Reality shows are entertaining, but they aren't always "reality." Life doesn't naturally happen in a three-act structure, with a host, challenges and elimination rounds. People on reality shows are sculpted into characters through editing, with one aspect of their personality exploited. Also, producers on the sidelines remind contestants to speak in complete sentences - and sometimes even pitch them lines to say.
Now, that doesn't mean reality shows are "fake." It just means reality shows contain a little television magic. And on the British dating show, Love Island, fans believe they've spotted evidence of this television magic, which kind of ruins the illusion.
Okay, so, on the original episode of Love Island, Georgia and Jack kissed, while Wes and Megan sat just a few feet away. That was pretty dramatic moment, splintering friendships across the villa. From the first angle, in the original broadcast, Wes and Megan kissed first, while Georgia are Jack are still preparing to leave. This means Wes had a clear view of Georgia and Jack kissing.
However, on the spin-0ff show Aftersun, host Caroline Flack accused Wes of being a liar. She decided to expose the truth about Georgia and Jack's smooch "World Cup-style," with the use of Video Assistant Referee. VAR is typically used by football referees to review decisions, so why not use them for reality shows?
On the replay of the footage, viewers noticed that they used a different angle. On the second, unforeseen angle, Georgia and Jack are kissing, while Megan and Wes are kissing. This indicates Wes did not have a clear view of their kiss. But the two angles don't match up, meaning they must have done multiple takes.
"Lets have a look at Wes because he said he saw them kiss," said Caroline Flack, presenting. "Now this is interesting, he's actually kissing Megan. He doesn't look up at all and there we go, we have it cleared up. ... The biggest revelation there is Wes is a complete liar because he wasn't looking at the kiss."
However, according to the original footage, Wes is telling the truth! Maybe it's not a good idea to expose the truth about reality shows, World Cup-style. You run risk of exposing the truth about how the show is made, like by asking the contestants to do another take.
Some Twitter users were heartbroken to discover that the kiss may not have been totally spontaneous.
Other Twitters shrugged, knowing that elements of reality shows might be manufactured for maximum entertainment.
Well, if the kiss on Love Island was staged, what else is staged? Are any of the contestants real? Maybe they're all robots. Is Love Island even an island? Maybe it's peninsula. And are of these contestants even interested in love? Maybe they're just pretending to be in love and playing up aspects of their personality to get more camera time. But Fifteen Minutes Of Fame Island doesn't have the best ring to it.