the US alone.
While not every reality show participant can go on to become a big star like Kelly Clarkson or Kim Kardashian, quite a few have — and to be honest, you might not even recognize them from the shows they graced in the past.
Keep scrolling to see some of reality TV's most infamous stars and find out what they're up to now.
Then: Paris Hilton
Whether you loved her or loathed her, Paris Hilton made unscripted celebrity reality shows what they are today. The Simple Life — which costarred Paris' bestie Nicole Richie — was an instant hit because most of us just couldn't get over how different the lives of the rich and famous were from our own. Paris had long been a hard-partying socialite, but we got to see it all after the show premiered in 2003.
Now: Paris Hilton
Anyone who didn't know who Paris Hilton was before The Simple Life knows now. She's still mostly famous for being famous, but she's turned that fame into a veritable empire. She's currently worth about $300 million, and her famous phrase, "That's hot," is trademarked. In 2021, she got her own Netflix cooking show, Cooking With Paris, and she married businessman Carter Reum.
Then: Nicole Richie
For a long time, Nicole Richie was best known for being Paris Hilton's sidekick. She starred alongside her on The Simple Life for five seasons, becoming a true celebrity in the process. She and Paris were prime targets for the paparazzi for several years, especially once Nicole married Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden.
Now: Nicole Richie
Talk about a glow-up! Nicole has completely transformed herself since the early 2000s. She had a few really rough years, mostly stemming from her partying and drug and alcohol use (even getting a DUI in 2011 when she was still a young mom of two and a newlywed). But not long after, she turned her full attention to her business endeavors and raising her family.
She launched the jewelry and accessories line House of Harlow 1960 in 2008, and it's still flourishing today. She's also done quite a bit of acting, appearing in Empire, Grace and Frankie, and Camping. And she's still happily married and now happens to be the sister-in-law of Cameron Diaz.
Then: Heidi Montag
Heidi Montag and her husband, Spencer Pratt, got their start on MTV's The Hills, alongside Lauren Conrad and Audrina Patridge, and it was clear from the beginning that they weren't trying to win any popularity awards. Heidi was best known for both starting and fueling drama throughout her tenure on the hit show. She and Spencer got married during the fifth season.
Now: Heidi Montag
Heidi has spent most of her time since The Hills on various reality shows including I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, Celebrity Wife Swap, Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars, and Celebrity Big Brother. Still, she's probably most famous for admitting to undergoing 10 plastic surgeries in a single day in 2010. She and Spencer are still very much together and now have a son, Gunner. They both resurfaced on The Hills: New Beginnings, which aired for two seasons between 2019 and 2021.
Then: Omarosa Manigault Newman
In short, Omarosa Manigault Newman was best known for being bossy and demanding when she competed on the first season of The Apprentice in 2004. Donald Trump famously fired her during week nine because of her poor attitude and lack of leadership skills. She returned as a team member during the show's season finale, and her savage sabotage of her team leader ensured her place in reality TV history.
Now: Omarosa Manigault Newman
No one ever quite forgot about Omarosa, and she made certain they wouldn't by later competing on The Celebrity Apprentice and Celebrity Big Brother. And then, to the astonishment of many, she surfaced in the Trump White House as assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison, but she was unceremoniously ousted for reportedly "abusing the White House car service." She went on to write a tell-all book, and Trump subsequently sued her.
Then: Farrah Abraham
Farrah Abraham appeared on the first season of MTV's 16 & Pregnant. She was mostly a completely benign and noncontroversial figure that most viewers felt genuine empathy for — seriously! She was a cheerleader even after she found out she was pregnant. She was determined and seemed pretty smart at the time. Things changed a bit once she had her daughter, Sophia, though.
Now: Farrah Abraham
Farrah went on to star in Teen Mom, and it was pretty clear that she didn't like her daughter getting more attention than her. Things went downhill pretty fast after that. She ended up doing porn and has had so much plastic surgery that she's nearly unrecognizable. She and her daughter are a team of social media stars now, and she regularly gets called out for her questionable parenting decisions. Not only that, but she was arrested in January 2022 for slapping a security guard at a nightclub.
Then: Kate Gosselin
Oh, Kate Gosselin. Audiences just couldn't look away from that hair and the way Kate seemed to constantly berate and demean her then-husband Jon Gosselin when they starred on the TLC reality series Jon & Kate Plus 8, along with their eight kids. She just seemed to love all the drama and attention, and eventually it led to the downfall of her marriage and the breakdown of her family.
Now: Kate Gosselin
Kate and Jon got divorced in 2009, just a couple of years after their show came out. In 2010, she was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars, and reportedly did not get along with her partner, Tony Dovolani. Then, in 2018, she ended up losing custody of two of her children, Hannah and Collin. Still trying to hold onto her fame, Kate returned to TLC in 2019 for the series Kate Plus Date. These days, though, she's living a quiet life away from the spotlight in North Carolina.
Then: Richard Hatch
Survivor's Richard Hatch is best known for being completely naked all the time during his tenure on the series. That, and the fact that he had a take-no-prisoners attitude when it came to his competition strategy. He wasn't well-liked, but he was the show's first-ever winner. He went on to appear in a number of other reality shows including Celebrity Apprentice and The Biggest Loser, as well as an all-stars season of Survivor.
Now: Richard Hatch
Richard has continued to be quite a controversial figure. He went to prison for tax evasion in 2006, got out after four years, and then went back to prison for violating his probation. Today, he capitalizes on his reality TV fame by using his social media platforms to play commentator for current seasons of Survivor and other shows.
Then: David Giuntoli
Actor David Giuntoli got his start on Road Rules: South Pacific, doing crazy things like slaughtering a chicken and performing a striptease at a gay club to win some great prizes including a car. Viewers loved his antics, so he went on to compete on Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet in 2003 — and won!
Now: David Giuntoli
David is a bona fide TV star now. After his MTV days, he did bit parts on several shows including Grey's Anatomy and Nip/Tuck, and in 2011 he nabbed the lead role on the popular horror/fantasy series Grimm, where he met his wife, Bitsie Tulloch. The series lasted six seasons, and David almost immediately moved on to another hit show, A Million Little Things.
Then: Teck Holmes
Teck "T. Money" Holmes was mostly known for being kind of annoying when he first appeared as a castmember on MTV's The Real World: Hawaii in 1999. He had a big, eccentric personality that got a lot of attention. So much attention that — love him or hate him — he ended up nabbing small parts on TV and even in movies for several years after his season ended (including The Challenge). He also hosted an MTV music video show called Direct Effect in 2000.
Now: Teck Holmes
Teck has come full circle. He's back with MTV, this time on the Paramount+ series The Challenge: All Stars. He's a contestant on season two of the show, which premiered in the fall of 2021. He also has a regular gig as a DJ at a nightclub in Los Angeles. He still acts and models, too.
Then: Kelly Osbourne
Perhaps most recognizable for her curvy figure and spiky hair — something that wasn't the norm on television at the time — Kelly Osbourne was never the most outlandish on her family's reality series, The Osbournes (which of course starred her wacky rocker father, Ozzy Osbourne), but that's exactly what made her stand out. She got into a whole lot of outrageous fights with her parents, though, which made her someone fans wouldn't soon forget.
Now: Kelly Osbourne
Kelly has since had a long career in entertainment, dabbling in music and appearing on various TV shows. She underwent gastric bypass surgery and lost a ton of weight, subsequently appearing on The Masked Singer. But her personal life has also suffered a bit. She's been in rehab for alcohol and drug abuse multiple times.
Then: Honey Boo Boo
Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson was on reality TV because her mom, June "Mama June" Shannon, put her there. In the early 2000s, she appeared on the TLC show Toddlers & Tiaras, and quickly became one of the breakout stars — but it was mostly because people liked making fun of her and her mom. The two gained enough notoriety to nab their own show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, which ran from 2012 to 2017.
Now: Honey Boo Boo
Believe it or not, Honey Boo Boo is still on reality TV. Her mom lost a ton of weight, and WE TV offered her her own reality show called Mama June: From Not to Hot, which the now-teenage Alana regularly appears on. They also have a show called Mama June: Road to Redemption.
Then: Tila Tequila
Tila Tequila became really well known in the early days of social media. She kicked off the 2000s as a model and eventually landed a spot on the reality show Surviving Nugent. At one point, she was the most popular person on social media site MySpace, which led to her being offered her own bisexual dating show, A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila, which aired on MTV for two seasons.
Now: Tila Tequila
Tila was quite controversial throughout her entire career as a celebrity, eventually getting banned from Twitter for appearing to make a Nazi salute in a photo that she shared. Her last TV appearance was on Celebrity Big Brother in 2015, but since then, she's pretty much disappeared from the public eye.
