‘Real Housewives’: Are the Interviews Scripted?

No matter which Real Housewives franchise you watch, you can be sure that you are going to get the drama that you came for. At least one woman is always feuding with the other women or ruining some charity event or vacation.

Some of the best parts of the show are the one-on-one interviews that each cast member does in order to set the scene of what’s going on or describe how they were feeling in that moment. Without those interviews, we wouldn’t get half of the context that we typically do throughout the episodes.

The women tend to divulge so much information in these moments that it leaves you to wonder why they are being so open. Well, it could be because of the producers.

How producers get the stars to talk

Sometimes a cast member’s interview won’t be going so well. Maybe they don’t feel like talking or they just don’t have anything interesting to say, whatever the case may be, they need assistance. Former producer Seth Grossman told Gawker that to combat this, producers on reality shows will act visibly bored if a cast member isn’t saying anything interesting.

“Check your phone, yawn, flip through your notes, unwrap and start eating a hoagie, and force the interview subject to get your attention,” he told the outlet. “You can even go ahead and tell him you’re bored. Get him to tell you something interesting. If he asks, ‘Am I boring you?’ you can nod and say, ‘Yes, you’re boring me. Give me the dirt.’ This usually results in a heavy sigh, and the beginning of a good soundbite.”

If that didn’t work, he says that he would also tell the cast member that their interview might be cut because someone else’s was better.

“Subjects of reality shows are often in competition with the rest of the cast to air their version of recent events and family history,” he told the outlet. “When an interview subject is reluctant to spill the beans, I’ve let them know that other interview subjects have gone deeper and revealed more personal feelings, so those are the stories that will probably end up in the show.”

Producers will challenge their views

If a reality star isn’t really revealing who they are on camera, sometimes the producers will say something that will provoke the subject into showing their true colors.

“Reality TV subjects are sometimes embarrassed to share unpopular or politically incorrect opinions on camera, unless they believe that you feel the same way,” Grossman said.

So, to get them to talk, producers will sometimes act like they agree with what the person is saying or the viewpoint that they are trying to hide. In the case of the housewives, a producer might pretend like they agree with the housewife’s side of an argument as opposed to other cast members’.

They open up

Another thing that the production team will do to get the most out of the interviews, is open up about themselves. By telling the subject information about themselves and being vulnerable, they open the door for the housewife to be more open as well.

Read more: Which ‘Real Housewives’ Series Has Been on Air the Longest?

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!