Tom Bergeron returns • surprise Traitors coming • Below Deck goes Bachelor
Dear newsletter friends,
Happy Friday! This is the 444th edition of my newsletter, meaning I’ve sent this on 444 Fridays now. 🤯 Why does that feel like more, somehow, than 25 years?
Today, I have six recaps, two reviews, and one follow-up for you, plus listings, news, and recommendations. Oh, and a podcast episode that’s all about all about my recap process.
But despite all that, I know that I don’t have time to cover everything, and I miss some shows.
So, I’m asking for you to recommend your favorite underrated or overlooked reality TV show!
This was inspired by one of our community member’s comments, and some great suggestions have come in so far. So please add yours, and I’ll compile and share them all in a story soon.
⚡️ Reviews
On Dancing with the Stars’ 20th anniversary, Tom Bergeron’s epic return was a celebration—and a warning
Tom teared up talking about reaction to his return 🥹
Also:
😍 Recaps
🏝️ Survivor
Survivor producers found new ways to interfere!
What did MC whisper? The answer—and how she tried to prevent Survivor history from repeating
🍰 The Great British Bake Off
🧊 TOC: All-Star Christmas
👯♂️ Dancing with the Stars
👩❤️👨 Below Deck Med
🐓 The Amazing Race
🗓️ Reality TV premieres
Reality TV premiere highlights a new strategic Food Network baking competition, Sweet Empire and HGTV’s Hoarding for the Holidays; new seasons of Selling the OC and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives; and a new celebrity travel series, Tiffany Haddish Goes Off, where she travels to Africa with her childhood friends
Highlights of docs premiering this week: Surviving Mormonism with Heather Gay and My Nightmare Stalker: The Eva LaRue Story; a documentary following Love Island UK host Caroline Flack’s mother as she tries to understand her daughter took her own life (Please call or text 988 if you need to talk with someone); and specials timed for Veteran’s Day: The Last 600 Meters, The Warfighters: Battle Stories, and American Heart in WWI: A Carnegie Hall Tribute.
💬 Comments of the week
Someone featured on Below Deck Med commented on my recap:
This is Anna the anti christ here 💅 love your write up !
Discussing the Bake-Off finale, Meg wrote:
Alison does a good job, but I’d prefer someone with a dry wit, to offset Noel (the way Sandy Toksvig did). And I do not miss the cold opens one little bit — good riddance!
Regarding Tournament of Champions’ new spin-off, Rose wrote,
I though it was great! I usually don’t like the competition shows that are originally one vs one and then switch to two vs two but I think it works here. I was excited to see all the pairings! And interesting too that some have a sweet background but not all do.
🗞️ Reality TV news
The Celebrity Traitors UK will be on Peacock next week, on Nov. 20! All nine episodes drop that Thursday.
Matt Rogers went off on Jeff Probst, defending Parvati Shallow as a two-time winner (something Probst brought up on his own podcast) and critiquing new-era twists: "I don't think it's getting better."
I still think Golden Bachelor Mel Owens was a bad choice, but am impressed that he refused to propose to someone he’d known for two weeks—and also love that the runner-up just bailed. Ha!
Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba talked about this season, including defending Flavor Flav’s “judging,” sharing how online vitriol affects her mental health, and admitting she’s “confused by the scoring sometimes.” She also agreed she’s harder on female competitors: “Because I support women so much, I let them know what I see, because they are working so hard, I always feel it’s my responsibility if I sense somebody hasn’t given it their all.”
🤩 I recommend
Watching the new season of the super-fun Beat Bobby Flay: Holiday Throwdown, which is the best Beat Bobby Flay.
This new CBS competition—and not just because my review is quoted in the ads! (So weird seeing reality blurred on CBS prime-time)
Adding reality blurred as a preferred source for your searches, a thing I did not know was possible until yesterday
Thanks for reading and watching with me this week, and have a delightful weekend.
best,
Andy
🌄 This is issue 444 of reality blurred’s weekly newsletter, first sent on 14 Nov. 2025, and it’s started adding Easter egg links in the newsletter. Hint: always the same place, and you don’t have to scroll this far. Or at all. 🙂