8 Strangest Reality TV Shows in the World

The increase in popularity of reality TV as a genre has long passed, but the olden era left countless strange and bizarre shows, often lasting no longer than one or two episodes.

From eating chocolate shoes to helping Vanilla Sky build Amish furniture, here are 8 of the strangest reality shows in the world!

1 Sokkuri Sweets

The word “sokkuri” can be translated as “similar to,” which is a nice and short explanation for the show’s premise: the participants have to guess whether a particular item is a dessert. For example, you are shown a door handle, and it can be made of chocolate or metal; or there’s a bowl of noodle soup, which turns out to be a cake! If they guess wrong, then you will have to taste something completely inedible. Imagine guessing if something like a spicy pepper or pizza with pineapples!

2 Extreme Cheapskates

While competing to see who will save more, this show’s participants pee in a jar to save on water, look for food and medicine in garbage cans, and refurbish their homes with sample materials, making it look horrendous in the process. The more you watch the clips from it, the more confused you get about where such people come from.

3 Kid Nation

The Kid Nation show aired in 2007 and lasted for exactly one season. The idea was to see what happens to 40 kids, ages 8-15, if you place them in an old-timey city without running water, electricity, or even toilets for several weeks. They had to cook food, clean, earn money, and do other household chores. But the show’s management received quite a few angry letters, some of which contained threats after several children got burns and accidentally drank bleach. Needless to say, the production was canceled.