Top Five Reality Show Sex Scandals

Age of Love's Jodie Fisher only the latest to find herself at center of racy controversy

By Joal Ryan Aug 09, 2010 10:13 PMTags
The Bachelor, Jake PavelkaABC/CRAIG SJODIN

Who is Jodie Fisher? She's the reality star at the center of a corporate-world sexual-harassment controversy who, to be honest, barely meets the definition of a reality star. (She was the fortysomething cougar eliminated from the very first episode of the dating series, Age of Love.)

Even if her star itself isn't the brightest, Fisher follows in the fine tabloid tradition of these racy reality-show scandals:

The Bachelor's other man: Per her duties as a contestant on the most recent season of the hit show, Rozlyn Papa was supposed to have eyes for no male but Jake Pavelka. However difficult we now may think that job might have been, it was her job. She, of course, lost said job midway through the shoot when she was accused of having a relationship with a show producer. Papa insisted the relationship was no more than a friendship—you know, one of those things Pavelka ended up not having with his ultimate rose selection, Vienna Girardi.

Paula Abdul's judgment day: Can you have a sex scandal without sex? Sure. In 2005, an American Idol-ordered investigation ruled that there was "insufficient evidence" of an alleged affair between the then-judge and disgraced season-two contestant Corey Clark. But Clark got a lot of press (and Abdul got a lot of bad press) for his story. Abdul survived the scandal; Idol survived the scandal; Clark is pitching a new reality series.

Jon Gosselin's Jon & (No) Kate ways: Come with us, if you will, to a far-away time when the reality dad was just (and only) that: a reality dad—a sweater-wearing, devoted reality dad. Yes, all the way back in 2008, when the first stories surfaced of Mr. Gosselin carousing with women other than Mrs. Gosselin, disbelief was the common reaction. "Our Jon would never do that!" we insisted. Imagine how crushed we were to find out about the Easter Bunny, too. 

Kristy Swanson's inglorious blades of glory: Skating With Celebrities, which lasted all of seven little-watched episodes in 2006, produced one of the "great" pre-LeAnn Rimes-Eddie Cibrian storylines when the Buffy the Vampire Slayer star (film division) took her pairs partnership with Olympic skater Lloyd Eisler to the next level—and then some. At the time, Eisler was married with a child, and another on the way. Some police-blotter messiness followed, as did, surprise, Swanson's and Eisler's 2009 marriage.

Danielle Staub's you-know-what: Scandals are supposed to be shocking, and we can't say we were shocked to learn the The Real Housewives of New Jersey resident was the star of a forthcoming sex tape. But, in retrospect, we were shocked—shocked!—that it took so long for one to hit the release schedule. After all, Staub's been famous for 15 whole months now. (Papa, for instance, was famous for 15 seconds before rumors of her sex tape started.) Hasn't Montana Fishburne taught us there's no time like the present premature? 

P.S.: We didn't forget any and every rumored on-camera reality-show hookup. (We're looking at you, Real World: Las Vegas threesome.) It's just that we decided our list should be kept to (alleged) off-camera antics.

You know, for the sake of brevity.

Follow @eonline on Twitter!

________

It's no scandal to admit that even we have our limits. Here are the Top 9 Reality Stars We're So Sick Of.