25 Reality TV Stars Who Need to Make a Comeback

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Denise Richards used to be a promising young actress. She made out with Neve Campbell in Wild Things. Hell, she was a Bond girl. But then she married Charlie Sheen. His behavior overtook both of their careers, most famously when he trashed his room at the Plaza Hotel with an escort while Richards and their two daughters slept a few doors down. Her Ryan Seacrest-produced reality show, Denise Richards: It’s Complicated only lasted two seasons—probably because it featured her doing things like going to the DMV.

But there is one thing that makes us think she’s primed for another reality show. In one episode, Richards decides to talk to Lycia Naff from People to set the story straight regarding Sheen and her affair with Richie Sambora. It doesn’t exactly go as planned, though, and Richards ends up storming off and calling the journalist a cunt. That’s some Real Housewives tantrum-throwing right there. She's born for this.

We really don’t know how Gallery Girls only lasted one season on Bravo. The series followed a group of young women in New York who are trying to make it in the art world. Many of the episodes were clearly fake—a brand new gallery opening had actually been open for a year—but it also gave us reality TV gold in Angela Pham.

The model/artist was one of the most vapid people on television, and that’s saying a lot. We watched the show just to hear her say things like, “It's really just teetering on the precipice of moroseness. That's really what I love about my own photography.” And, “You need one LAMD, a look-at-me device. Usually it’s my big hats or pink pants or nipples.” Her nipples.

Gone Country isn’t Bobby Brown’s most notorious reality show. That title goes to Being Bobby Brown, which co-starred the late Whitney Houston. But in 2008, Brown somehow joined the cast of a CMT show that promised the winner a country single produced by John Rich, of Big and Rich.

Other contestants included Marcia Brady Maureen McCormick, Sisqó, and Twisted Sister’s Dee Snyder. Brown got into all sorts of crazy antics that had nothing to do with being a country singer, like farting on Wilson Phillips’ Carnie Wilson—she said it was a “snappy, wet ripper.” Delightful!

Bobby Brown was made for reality TV.

At first glance, Storage Wars seems like just another niche reality show. However, it became a huge hit for the rather sleepy network A&E—one episode garnered over 5 million viewers (AMC's Mad Men’s most-watched episode, by comparison, only reached 3.5 million).

One of the most polarizing cast members was auction house owner Dave Hester. Viewers loved to hate him, producers just hated him, and he was fired after season three. Hester wouldn’t go without a fight, and soon filed a wrongful termination lawsuit and alleged that Storage Wars was totally fake. If he’s right, we’d like to see the colorful-treasure-hunter-run Dave Hester Auctions for real.

Philadelphia chef Jen Carroll was originally a contestant on Top Chef season 6, but she really made her mark on Top Chef: All Stars. Her profanity-lace meltdown over a less-than-satisfactory serving og pork belly and eggs was one of the show’s most memorable moments.

“The Philadelphia came out in me,” Carroll explained later. She supposedly had a West Village restaurant called Concrete Blonde in the works, but Carroll lost her backers in March and the project looks like it’s dead in the water. Thus, it’s the perfect time for a cooking comeback.

Olivia Palermo was probably the most entertaining part of The City. Supposed star Whitney Port was predictably bland, but socialite Palermo spiced things up with her snobby comments and, um, unorthodox job skills.

She constantly thwarted Port’s efforts to make it in the fashion industry and did all she could to keep her designs out of Elle magazine. Post-MTV, Palermo launched a lifestyle website and is adored by legions of style bloggers and Tumblr teens. A return to reality TV is totally the next step.

Eden Wood is the forgotten star of Toddlers & Tiaras. These days, it’s Honey Boo Boo this, and Mama June that. Little Eden is the perfect kid beauty queen, and she has a sassy personality to go with it.

She retired from the pageant circuit at the ripe old age of 6, but had her own short-lived reality show, Eden’s World, that followed her mother’s efforts to make her famous. Mom Mickie did her best to make Eden a Broadway star, but no dice—so far. Now that Eden is a little bit older (at 8, she’s practically ancient), it’s high time for a comeback. We’re not opposed to an Eden-Honey Boo Boo collaboration.

There are many Real Housewives with ridiculous personal lives, but only one has a sex tape and a prostitution arrest. That would be Danielle Staub. She was fired from Real Housewives of New Jersey after the second season, and her plans for a spinoff reality show never materialized.

If you think she doesn’t need a comeback, just read the details of her arrest. There’s FBI agents, high-end prostitutes, and $48,000 worth of coke. If she can’t get her own show, that could at least be a Lifetime movie. 

Rock of Love and its subsequent iterations featured some of the trashiest, most ridiculous ladies ever to battle for the love of a washed-up hair bander. The best and skankiest of these was Ashley Klarich, who was a contestant on not only Rock of Love, but also Rock of Love Bus and Charm School.

Klarich wasn’t afraid to call out the transparent and desperate moves of her rivals. She was also the head of “The Blondtourage” on Rock of Love. If you still don’t think Ashley needs her own show, let her speak for herself. “I felt like killing myself. Seriously, if I didn’t leave, it wouldn’t have been good for my mental health being around those girls,” Klarich said of her time on VH1. “They were just so lame. They seriously sat around and talked about pillows and cereal.” The horror!

Once upon a time, The Real World was an interesting show that dealt with important issues like AIDS, abortion, gay rights, and addiction. In 1994, bicycle messenger David “Puck” Rainey made reality TV history by epically pissing off his roommates on The Real World: San Francisco.

At best, Puck did things like eat peanut butter out of the jar with his fingers after picking his nose. At worst, he was a homophobic bully who constantly belittled HIV-positive housemate Pedro Zamora. Puck has been arrested a number of times since the show ended and faced charges including domestic violent, DUI, and stalking. Yikes! Maybe another 15 minutes of fame is just what he needs—audiences love a reformed bad boy.

Janice Dickinson was the original bitch on America’s Next Top Model back when Tyra Banks was still doing her den mother act. The “self-proclaimed” world’s first supermodel gave the girls some serious real talk. Dickinson’s aversion to plus-sized models got her fired after four seasons, when she was (ironically) replaced by Twiggy.

"I was just telling the truth and I was saving these girls from going out there and being told that they're too short, too fat, their skin's not good enough," she said. "I was to America's Next Top Model what Simon Cowell is to American Idol." Actually, she has a point.

Dickinson briefly had her own reality show on Oxygen and was on Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew. Perhaps Tyra should suck it up and invite her back to ANTM—even Nigel Barker is gone. Plus, Janice and Kelly Cutrone would be unstoppable!

American Idol’s biggest star isn’t Kelly Clarkson. It isn’t Jennifer Hudson. It isn’t even Carrie Underwood—it’s Ryan Seacrest. The hosting gig was a gateway for Seacrest to become one of the hardest working producers in Hollywood. But remember season one? Seacrest wasn’t alone.

He had a co-host: Brian Dunkleman. Dunkleman claims he left Idol to pursue a stand-up career. He also complained about the way producers treated the young contestants. Dunkleman was on Celebrity Fit Club in 2008 and admitted to Howard Stern the same year that leaving Idol was a mistake. Dunkleman wasn’t that memorable, but he deserves a second chance. How else can he face Seacrest?

Usually, home improvement shows aren’t as drama-filled as the offerings on Bravo and VH1. Episodes of HGTV’s Designed to Sell featured different people and different houses every time, but British host Clive Pearse quickly became the channel’s most popular personality.

Pearse hosted Design Star and HGTV Dream Home in addition to Designed to Sell. Fans were shocked when he was unceremoniously ousted from the network in 2011 with no explanation. Pearse apparently does a lot of voiceover work now and is BFFs with The Exorcist’s Linda Blair. Designed to Sell has faced accusations of being totally fake, but Pearse’s charisma is definitely real. Bring him back!

Many aughties reality shows sought to put together the perfect singing group, and even Making the Band’s first season was awesomely embarrassing—remember O-Town? The third season saw the formation of poor man’s Pussycat Dolls, Danity Kane. As ridiculous as they may be, don’t forget that they actually not one but two #1 albums.

They split up in 2009, and member Aubrey O’Day had her own trash-tastic show on Oxygen and even finished third on The Celebrity Apprentice 5. She supposedly has a new album coming out, but how about getting the old band back together? Maybe they could even add Chris Crocker to the lineup.

Is there any Real Housewife more memorable than Kelly Bensimon? She’s not exactly known for her wit, and feuded with several other cast members, most notably Bethenny Frankel: “I’m up here, and you’re down here,” she screamed at the future talk show host.

We realize there are lots of crazies willing to embarrass themselves in the Real Housewives stable, but where else would we get gems like this: “Why do we have to be all flowers and lollipops. Why can't it be like fighting but we are actually learning. That's called back-door education.” Yes, Kelly, reality TV is about learning. Bensimon’s latest project is getting her MBA—we suggest a show about that. Learning and fighting!

Jake Pavelka easily takes the cake as the most notorious Bachelor. He first starred in the fifth season of The Bachelorette, and after being eliminated by Jillian Harris, became the 14th Bachelor. Bonus? He’s a pilot. Jake was a pretty boring bachelor—until the end of the season, that is. He chose Vienna Girardi over Tenley Molzahn, and proposed to her in the season finale.

They not-so-shockingly broke up within months, and wouldn’t you know it, ABC was able to film a “breakup special” just a day after the split. It’s worth watching just for their immature jabs that eventually end with Vienna walking off the set. Since then, Jake’s appeared on Dancing with the Stars and even poked fun at himself with Joel McHale on The Soup. We’d give him another chance.

Kelly Cutrone is the queen of tough love. We first got a load of the PR maven as Lauren Conrad’s no-nonsense employer on The Hills. She then gave deer-in-the-headlights Whitney Port direction on The City.

Our prayers were answered when Cutrone, who is much more compelling than the milquetoast MTV stars, got her own show, Kell On Earth (yes, she’s that scary). Unfortunately, it was canceled after only one season. Cutrone then joined Tyra Banks as a judge on America’s Next Top Model. Ok, so technically she’s still on TV, but ANTM really isn’t the best venue for Cutrone. Girl needs to be in charge. 

Richard Hatch was one of the first reality TV stars. He won the groundbreaking first season of Survivor, and wore diminishing amounts of clothing to do it. Fellow contestant Sue Hawk disliked him early on, and made an epic rats-and-snakes speech about Hatch and the other remaining cast member, Kelly Wiglesworth (Hatch being the snake and Wiglesworth being the rat).

Hatch came out on top, winning the vote 4-3, and a new kind of TV villain was born. Hatch and Hawk were reunited in the All Star season, and she quite after a naked Hatch rubbed up against her. We agree, Sue—even a million dollar prize doesn’t make up for that.

We know, we know—Paula Abdul was famous before American Idol. In fact, she was the best-known name on the judges’ panel when the musical competition show debuted in 2002. Abdul quickly became known for her way-too-positive comments, and, as seasons went on, her self-medication. The Grammy-winning singer and dancer eventually left AI after the eighth season.

After a few non-starters, she took another reality role with her pal Simon Cowell on his new show, The X Factor. She left after just one season, and other than a guest judging stint on Dancing With the Stars, has steered clear of reality TV. She may have been a too-obvious foil for Cowell, but we have to admit, we miss that hot mess. Wouldn’t Idol be a lot more interesting if more people were drunk? Come back, Paula!

Tanisha Thomas has starred on several Oxygen reality shows. Her most infamous role was on Bad Girls Club, where she constantly told everyone else to "pop off" and kept the other girls awake by banging pans and singing outside their rooms—that's really the least of it. She later starred on Tanisha Gets Married, but, predictably, Thomas had her marriage annulled after a few months.

Thomas is reportedly releasing a plus-sized clothing line, but, as far we can tell, there aren't any more reality shows in the works. Bring her back. Tanisha could show the current Bad Girls a thing or two.

Remember 2007? Wall Street hadn’t yet caused a global financial crisis. The Writers Guild went on strike. And Sarah Palin was just a glimmer in Tina Fey’s eye. The failed Vice Presidential candidate and ex-governor of Alaska gained more attention for her outrageous comments (“lipstick on a pitbull”) and her appearance than her actual politics.

After the election, the gun-toting hockey mom starred on Sarah Palin’s Alaska with her family, including daughter, and famed young mother, Bristol. The show didn’t last, and neither did her stint on Fox News. But we have the perfect way to keep her from running for office in 2016: give her another reality show.

Tiffany Pollard, a.k.a. New York, was Flavor of Love's real breakout star. Flav gave her the nickname “New York,” but she had her own: Head Bitch in Charge. Guess that’s why she came back for season two. Pollard officially became a reality TV star after her fight with Brooke “Pumpkin” Thompson—Pumpkin spat, New York pulled hair, and VH1 history was made.

Pollard has been on countless other reality shows since then. Her last one, I Love New York 3, was shelved in 2011. She hinted it was because of the murder-suicide case involving a Megan Wants a Millionaire contestant. Pollard hasn’t done much in the past few years, which seems hard to believe. In May, however, she said she had a reality pilot in the works. Perhaps she’ll be back on the small screen in no time. Fingers crossed.

The Simple Life made Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie household names in 2003. Hilton’s sex tape had just come out, and people couldn’t get enough of the vapid heiress. The two seemingly dumb blondes stayed with a family in Arkansas to see how the 99% live. Sausage was made. Hilarity ensued. Oh, and there’s an episode featuring a pre-glitter Ke$ha.

Richie is a mom now, and Hilton has stayed out of the limelight for the past few years. After Hilton's cameo in The Bling Ring, maybe America is ready for a return to Paris.