In the world of reality TV, there are a few rules of thumb to follow if you want a successful series: get your cast to drink a lot, fight a lot, and be as outrageous as possible to get that special trainwreck-style viewing. People not want to watch, but, try as they might, they can't turn away.
But rules are made to be broken, and there are a few reality stars that manage to retain their popularity despite being (relatively) likable, cool people who wouldn't get drunk and harm you. These folks are anomalies, and as such they deserve recognition; it's not easy keeping classy around people throwing themselves at bottles of vodka to get more screen time.
As we're now past the mid-point of 2013, we thought it appropriate to celebrate the reality stars who exhibited either extreme of behavior in an exemplary fashion—those that are bad in the best ways possible, and those that are good in the most respectable ways possible. You know, the Best Reality Stars of 2013 (So Far).
Written by Tanya Ghahremani (@tanyaghahremani)
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Cast of Geordie Shore (MTV UK)
Nev Schulman (Catfish: The TV Show, MTV)
Max Joseph (Catfish: The TV Show, MTV)
Abby Lee Miller (Dance Moms, Lifetime)
Tina Sugandh (Newlyweds: The First Year, Bravo)
Sammy Younai (Shahs of Sunset, Bravo)
Hilary Farr (Love It or List It, HGTV)
Lisa Vanderpump (Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Bravo)
RuPaul (RuPaul's Drag Race, Logo)
There are a few factors that make RuPaul one of the best reality stars to grace your TV screen this year, but none make a better case than the fabulous quotes and catchphrases on her show, RuPaul’s Drag Race. Over the shows’s six seasons, RuPaul has said some of the most GIFable, quotable things, including but not limited to: “Mystique, Elizabeth Taylor called, she wants her jewels back”; Tturn off your goddamn computer and go walk children in nature”; “Impersonating Beyoncé is not your destiny, child”; and the inspiring, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?” If you don’t appreciate RuPaul and her timeless wisdom after that, then we just have one thing to say to you:
Drag Race, at large, is one of the best reality shows on TV today because it's one of the smartest. By focusing on drag performers, Ru's show foregrounds artifice. Everything you're watching is a performance, even when the participants aren't competing, and the winking quality this gives the proceeding makes for a funnier, richer experience.