Trading Spaces is 25 • the summer show we all missed • reviews, recaps, news!
Dear newsletter friends,
This past week was the 25th anniversary of the debut of Trading Spaces on Oct. 13, 2000.
That first season—an adaptation of the UK’s Changing Rooms—had a different host and production company.
It was in season two that it really took off, with Paige Davis as host, and beautiful designs such as hay glued to a wall, or a floor covered in sand and the walls painted like a circus tent.
Oh, how I miss that! And that era of reality TV.
During season two, I went on location—my first-ever set visit—for three days, hanging out with Doug, Amy Wynn, the homeowners, and the crew.
Take a walk back in time with me—and learn the secrets of the show’s production!
🧑🍳 Reviews and interviews
Reviews:
- Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars (Apple TV, which dropped the +)
- The Alabama Solution, from the producer of The Jinx (HBO Max)
- Smosh Summer Games, which brought back that old network TV vibe (YouTube)
Coming this weekend:
- My review of CBS’s new competition The Road
😍 Recaps
*� The Amazing Race
- Episode 3: Let’s go…insane with that phrase and Big Brother alliances
- Episode 4: The teams astounded Phil Keoghan on the mat
🥲 Dancing with the Stars
- Episode 5: Hilaria Baldwin’s latest tragedy, and other dancing sob stories
- All of Marshal’s DWTS recaps
*�️ Below Deck Med
- Episode 3: Max comes face to face with his past
*� Survivor
🗓️ Reality TV premieres
Reality TV premieres this week include a new season of Starting 5, which follows NBA players, and new seasons of A&E’s clip shows Road Wars and Customer Wars
Docs and specials include a profile of the actor Marlee Matlin; A Mother Apart, which follows a woman trying to figure out “how to mother a daughter when your own mother has been largely absent”; and Hollywood Hustler: Glitz, Glam, Scam, which is about aspiring actor turned scammer Zach Horwitz
💬 Comments of the week
On my recap of The Amazing Race, Kim wrote, in part,
I disagree with you on this one.. seeing the game played with more interpersonal strategy is a new twist on the game. There have always been teams that say they will “work together” but that rarely goes beyond a challenge or two. Nowhere near the level of copying out instructions and leaving them for another team, nor waiting for them at the cost (at least short term) of your own game. It remains to be seen is how it will turn out in the long run. At what point do you need to start sacrificing other people for your own game?
On my review of Netflix’s Next Gen Chef, Chuck wrote:
I love reality competition shows. I especially love all forms of cooking reality shows even though I am such a picky eater that I wouldn’t eat 95% of the food made (good or bad)… What’s interesting you ask? I started this show, maybe watched 5 episodes, and then totally forgot this show existed until I read this recap. Plus, I am not upset that I forgot about it.
🗞️ Reality TV news
Show news:
- 🎄 Here are the Tournament of Champions: All-Star Christmas Chefs, teams, and judges 🎄
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HGTV has announced Bachelor Mansion Takeover, on which "12 former Bachelor, Bachelorette, Golden Bachelor, and Golden Bachelorette contestants will give the famed property a dramatic makeover."
Will they have to bleach the rooms first? Will they decorate once again with several hundred thousand candles? Tayshia Adams and Tyler Cameron will judge, and Jesse Palmer will host. - Pop Culture Jeopardy—the one with teams of three—is coming back for a second season, but on Netflix, not Amazon. Not mentioned in the press release: Colin Jost. Probably cheaper and better TV to just put a cardboard cutout behind the host stand.
People news:
- A bunch of Survivor alumni appeared in a Survivor parody, voting Andrew Cuomo out in an ad for Zohran Mamdani's campaign for New York City mayor. They include Survivor winners Natalie Anderson and Yam Yam Arocho, and others including Teeny Chirichillo, Katurah Topps, and Brandon Donlon. Watch it here.
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The Real Housewives of Potomac star Wendy Osefo was arrested Thursday, joining the growing group of Real Housewives who have been charged with crimes.
The Carroll County Sheriff's Office in Maryland said Wendy and her husband were "charged with multiple counts related to fraud." In 2024, they reported to police that "approximately 80 items of jewelry, luxury goods, clothing, and shoes were stolen, worth a total of more than $200,000." But "Detectives found that over $20,000 of the items reported stolen had been returned by the owners to the locations the items were purchased" and "found images of a homeowner wearing jewelry that had been reported stolen after the burglary took place."
That alleged image is of Wendy at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
- George Gilbert was removed from the Big Brother UK season 22 house for "repeated use of unacceptable language and behaviour," ITV said. Later, George admitted that the specific language that got him removed involved anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, though he said and did plenty of other bigoted things in the house, too.
- Mary Berry just published a book of 90 of her best recipes, and also has a new show: Mary at 90: A Lifetime of Cooking on BBC2, which will premiere later this month.
🤩 I recommend
- This new series, releasing new episodes every Friday
- This competition series, free to stream
- Downloading, printing, and hanging up these festive welcome signs
Bonus recs:
- These hilarious videos from libraries
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These book recs, from Sarah D. Bunting
- getting 20 percent off these books that were adapted into TV shows and movies
You made it to the end! Thanks for reading and watching with me this week. Have a great weekend!
best,
Andy
🌄 This is issue 440 of reality blurred’s weekly newsletter, first sent on 17 Oct. 2025, and it still owns two Ikea chairs that it first saw on Trading Spaces