Have you dreamed of being on a reality dating show? Well now is your chance.

A new dating startup that's sort of like an OKCupid meets Airbnb is now accepting applications for its upcoming reality show.

The startup — called LoveRoom— launched this past November as a room-sharing site that will help you find your soulmate. It works like any regular matchmaking site, except when you get paired with another user, you will then spend the night together in a shared living setup.

The site explains that "LoveRoom offers the best of a room-sharing site coupled with elements of a dating service to provide a new and intimate way for single people to meet."

Now, possibly to get some more attention (the site claims thousands are already using the platform), LoveRoom is partnering with "a major television production company" to create a reality show.

We are seeking sexy singles who have either tried LoveRoom OR are ready for a LoveRoom experience! If you are looking for love - or maybe just a hook up - in your city, and have a fun, dynamic personality, we want to hear from you!

If that sounds like something up your alley, you can sign up here.

For the rest of us, we can wait with bated breath for the insanity that is sure to occur on national TV, should this LoveRoom show actually come to fruition.

SEE ALSO: This New App Wants To Help You Find Love On LinkedIn

SEE ALSO: A New Dating App Won't Let Men Join Unless Women Approve Them First

SEE ALSO: Q&A: The CEO Of Dating App Hinge Tells Us Why He's Not Competing With Tinder

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With the rise of reality television throughout the past decade, shock value has become harder and harder to come by.

But one insane new show manages to up the ante.

"Married At First Sight"premiered Tuesday night on A&E's new lifestyle network FYI. It's exactly as crazy as it sounds — a panel of experts finds people who are unlucky in love and "scientifically" pairs them up for marriage. They head down the aisle without knowing anything about the other person, and they meet for the first time at the alter.

The marriages are real, according to the show's publicist, and the network will finance a divorce within six months of the wedding if the couples realize they aren't meant for each other. The show follows the couples through their wedding attended by friends and family, a honeymoon, and moving in together.

"Married At First Sight"is being billed as a social experiment/commentary, but as The Hollywood Reporter points out, it "seems particularly callous ... at a time when the definition and legalities of marriage are at the forefront of national conversations."

Dr. Logan Levkoff, a sexologist who's part of the show's panel of experts, wrote about the show for The Huffington Post:

Though I made certain assumptions about this experiment, I took a call with one of the producers. I listened to her tell me about the premise of the experiment. I heard words that resonated with me. Documentary. Provocative. Thoughtful. And then the question that hit home: "Logan, what if four experts in their respective fields -- social scientists -- can help to create meaningful relationships?"

... Married at First Sight isn't just a television show; it is a social commentary. I worry that we are so used to jumping in and out of relationships that we don't even know what's worth fighting for anymore. We tend to run at the first obstacle instead of working our way through challenges. This experiment asks people to commit so that they have to fight for something. They have to put the work in -- the work that we all need to put in -- into partnerships.

This method largely disregards the importance of chemistry in a romantic relationship and seems to approach marriage as a scientific, almost business-like partnership. The show's contestants obviously run the risk of having no romantic connection or attraction to the person they just married.

But Levkoff says the couples are aware of this.

"I asked all of our participants numerous questions about chemistry and the role it plays in relationships," she told Business Insider via email. "They were asked to talk about their beliefs about its importance, whether it develops over time, and how they would manage the issue if chemistry wasn't instantaneous."

Check out this sneak peak video of the show from FYI:

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CHARLESTON S.C. (Reuters) - Thomas Ravenel, a former Republican state treasurer in South Carolina who was convicted of drug trafficking and starred in a reality television series, filed a petition on Monday to run as an independent candidate for U.S. Senate, state officials said.

Ravenel, a cast member on Bravo's "Southern Charm" show this spring, collected about 16,500 signatures, more than the 10,000 required by the state to get his name added to the ballot in November, the South Carolina State Election Commission said.

Ravenel, a 51-year-old real estate developer who said he supports limited government, faces long odds against two-term Republican incumbent Lindsey Graham, who easily won his party's nomination last month and has raised more than $9 million.

Ravenel, who had vowed to run if Republican voters nominated Graham, said he planned to challenge "a failed two-party system" and accused the hawkish senator of helping terrorists.

"I want to offer people a real choice, not a false choice between a warfare state and a welfare state," Ravenel said. "Terrorists rely on politicians like him to engage in fear mongering and incite governments to overreact."

Graham press secretary Kevin Bishop declined to comment.

Ravenel resigned from his state office in 2007 after being charged with federal drug trafficking offenses for sharing cocaine with friends. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2008 to 10 months in federal prison.

As one of six wealthy, single cast members on the "Southern Charm" series based in Charleston, Ravenel was part of a storyline about a false pregnancy scare with his girlfriend on the show. The couple later had a baby who was born in March.

The show might boost Ravenel's name recognition, but he is unlikely to win the election, said College of Charleston political scientist Gibbs Knotts.

"I don't think he has a chance," Knotts said. "His argument has the potential to resonate with people, but it's very, very difficult for third parties to get elected."

Democratic state Senator Brad Hutto also is vying for the U.S. Senate seat.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jim Loney)

SEE ALSO: 12 HBO Stars' Surprising Family Connections To Hollywood

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This Sunday, E!'s hit reality show "#RichKids of Beverly Hills" will return for a second season.

The hour-long, "Rich Kids Of Instagram" Tumblr-inspired show features six friends from 90210 who drop thousands of dollars on clothes, shoes, cars, and partying like it's their job — because that's exactly what it is for some of these "funemployed" 20-somethings. 

Get to know the cast and catch up on season one here before this weekend's season two premiere, which takes the "Rich Kids" to China.

Season two of "#RichKids of Beverly Hills" premieres this Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on E!

Meet 25-year-old Dorothy Wang, who was born and raised in Beverly Hills — "The best city in the world."

Dorothy says "Growing up, my parents never talked about money. It wasn't until it was printed in Forbes that I knew how much money we had."

Dorothy is currently "funemployed and fabuluxe," but "when I grow up I want to be the Asian sensation of the world."

This Sunday, E!'s hit reality show "#RichKids of Beverly Hills" will return for a second season.

The hour-long, "Rich Kids Of Instagram" Tumblr-inspired show features six friends from 90210 who drop thousands of dollars on clothes, shoes, cars, and partying like it's their job — because that's exactly what it is for some of these "funemployed" 20-somethings. 

Get to know the cast and catch up on season one here before this weekend's season two premiere, which takes the "Rich Kids" to China.

Season two of "#RichKids of Beverly Hills" premieres this Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on E!

Meet 25-year-old Dorothy Wang, who was born and raised in Beverly Hills — "The best city in the world."

Dorothy says "Growing up, my parents never talked about money. It wasn't until it was printed in Forbes that I knew how much money we had."

Dorothy is currently "funemployed and fabuluxe," but "when I grow up I want to be the Asian sensation of the world."

A crew member of the television show “Cops” has died after he was shot while covering the police response to an armed robbery in Omaha.

A news conference was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT about the death of Bryce Dion. The robbery suspect was also killed.

“We are deeply saddened and shocked by this tragedy and our main concern is helping his family in any way we can,” Langley Productions, which produces the show, said in a statement. “Bryce Dion was a long-term member of the ‘Cops’ team and a very talented and dedicated person. We mourn his passing. An investigation is ongoing and we are cooperating with local authorities.”

Deputy Chief David Baker (pictured) said in brief remarks to reporters Tuesday night that two people — the robbery suspect and an employee of the show — were taken to a hospital. Both later died.

Also read: ‘Cops’ Joins Spike TV Slate Starting in September

An employee at Langley Productions said the heads of the company, John and Morgan, were in Omaha and would make a statement at the news conference.

Police responded to the call at about 9:20 p.m. at a Wendy's restaurant.

Watch video of the news conference:

SEE ALSO: Black TV Producer Arrested In Beverly Hills After Being Mistaken For A Bank Robber

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TBS has canceled Ceelo Green‘s reality series “The Good Life” after a disastrous weekend that began with him pleading no contest to a felony charge of giving a woman the drug ecstasy and continued with a series of tweets about rape.

A network source said the show was done in by low ratings. But Green's activities since Friday couldn't have helped. After entering the plea, Green apparently went on a Twitter tirade in which he opined that “People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!”

Also read: CeeLo Green Accused of Tweeting: ‘People Who Have Really Been Raped REMEMBER!!!’

He was immediately blasted by many who pointed out that date-rape victims who have been drugged by their assailants often cannot remember, and that it is often the intent of rapists who drug their victims to prevent them from remembering.

A series of eventually deleted tweets on Green's feed argued that he did not rape the woman to whom he had furnished ecstasy, and offered a confusing argument about whether an unconscious person could give consent.

Also read: CeeLo Green Pleads No Contest in Ecstasy Case

TheWrap has made numerous attempts to determine for certain whether Green sent the tweets from his account. His publicist has not responded to repeated requests for comment.

Green pled no contest Friday to a count accusing him of furnishing the drug during a 2012 dinner in Los Angeles. He also entered a special plea in which he maintained his innocence in the case and that prevents his no contest plea from being used against him in civil court, the Associated Press reported.

Green, whose real name is Thomas DeCarlo Callaway, was sentenced to three years of formal probation and 45 days of community service.

SEE ALSO: Here's How The Hacked Celebrities Are Responding To Their Nude Photo Leaks

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Fox’s latest reality series, Utopia, hasn’t even premiered yet, but it’s already proven to have a slew of problems. On Tuesday, a 25 year-old contestant going by the name Hex had to be taken to the hospital due to a severe case of dehydration. It’s not the first time one of the show’s contestants has had to leave the program and it won’t be the last, but it is surprising that Fox has had so many problems with the series before it even airs an episode. 

TMZ first broke the news about Hex and her health problems, noting that Hex was unlikely to be in any real danger and had just been taken to the hospital for “precautionary measures.” She was hospitalized for 5 hours at Henry Mayo Hospital in Valencia. The news comes just days after fellow contestant Andrea Cox was kicked off the show due to sneaking in a smartphone and researching the other contestants. In Hex’s case, there is a happy ending, however. After being treated at the hospital, she was allowed to return to the Utopia set. 

The show follows 15 individuals who have been dropped off in an isolated, 3-acre area where cameras are trained on them all of the time. The goal is to live in the wilderness, sort-of how Survivor worked in its earliest amalgamations; however, the Utopia cast members will also be facing challenges revolving around creating a brand new society and culture. It sounds like a reality competition, but it’s not. There is no prize. Thus, it’s been praised by those involved as the realest of real reality, although obviously, sending a person off of the compound and allowing them to be treated medically doesn’t really fit into Utopia’s isolated community premise. I guess allowing medical treatment is better than getting sued. 

Interestingly, Big Brother-style livestream cameras are also a big part of the brand new experiment show, but the live feeds did not choose to show the subsequent hospitalization of Hex, probably because it destroys any semblance of actual reality. Honestly, Fox has invested a lot in Utopia. Stars have been signed on to the show for 52 weeks of hard living in the wilderness, and casting is ongoing just in case there are cell phone or health issues (also, cast members can totally be kicked off the series). It’s only Day 5 of the drama and it’s looking like Fox might have more problems to navigate than the network may have expected. If you are interested in seeing Utopia turn into a disaster, you can tune in when the show premieres during primetime on Fox. The first episode will air Sunday, September 7 at 8 p.m. ET. If you are interested in other fall premieres, you can take a look at our Fall Premiere Schedule. 

SEE ALSO: This OKCupid-Meets-Airbnb Startup Wants You To Be On Its Reality Show

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America has "Top Chef," the U.K has "The Great British Bake Off."

It's about baking.

And seriously, Brits love it. 

How much? The country ground to a halt over a scandal involving an alleged dessert "sabotage" that occurred on an episode from the latest season. Contestant Iain Watters had an on-camera freak out after fellow baker Diana Beard supposedly removed his Baked Alaska from the freezer, causing it to melt. Watters was sent home, Beard accused BBC of editing the footage to make her look bad, London was in disorder for a few days.

It dominated the news cycle.

The commotion over so-called "bingate" pushed the show to it's biggest audience ever: 10 million viewers. (That's 1 in 6 of all British people.) And now, people in Britain can't stop talking about it.  

There is even a second TV show, An Extra Slice, whose only purpose is to dissect the highlights of the actual show from the previous evening.

Want more? Here's an online gallery of Bake Off cakes.

The series, now in Season 5, is getting off of a strong start. Bake Off pulled in 7.2 million viewers in the current season's opening episode, up from the 5.6 million who tuned in to watch the first episode of Season 4, according to The Guardian. And last week, it drew in nearly double the number of viewers who watched England's first soccer game, against Norway, since it lost to Brazil in the World Cup. 

Other than the controversy, "The Great British Bake Off" follows the basic formula of many other reality cooking shows. Contestants fight it out in challenges that test their technical skills, creativity, and performance under time constraints designed to drive bakers to the brink — maybe even far enough to purposely vandalize a competitor's pudding. 

In each one-hour episode, contestants are tested in three different ways on one type of dessert, such as pies or tarts.  

The contestants fall across a wide range of ages, too. There is an adorably nervous 17-year-old (who is an excellent baker) and an old military veteran (not quite such a good baker). So everyone has someone different to root for.

Season 5 started off with twelve. Eventually, that will be whittled down to one — and winner will be named Great British Bake Off's Best Amateur Baker. 

The star of the show is arguably English food writer Mary Berry. She's 79, adorable, and who can deny the obvious — her last name is berry and she writes about food!

The Great British Bake Off airs at 8 p.m. BST on BBC One every Wednesday. 

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Bravo reality star Lilly Ghalichi is most well known for the two years she appeared as "the Persian Barbie" on "Shahs of Sunset."

But what many don't know about the 31-year-old Texas native is that she holds degrees in both law and business, and even passed the bar exam.

But instead of practicing law, Lilly started a bikini line.

Today, Lilly's multi-million dollar brand includes swimwear, beauty, fashion, fine jewelry, champagne, and How-To seminars for aspiring entrepreneurs — all of which she promotes to her over 1 million Instagram followers.

Most recently, the designer launched a new line of women's apparel earlier this month for WantMyLook.com during New York Fashion Week.

Lilly shared her behind-the-scenes photos from Fashion Week with Business Insider.

It's the day of the fashion show, so I go straight into fittings and prep.

I'm in New York City for my first-ever Fashion Week as a designer. I'm presenting The Lilly Ghalichi Collection for WantMyLook.com and I'm so excited to share this passion project with the world.

The first step today is to do final fittings with all the models to catch any last minute changes that need to be made. I'm a perfectionist with everything I do, so this is a very important part of the process for me. 

The stage is already set, it's the calm before the storm.

Next up, I'm doing a final walk through of the venue to check lighting, music, seating arrangements, and everything else in between.

My favorite fashionistas will be filling this room in just a couple hours!

I do a last check to make sure models are ready for the show.

While the models are getting ready for showtime, I'm making my rounds in the glam room to make sure all the looks are coming together as planned.

It's extremely important to me for all the models have their own unique styles on the runway while maintaining The Lilly Ghalichi Collection vision — which is edgy, feminine, and fabulous. 

VH1 is bringing back what certainly must be one of the most famous reality shows of all time, "The Osbournes,"according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The series featuring Ozzy, Sharon, Jack, and Kelly Osbourne is being revived by VH1. Sharon Osbourne has said the show will most likely come back for six or eight episodes.

"The Osbournes" went off the air a decade ago, so it's a good bet that things have changed significantly in the family. As the Hollywood Reporter notes, the series got an Emmy in 2002 and in its first year it was cited as the most-viewed series ever on MTV at that time.

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"The Rich Kids Of Beverly Hills" may have been the E! network's breakout reality hit when it premiered earlier this year, but the six wealthy best friends-turned-cast mates from the 90210 zip code were not initially happy with the show's title.

"The name of the show wasn’t chosen until after," one of the show's stars, Dorothy Wang, tells Business Insider. "Basically, we had a show as a group of friends with no title. It was called 'The Morgan and Dorothy Project' for the longest time. And then once we got the show, we shot the pilot, and they go, 'Oh by the way, it’s going to be called 'Rich Kids of Beverly Hills.'"

The "Rich Kids," who all come from very comfortable backgrounds, were not pleased.

"We were like, 'What?!' All of us were all taken aback by it," says Dorothy, an heir to her father's $4 billion retail real estate empire. "We were like, 'Our parents are going to kill us, people are going to hate us.' In the beginning, we all did not love the title."

Dorothy, who "waited until we had to sign our contracts to tell my family about the show," finally broached the topic of the title with her parents. "They literally said, 'Well, can we change it?'"

"My dad finally said, 'You’re in a really unique position. Yes, you’re a rich kid, but you are also so much more and this would allow you to show that to the world. And you have a way to disprove the negative images of rich kids.'"

Dorothy's father founded the Golden Eagle International Group in Nanjing and turned it into one of the country's largest mall chains, with stores in 15 cities, according to Forbes.

Now two seasons into the reality show loosely based on the popular Tumblr "Rich Kids of Instagram," Dorothy says her father is fully on board.

"He is always reminding me of his motto: 'Are you adding value to society?' So he will sit down with me and be like, 'What value are you going to add to this episode?' He wants it to be bigger than the fluff and fun. He understands that it’s for entertainment, but at the same time he wants me to be true to myself and not get caught up in the fun of it. He wants me to do something legitimate with it all."

Clearly her father's influence is rubbing off. In the pilot episode, which was viewed by over a million people, Dorothy organizes a blood drive for her friends.

"I do think our family is surprisingly grounded and relatable," Dorothy explains of her billionaire upbringing. "We like nice vacations and nice things, but I’ll go to Costco with my mom. We’ll eat in hole in the wall restaurants while traveling. We like nice things, but we also value the simpler things. I think a lot of that is because when I was younger, we would travel to China and my parents would take us to the orphanages and we would work with the kids, so we knew how fortunate we were. We’re not better than anyone else."

Ultimately, Dorothy says, "It became a mission for us to take the stigma out of the [show] title. I think as the show progresses, the stigma of the title goes away more and more as people see who we really are.” 

Today, Dorothy says, her parents "let me be me.”

SEE ALSO: How A Billionaire Heiress Ended Up Joining 'Rich Kids Of Beverly Hills'

MORE: Here's The Definition Of 'Funemployed,' According To A 'Rich Kid Of Beverly Hills'

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According to Gizmodo, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak is reportedly joining forces with "Mythbusters" host Kari Byron to create a reality TV show about futuristic tech. 

Called "The Woz," according to a press release obtained by Gizmodo, the show will feature Wozniak testing out gadgets, and it "introduces the audience to facilities where science fiction is quickly becoming reality."

Not much else is known about the upcoming show, though Byron has tweeted out some hints.

 We'll update as we find out more.

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It was 2004, and Steve Austin needed to make a change.

Following the final match of his illustrious professional wrestling career in March 2003, Austin began spending lots of his time at home in Texas, drinking heavily and re-watching footage of the 1997 wrestling accident that ultimately forced him to retire.

Worst of all, he wasn't working.

As a 39-year-old retiree, Austin was living a life that contradicted the very essence of both the on-screen "Stone Cold" persona that made him famous and his own real-life self-perception.

Off-screen, he came from a middle-class family in Edna, Texas, and drove a forklift to make ends meet when he entered the wrestling business in 1989.

When he rose to stardom in the World Wrestling Federation (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment) in the late 90s, he did so portraying a working-class character who became popular for drinking beer out of a can and beating up his boss, the real-life WWE owner Vince McMahon.

"I've worked my ass off my whole life," Austin, now 49, explains in a phone interview with Business Insider from the Broken Skull Ranch, the 2,000-acre south Texas property that serves as his part-time home. "That's just how I was raised. If you're able-bodied and able-minded, you should work."

And so, Austin had what he calls a "come to Jesus" conversation with himself, deciding to move to Los Angeles and get back to work in show business.

It took about a decade, but today, he has reinvented himself as a reality television and podcast host, a man who has taken on a special place in the wrestling world that made him famous while simultaneously forging a new path for himself on his own.

"It was almost like a maturation process," he says. "I said, 'Hey man, it's time to put your suspenders back on, get your ass out to L.A., and get to work.' And that's what I did."

Austin started out in acting, playing a small part in the 2005 Adam Sandler movie, "The Longest Yard," and being a featured member of the ensemble cast of the 2010 action movie "The Expendables" alongside the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, and Mickey Rourke. 

But while he has since acted in a handful of straight-to-DVD movies, Austin didn't find his second love, reality television, until 2011. That's when he was tapped to be the host of "Tough Enough," a show in which contestants compete for a WWE contract.

Austin enjoyed having the opportunity to be himself without having to memorize a bunch of lines, a part of the acting process he never enjoyed.

His performance caught the eye of Country Music Television, which asked him to be the host of "Redneck Island," a country-fried version of "Survivor" with competitors from the American South. Austin agreed, and the show's fourth season premiered December 4.

But perhaps what Austin is most proud of is his second CMT reality show, "Broken Skull Challenge," the result of a promise the network made to him that if he hosted "Redneck Island," it would listen to a proposal for a show he himself had dreamed up.

Austin describes "Broken Skull Challenge" as his baby, and it's easy to see it as a reflection of his no-frills personality.

Simple by design, the show is like an outdoors version of "American Gladiators," where muscular men and women battle it out in tests of strength and agility that take place inside moats, dirt courses, and sand pits. Austin offers the contestants encouragement and calls the action. 

"I just enjoy seeing competition on TV, and I figured there was a space out there for a show like this that is very organic, very down and dirty," Austin says. "There's no fancy equipment, and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out if you haven't seen an episode before."

It's a different kind of pressure from the live broadcasts of pro wrestling, but Austin says he loves the fact that the entire CMT network and a crew of 80 people are all depending on him to deliver.

So far, it seems like he has. The show's second season debuts January 4, and already, Austin says he has been stopped in public by people who recognize him not as "Stone Cold," the six-time WWF Champion, but as Steve Austin, the host of "Broken Skull Challenge."

"Now it's happening all the time," Austin says. "I'll always be 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin to many people, but to be recognized for some things that I've done on my own is very flattering, and I'm very proud of that."

At the same time, he has kept one foot in the wrestling world through his podcast, which debuted in April 2013 and broadcasts twice weekly.

Currently ranked No. 1 in iTunes' sports and recreation category, "The Steve Austin Show" gives its host a chance to channel the creativity and spontaneity that went into his on-screen wrestling interviews as he schmoozes with other wrestling personalities and opines on the state of the industry.

The show has turned him into an elder statesman of sorts, someone whose everyman appeal and legendary status allow him to serve as a liaison between the hardcore fan who calls into his podcast and the WWE management whose product the fans obsess over.

Recently, he conducted a surprisingly candid interview with McMahon, in which Austin drew praise for prodding the WWE owner on some of fans' most pressing questions. 

As part of his preparation for the interview, Austin went back and watched footage of his on-screen rivalry with McMahon from the late 90s. Doing so dug up a wellspring of old memories that made him miss the adrenaline rush of performing live on television every Monday night. 

Ultimately, though, the nostalgia was fleeting. 

"At the end of the day, I think we all aspire to be successful at what we choose do to do. I was successful in pro wrestling, I've been successful in reality television, and I've been successful with podcasting," he says. "And I'm not bragging, but I've done that. So yes, I can honestly say I am as fulfilled now as I was when I was in wrestling."

SEE ALSO: 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Does One Thing On His Podcast That He Never Thought He'd Do

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"Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice surrendered to the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut on Monday to begin her 15-month prison sentence. 

It is the same minimum-security prison camp that inspired the Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black."

Giudice, a married mother of four, left her Montville Township mansion shortly after midnight in the back seat of an SUV driven by her lawyer, James J. Leonard Jr., according to NJ Advance Media.

She surrendered just before 3 a.m., seven hours ahead of her scheduled intake, which was negotiated with prison officials during a series of phone calls on New Year's Eve.

"She was ready," her lawyer said in a statement. "Teresa is a very strong woman. She won't have any problems in there."

After Leonard dropped off his client, he told the press: "When we arrived at Danbury, everyone we encountered was extremely courteous and respectful."

Leonard also told ABC News, "I think she was anxious to get in, get this thing started, get it behind her, and get back to her family. Her four girls are her primary focus."

Teresa's daughter, Gia, is the only family member who has since spoken out:The Bravo reality TV celebrity is serving time for bankruptcy and mortgage fraud. According to E! Online: "She and her husband Joe also owe more than $400,000 in restitution, about half of which has been paid. He was sentenced to 41 months in prison, a term that will begin after Giudice completes her time, allowing him to care for their four daughters while she is behind bars."

SEE ALSO: 'Real Housewives Of New Jersey' Star Teresa Giudice Sentenced To 15 Months In Prison

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Los Angeles (AFP) - Falling ratings, canceled shows and lurid scandals: 2014 was a trying year for reality television in the United States, as American audiences wearied of producers chasing success by recycling the same old formats.

The question is, will 2015 be any better? Some experts say real life-based TV shows are facing a grim new reality.

For more than a decade, reality television shows bulldozed their way across the US ratings landscape unchecked, attracting bumper audiences year after year.

But the big-hitters of the genre such as "Survivor" and "American Idol" have shown serious signs of fatigue after years of dominance.

At the climax of its initial season in 2000, CBS's hit "Survivor" drew an audience of over 50 million. That number had plunged to just 9.7 million by the time of the finale of the most recent season, according to industry journal Variety.

"American Idol" meanwhile slumped by nearly two-thirds over the last decade, from 28.8 million people watching the 2004 series finale to 10.5 million viewing the climax show in 2014, according to Forbes.com.

According to Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at the University of Syracuse, reality television has struggled to find another hit ratings blockbuster ever since "Dancing With The Stars" launched in 2005.

"The last hit franchise was maybe 'Dancing With the Stars,' Thompson told AFP.

Yet while the established shows have lost some of their luster, obvious candidates to replace them have yet to emerge. 

The Fox network's "Utopia", which placed 15 people together in an isolated area with the aim of charting their attempts to build a community, flopped. 

The show was cancelled after just two months of what had been envisioned as a year-long project. "Too complex, not fun to watch," was Thompson's verdict.

"Too derivative, not really innovating," was the opinion of UCLA School of Theatre Film and Television professor Tom Nunan.

Meanwhile, some of the shows which have enjoyed ratings success in recent seasons found themselves battling scandal.

The hit show "Duck Dynasty" was left floundering after being plunged into controversy in late 2013 by homophobic remarks by one of the show's stars, who was suspended before being reinstated.

Meanwhile "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" was canceled in October after it emerged one of the show's stars was dating a convicted child molester.

Naked truth?

Not even the normally reliable enticement of copious nudity was able to propel "Dating Naked" to ratings glory.

The show, an extreme version of "The Bachelor", where contestants are devoid of clothing, achieved only a modest 826,000 viewers after debuting on the VH1 channel.

"You know a genre's in trouble when hot naked singles rubbing body paint on one another can't draw a crowd," remarked Entertainment Weekly.

Fewer reality TV shows are making it to air: according to the LA Times, a total of 13 hours per week were devoted to them in last fall's season on the major networks, compared to 20 hours in 2011.

According to Nunan, the US reality TV genre has stalled because of a lack of creativity and over-reliance on importing foreign formats.

Executives "have lost their mojo so to speak when it comes to programming interesting reality television," Nunan told AFP.

"They have to stop being so derivative -- no more singing competition shows, we've had enough of this for now. They have to find other competitions and talents.

"The broadcast networks are looking for formats that have worked around the world -- they forget that some of our best reality TV shows have been created here (in the US): 'The Apprentice,' 'The Bachelor', 'The Amazing Race'."

Producers also believe the genre needs to do more to adapt to the changing needs of audience members, offering competitions and interactive experiences across different platforms with an eye on younger viewers who increasingly consume their media through smartphones.

But for Robert Thompson, the reality show genre is far from dead, despite the slide in numbers of the best known programs.

"Anybody hoping the reality show will die, will die before the reality show," he said.

But the LA Times warned: "Without a strong reality line-up, the already-sobering prospect for broadcasters can look downright perilous." 

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I'm a longtime fan of Gordon Ramsay's "Kitchen Nightmares." So long that I was watching the show when it was first done in the UK and kept watching when he brought it over to the US.

The scenario is always the same. Ramsay, a brilliant chef, great business person, above-average soccer player, and a very energetic and forceful personality, walks into a failing restaurant whose owners invited him to turn the eatery around. He sits through a terrible meal, where he complains to the camera about the quality of the food and service.

Related: Gordon Ramsay's Lessons for Motivating a Sales Team

Ramsay then meets the owners and tells them how lousy their restaurant is. He watches them in action. Oftentimes, he throws his hands up in the air and furiously storms out. But he always comes back. It's his show, right? He always identifies the problems (family squabbles, poor management, lack of experience, lack of heart) and then sets about fixing them.

How does he fix them? He yells. He cheers. He throws things around. He drops the F-bomb. He takes off his regular shirt and changes into his chef's shirt (on camera, of course — and it's my wife's favorite part). He tells his hapless students that they need to use "fresh" ingredients that are "locally produced."

He whips up something spectacular just to show them he knows what he's doing. And (on the American version of the show, which clearly has a higher budget) he then splashes out 100 grand or so to refurbish the restaurant. Then they have a big, new "opening night" in which the local media outlets are invited, a great success is declared, and everyone high fives and hugs one another at the end. Restaurant saved. Hooray!

But the restaurant probably wasn't saved. In fact, a recent report found that a whopping 60% of the restaurants Ramsay tried to help failed after his visit. Does this surprise you? Not me. I meet thousands of business owners and would-be entrepreneurs. Based on my experiences, I would've thought that the number was higher. The fact that it's only a 60% failure rate is a testament to Ramsay's abilities.

The world is full of coaches, consultants, and experts like Ramsay who try to help struggling small-business owners succeed. Ramsay stands out mainly because he's a successful restaurateur himself, a celebrity with a big budget and a big personality. He knows what he's doing, and he's got the track record to prove it.

When he marches into a restaurant and tells that brother and sister to stop fighting with each other, a father to retire, or the spineless owner that he needs to fire his incompetent chef, he's offering that advice from the experience and knowledge that he has gained running successful restaurants all over the world and seeing hundreds of other restaurant owners succeed and fail. The problem isn't Ramsay.

Related: Researchers Are Using Yelp to Predict When a Restaurant Will Shut Down

The problem is that some people can run businesses, and some just can't. Some people are born with the ability to inspire people, make the hard decisions, negotiate prices, and be organized. At the same time, these people can not only create a great, sellable product but know how to sell and service it while still making a better-than-decent profit at the end of the day. Some people have it and some people don't. Some of this can be taught and some of this can't.

A person can learn to run an average business, but you just can't teach someone how to be a fabulous success. I'm a decent little softball player (really, I am!) and was always a pretty good student, but no one can teach me how to hit a baseball 330 feet over a Major League outfield wall or how to get an A on an organic chemistry exam as my more academic daughter can. I will never be able to do that. I just don't have those innate abilities. There are some things that can't be taught.

For most of the business owners on "Kitchen Nightmares," Ramsay tries to do the impossible: He tries to turn them into successes. Sure, a very small number of them can rise to that level. But they most likely already had the ability and just needed a kick in the butt to send them in the right direction. But the majority (at least 60% for sure) of those Ramsay provides advice to are beyond help. They shouldn't be running a business in the first place. And no amount of yelling, F-bombing, and shirt changing is going to change that fact.

If you're struggling with your business and you have an evening to spare, watch a few old episodes of Ramsay's "Kitchen Nightmares" (I highly recommend the UK version on Netflix if only because the settings are nicer and everything sounds better with a British accent). Take a close look at the people trying, and failing, to run their businesses. Can Ramsay ever save them? If he were working with you, could he save your business? Or are you part of the 60%?

Maybe you'll never be a great business owner. But that's OK. There is something that you are great at, and I'm sure you'll figure that out. The earlier you do, the more money and angst you'll save in the long run and the happier your life will be.

SEE ALSO: 'Bar Rescue' Host Jon Taffer On The Top 5 Mistakes Small Businesses Make

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Shirin Oskooi, senior director of product management at Yahoo, will make her reality TV debut on February 25 as part of the cast of the 30th season of "Survivor."

Oskooi is a longtime "Survivor" fan and has tried out for the show more than 10 years in a row. 

She describes herself as "competitive, clever, and quirky," and lists "traveling, exotic food, whistling champion, and mind games" as her hobbies.

Prior to Yahoo, Oskooi was a product manager at Google, where she led the design, launch, and growth of Google Calendar.

In a special twist for this season, contestants will be split into three tribes based on their occupations. Oskooi will be a part of the White Collar Masaya Tribe, made up of other business-oriented people. 

There's also a Blue Collar Escameca Tribe, which includes a postal worker and hairdresser, as well as a No Collar Nagote Tribe, made up of "free-spirits who refuse to make or abide by rules."

The 18 castaways will be competing to survive on a beach in Nicaragua. 

In her CBS bio, Oskooi explains why she'll be the last castaway standing: "I practice 'voting people out' in real life and succeed. I’m a fighter and risk-taker. I’m super smart, observant, and don’t let my emotions govern my actions at work, let alone in games. I have no qualms with using people or their secrets to get ahead."

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer tweeted her congratulations to Oskooi. 

SEE ALSO: A San Francisco Entrepreneur Is Accepting Applications For A Date At The Best Restaurant In The World

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Ten people died Monday when two helicopters involved in the production of a French reality show collided in Argentina. The BBC reports that the choppers were carrying eight contestants of the TF1 reality competition Dropped and that all died along with the two Argentine pilots.

“An explosion occurred, and it’s believed that they must have collided,” said La Rioja Secretary of Security Cesar Angulo, according to the BBC. The accident happened near the Andes mountains in northwest Argentina, about 720 miles from Buenos Aires.

“We learn with great sadness about the accident during the filming of the Dropped show,” TF1 said in a statement. “All TF1 teams come together in this terrible time with the pain of the families and relatives of the victims.”

French President Francois Hollande confirmed that long-distance yachtswoman Florence Arthaud, Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine were among the victims. Muffat set an Olympic record in winning gold in the women’s 4oom meter freestyle at the London games in 2012.

Vastine won a bronze medal at Beijing in 2008 and also competed in London. This season’s other Dropped contestants were Laurent Sbasnik, Lucie Mei-Dalby, Volodia Guinard, Brice Guilbert and Edouard Gilles. None has been confirmed as being a victim of the crash.

The Dropped format features celebrity athletes divided into two teams who are then blindfolded and dropped into some of the most remote locations on earth. With no food, no map, and no help, they must make their way through unforgiving landscapes to find civilization and a helicopter to take them to the next location.

SEE ALSO: Ten killed as helicopters collide in Argentina

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It's hard to believe, but "The Bachelor" has now been on the air for more than a decade. 

ABC's hit reality series just wrapped up its 19th season earlier this week when Iowa farmer Chris Soules asked fertility nurse Whitney Bischoff to be his wife.

When "The Bachelor" launched in 2002 it was a hot watercooler discussion, critiqued for putting personal relationships so openly into the public eye and for allowing one man to date multiple women at once to find his "one true love."

Despite that, the show has become one of ABC's best-performing shows producing multiple spinoffs like "The Bachelorette" and "Bachelor Pad," and serving as fodder for other network series.

After 19 seasons, what has become of the many bachelors? 

Shocker: The majority aren't with the winner they fell in love with over the course of a short few months. 

While Soules and Bischoff are still together, the series' track record for successful relationships is six for 28 across every season of the two "Bachelor" shows.

Season 1: Management consultant Alex Michel picked Amanda Marsh, but didn't propose. Instead, the two dated for a nearly a year before Marsh broke up with him after reportedly learning he was keeping in touch with runner-up Trista Rehn.

(Source: EW)

Michel later became a spokesperson for Match.com and produced and starred in YouTube video, "Our Very First Sex Tape."

(Source: PRnewswire) Watch the NSFW video here.

Trista was then featured on the first season of spinoff "The Bachelorette" and married firefighter Ryan Sutter.