20 Reality TV Appearances We Totally Forgot About

Reality TV is admittedly a guilty pleasure of most people. Whether you're hooked to Keeping Up With The Kardashians or can't stop watching reruns Top Chef, reality shows come in all shapes and sizes, so it's no surprise that our favorite celebrities love them too. Take Jennifer Lawrence as an example. She is one of Hollywood's most successful female actresses, and she unashamedly and publicly admits her love for Keeping Up With The Kardashians and doesn't shy away from telling Andy Cohen what she thinks about the cast of Vanderpump Rules. Even Mila Kunis couldn't refrain from talking about the scandalous split between Bachelor star Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Becca Kufrin when she was on The Ellen Show with Kristen Bell to promote their film The Spy Who Dumped Me. 

While some stars obsess over watching reality shows, other stars were on reality shows. While some used reality television to further their career and jumpstart their dreams of stardom, others made cameos simply because they desired to do so. But one common thread in both of them, is that all these appearances are never talked about all that much, whether they happened 30 years ago, or three! So let's take a look back at 20 reality TV appearance we forgot about.

20 Zac Efron On 'Room Raiders'

Before Zac Efron's Disney days starring as the sensitive singing basketball player Troy Bolton in the High School Musical franchise, cocky ex-Olympian Matt Brody in last year's summer blockbuster Baywatch or even Phillip Carlyle in Oscar-nominated movie The Greatest Showman, Efron was featured on MTV's celebrity edition of Room Raiders in 2005 when he was only 17 years old. So long ago, that he still had a gap between his two front teeth!

In the episode, Efron rummages through the rooms of three young ladies, one of which will eventually score a date with Efron. He will decide which one that is, based solely on the contents of each girls rooms.

The episode, which is unarguably hilarious given Efron's play-by-play narration and clueless commentary about the contents of the room (prime example: he mistakes a canopy for a mosquito net).

Throughout the episode, Efron sifts through the contents of drawers and closets, going through the girls most personal items. Even though Efron's commentary is amusing and charming, it's a good thing he's an actor. After the episode aired, a year later he was stealing the hearts of teens all over the world when he got cast to play Troy Bolton on the small screen. His reality TV stint was cute for an episode, but thank God he's an actor.

19 Beyoncé On 'Star Search'

Beyoncé is one of the very few people who is considered royalty, not only in the music business but Hollywood in general. She is also notorious for being mysterious and private, never really divulging too much information about herself or her life, which probably just adds to her grandeur. Given this, isn't it ironic that she was featured on a reality show when she was just a young girl?

Before she was the Beyoncé we know today, the singer was featured on the American reality talent competition Star Search. At the time, she was competing on the show in a girl group called “Girl's Tyme” which also featured her fellow Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland and four other girls. Apparently, even Beyoncé was once a loser in her lifetime because she and her group actually lost the competition to a rivaling group called "Skeleton Crew". Clearly, this was not the end for her, considering the fact that she went on to pursue one of the most diverse and successful careers in Hollywood. With hard work and plenty of ambition, Beyoncé continued to take over the music industry with her phenomenal vocals, nail every performance with her impressive dance skills and even made the jump into acting where she, not-so-surprisingly, succeeded as well.

18 Tyga On 'Bustas'

We all, more or less, know rapper Tyga as Kylie Jenner's ex-boyfriend, but did you know that he actually made an appearance on an unaired MTV game show called Bustas way before he was occasionally featured on Keeping Up With the Kardashians?

Footage of the show leaked in December of 2012, where the rapper, who was only 14 years old at the time, was pictured boasting to the camera about the privileged and comfortable life he lived the San Fernando Valley in California when in reality he lived in Compton. In the clip, he claimed that his parents drove him around in a Range Rover CL600. If that life sounds too good to be true, it probably comes as no surprise to hear that it is. Shortly after the footage leaked, Tyga took to his twitter account to clear up the confusion and set the record straight.

He explained that he was very young when the show was shot and that the show provided him with a fake backstory.

He defended himself by explaining that he was young and ambitious, just trying to make it on TV. He joked in the latter portion of the tweet saying “scripted tv [sic] isn't that what we all live for,” and that he found the whole situation incredibly funny.

17  Kristen Wiig On 'The Joe Schmo Show'

Kristen Wiig is commonly known for her long-time role on late night comedy show Saturday Night Live, and her impressive acting resume, with roles ranging from animated movies like How To Train Your Dragon 2, comedies like the cult-classic Bridesmaids, and even critically acclaimed projects like The Martian. If her diverse acting credits aren't enough to prove Wiig's versatility and ability to play any type of role on the big or small screen, just take a look at her appearance on The Joe Schmo Show in 2003.

The premise of the show was that each season would follow an individual who was under the impression that they were actually competing on a real-life game show when in reality the other contestants were actors following a script. The show was aimed to capture the reactions of the clueless individual until it was revealed at the end of the season that the whole show was fabricated. In 2003, Wiig appeared on the faux reality TV show for nine episodes, playing a character called “Dr. Pat The Quack”. Though Wiig was only on for one season, a couple of years later she would go on to star on Saturday Night Live from 2005 until 2014 and land roles in the sequels of comedy classics like Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Zoolander 2 as well as earn a spot in the cast of the female reboot of Ghostbusters. She's certainly come a long way from playing Dr. Pat The Quack!

16 Chris Hemsworth On 'Dancing With The Stars Australia'

Long before Chris Hemsworth was synonymous with his Marvel Cinematic Universe character "Thor", God of the fictional planet of Asgard, Hemsworth was just a lowly mortal trying to improve his dancing skills on Australia's version of Dancing With The Stars.

Hemsworth appeared on season five of the Australian celebrity dance competition, with him and his partner Abbey Ross facing elimination on the seventh week of the show. Though he did not particularly achieve his highest form of success on the show, Hemsworth did go on to star in quite a number of successful roles and films with his biggest current role being that in Thor.

Believe it or not, Hemsworth almost lost the superhero role because of his short residence on the dance competition.

Hemsworth mentioned in an interview with BBC Radio 1 that Kevin Feige, one of the biggest producers at Marvel Studios, had Googled Hemsworth's name once the casting process for the first Thor movie had begun. He and his team had found footage of Hemsworth on Dancing With The Stars and were worried they would receive a negative reaction from fans based on his time on the show. Even though this almost cost Hemsworth the biggest role of his career, today, he is able to laugh about his experience: “I needed to be with the cape. You might see a bit of that Dancing With The Stars quality in Thor."

15 Matt Lanter On 'Manhunt: The Search For America's Most Gorgeous Male Model'

Since Matt Lanter starred and stole the heart of thousands of teenage girls as Liam Court on the 2008 reboot of the popular 90's show Beverly Hills 90210, we haven't been able to forget his chiseled jaw and piercing blue eyes. The same ones that got him featured in Bravo's Manhunt: The Search for America's Most Gorgeous Male Model.

When Lanter was featured on the show in 2004, he was just a regular guy from Atlanta, Georgia who attended college and worked part-time as a clubhouse attendant where he folded towels, stocked coolers, and washed dishes, also serving as a bat boy for the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball team. Even though his appearance on the show gave him exposure and served as one of his first experiences working on TV, Lanter was actually super embarrassed by his time on the show, which he revealed in a 2014 interview with Glamour saying: “For the first five years I was out here, I didn't want to talk about it. But now that I have a good enough body of work behind me, I am OK with talking about it.” He explained that despite the fact that he had never modeled before, he still ended up being picked to go on the show: “I flew out to California, but then I ended up getting kicked off for [lack of muscle].” Lanter has since found success in the acting world, dabbling in the modeling world too, staring in Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Pitch Perfect 3.

14 Lady Gaga On 'The Hills'

Throughout the course of the show's airtime, no one was really sure whether MTV's The Hills was real or fake. Since the show came to an end in 2010, we still have no idea considering that producers and the creator of the show Adam DiVello still dances around the question whenever he's asked. One thing we know for a fact is real, is Lady Gaga's iconic cameo on the show.

In 2008, Gaga appeared on the show's fourth season. At the time, Gaga's music career was just starting out, which explains the fact that she is referred to as “some girl called Lady Gaga” by Lauren Conrad's boss Kelly Cutrone. Even though Gaga's cameo didn't mean much then, it definitely is an iconic moment to look back on, given the success she's found and all that she has achieved since her appearance. How did Gaga come to find herself on The Hill's?

Well, when Gaga was set to headline a show at an event for Interscope Records and up-and-coming fashion brand Dylan George, Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port who were working for PR Firm, People's Revolution, were given the opportunity to style Gaga.

Before the show, Gaga encountered a fashion emergency. When she was getting into her latex catsuit, the zipper broke. Conrad and Port both came to the rescue and helped Gaga fix the zipper just in time for her performance.

13 Jay Leno On 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians'

Jay Leno famously hosted The Tonight Show from 1992-2014, before hosting duties were taken over by Jimmy Fallon, which gave him the opportunity to interview tons of celebrities and networks with Hollywood's elite. But Leno and Caitlyn Jenner go back even before he began hosting The Tonight Show-about 30 years back, which better explains his cameo on Keeping Up With The Kardashians in 2017.

Once Leno had passed on The Tonight Show torch to Fallon, Leno created a documentary-style TV series called Jay Leno's Garage where he, according to the show's biography on cnbc.com, “explores our obsession with all things automotive,” with Leno hitting the road to discover the most exciting, weird and wonderful vehicles ever made and meet the passionate people behind their wheels.” Caitlyn decided to bring her daughter to Leno's garage when she found out that Kendall was looking to purchase some vintage wheels. Kendall spotted a vintage blue Corvette in Leno's collection and fell in love with it. So much so that she tracked down another which she then purchased. A year later, Kendall and her car were being featured on Leno's show. Leno's appearance on Keeping Up With The Kardashians stemmed from the Kardashian camera crew filming behind the scenes of Kendall on Leno's show. Reality show inception!

12 Jennifer Lawrence On 'My Super Sweet 16'

Before Jennifer Lawrence was an Oscar-winning actress and America's Sweetheart, Lawrence's first experience on camera isn't exactly what you would consider a critically acclaimed performance. Lawrence's first acting job was a commercial for the MTV's My Super Sweet 16, where she portrayed one of the soon-to-be 16-year-olds, receiving these lavish parties.

The reality show follows the lives of wealthy 15-year-olds as they prepare for, what seems to be, the most important party of their lives and the stress, pressure, and behind the scenes antics that go into planning it.

While Lawrence wasn't actually featured on the show as one of the teenagers throwing a party, she may as well have been, considering that people bring up her association to the show quite often.

During the promotional period for her movie Passengers with Chris Pratt, Lawrence explained in a Wired Autocomplete Interview her relation to the show, and clarified for those who were confused, that she wasn't actually on the show: “No, I wasn't on the show, because we weren't rich and my parents aren't awful. No offense! My first job was for My Super Sweet 16, so I was acting like one of the Sweet 16 girls, but I was not.”

11 Jamie Chung On 'The Real World: San Diego'

Jamie Chung has had quite the atypical career progression, as she is both a member of traditional Hollywood as well as the recent phenomenon that is bloggers and social media influencers. Chung has managed to find success in both, balancing her acting career with her blog What the Chung. Most impressively is that what kick started her entire career was her role on MTV's The Real World: San Diego.

Chung had taken an interest in acting long before her role on the show but had not booked any parts until the show held a casting at a local bar she was working in at the time. In an interview with Mochimag.com, Chung revealed that on the day of the casting, her boss has asked her an odd question: “'My boss asked me to come in during the day, which I thought was odd. I came in, and the casting director saw me and asked me to participate.'” It was then that she was cast as one of the seven members on the show. Thanks to her boss, Hollywood now has the multifaceted Chung. Acting wise, Chung has featured on popular TV shows like Gotham and Once Upon A Time, as well as movies like The Hangover Part II and III. As for her blogging career, she has written posts in collaboration with brands like HP, Decorist, and Veronica Beard.

10 Jordana Brewster On 'Revenge Body With Khloé Kardashian'

Jordana Brewster is mostly known for her long-standing role as Mia Toretto in the Fast and Furious franchise. Aside from acting, another thing Brewster is passionate about is exercising, which promotes a healthy and active lifestyle. She meets regularly with celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak and eats a balanced diet with plenty of vegetables and drinks tons of water. Brewster's in-check health and fitness routine made her the perfect person to feature on E!'s Revenge Body With Khloé Kardashian, which follows the health and fitness journey's of individuals who are motivated to get in shape.

On the show, Kardashian enlists the help of a handful of celebrity trainers like Gunnar Peterson, Simone De La Rue, and Corey Calliet as well as dieticians to help contestants on the show attain their health-related goals. One of the show's celebrity trainers is Brewster's trainer Pasternak.

Brewster made a short appearance in the fifth episode of the second season, where the cameras filmed a segment of her training session with Pasternak that took place just before the first training session of contestant Crysta.

Brewster greeted Crysta with a hug and a word of advice: “Whatever Harley says, I would say do because that's what I do and it's worked.” No arguments there!

9 Zendaya On 'America's Next Top Model'

Zendaya can truly do no wrong. A singer, actress, dancer, and designer has recently taken Hollywood by storm through showcasing her incredible sense of style and ability to pull off virtually any outfit and look good in any single hairstyle (seriously, there's picture proof on the Internet). It's no surprise that she makes it onto every best-dressed list when it comes to acting and music award shows, and why people talk about her MET Gala looks weeks even after the actual event is over. She is a fashion icon for the young generation. Given her newfound style-setter status, what better show for Zendaya to appear on than America's Next Top Model where fashion is at the forefront?

Zendaya appeared on the modeling competition show in 2016 where she was featured as a special guest in a runway walk challenge. After hosting the show, Rita Ora sent the contestant to the streets of Harlem, New York to practice their walks in preparation for their challenge with the help of runway coach Stacie McKenzie. The challenge was that they were to walk down the runway, stage dive on their backs head first into the arms of about a dozen men, pose and maintain composure while having their picture taken, stand back on their feet, and walk back down the runway. Zendaya was present to provide commentary and encourage the contestants, which she did flawlessly and fabulously as she does everything else.

8 Adrienne Bailon On 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians'

Former Disney star and ex-Cheetah Girl Adrienne Houghton née Bailon, is currently happily married to gospel singer Israel Houghton and is one of the four hosts on daytime talk show The Real where she and her co-hosts actress Tamera Mowry-Housley, comedian Loni Love, and TV personality Jeannie Mai talk about love, fashion, relationships, trends, and hot topics. Before Adrienne had a position on a show that “keeps it real”, she was regularly featured on another show that claimed to keep it real-Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

Back in 2007, when Adrienne's surname was still Bailon, she was in a very public relationship with Kardashian clan's Rob Kardashian, which lasted until they split in 2009. Bailon appeared several times on the show, which documented her relationship with Kardashian and captured one of his most controversial moments on the show: when he has a disagreement with Bailon for calling off their wedding when Bailon was in India filming Cheetah Girls: One World.

Even though the relationship did not last for that long, Bailon had Kardashian's name tattooed on her lower back.

She has since begun the process of having it lasered away and that it was a very painful process: “Ten letter last name, Kardashian. It's pretty bad.”

7 Gigi Hadid On 'The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills'

Gigi Hadid, one of Hollywood's current “it” girls and the model of the moment, is the daughter of former Dutch model Yolanda Hadid who starred on Bravo's Real Housewives of Beverly Hills from 2012 to 2016. Naturally, with her mother having been one of the stars of the show, Gigi along with her siblings Bella and Anwar have made appearances in episodes from time to time.

One episode in particular features all three Hadid children, having lunch with Yolanda and her mother at her Malibu home. Yolanda planned on having a surgery in order to eliminate any risk that her implants could potentially cause to her health. Yolanda took the time to address a rather serious topic with her children and, as a precaution, told them that she printed out her will, and was storing it in her personal safe. Yolanda reassured her children that it's nothing but the announcement caught all three of the Hadid siblings off-guard and they began to panic with Gigi even saying: “That's not nothing, and I don't like how you just say that so calmly.” Yolanda reinforced that nothing would happen to her, but she wanted them to be aware that it existed should something ever happen. Considering that Yolanda is no longer a part of the cast of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, Gigi, Bella, and Anwar probably won't be returning to the show. But who's to say that her supermodel children won't make guest appearances on her new show, Making a Model with Yolanda Hadid?

6 Katharine McPhee On 'American Idol'

Since Katharine McPhee has been playing Paige Dineen on CBS' Scorpio, which has since been cancelled in its fourth season, and making headlines for dating David Foster, famed musician, producer and ex-stepfather of Gigi, Bella, and Anwar Hadid it's no surprise that people seem to forget that Katharine McPhee jumpstarted her career after appearing on the fifth season of the reality singing competition American Idol in 2006.

McPhee auditioned for the show when she was 21 years old, singing God Bless a Child by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr.

McPhee made it to the finale of the show where she came in second place, crowing Taylor Hicks as the winner.

Since the show, McPhee has released some music but acting became her main focus, landing her first major role in The House Bunny in 2008. She then went on to book her first TV series as Karen Cartwright on Smash that lasted from 2012-2013. On April 10 of 2018, McPhee made a major comeback in the world of music by joining the Broadway production Waitress, filling in for singer Sara Bareilles for the duration of the show's run which will come to a close on June 17, 2018. Though this is McPhee's Broadway debut, she has experience with musical theatre performing in a production of Annie Get Your Gun in Los Angeles one year before she auditioned for American Idol. Perhaps with Foster's influence and after her limited stint on Broadway, McPhee will return to her musical roots.

5 Tori Kelly On 'American Idol'

Tori Kelly is one of the most underrated yet talented singers of today's generation with a vocal range that can rival Ariana Grande and can be compared to Mariah Carey's. It just makes sense that Kelly, who was nominated for a Grammy in 2016 for Best New Artist, would have auditioned for American Idol's ninth season. What didn't make sense, was the fact that Simon Cowell absolutely detested Kelly's audition compared to Victoria Beckham, Randy Jackson, and Kara DioGuardi who completely adored her.

Kelly, who was only 16 years old at the time, auditioned for the show with a rendition of John Mayer's Gravity. After she sang a handful of lines of the song, Cowell stopped the singer and Jackson, Beckham, and DioGuardi immediately began to praise Kelly for her beautiful voice. Cowell however, felt differently. He stated that he didn't think she had a nice voice and that it was “almost annoying” even criticizing her appearance saying that she looked like “a human orange”. Needless to say, she got three yesses and an obvious no from Cowell, and moved on to the next round, and got cut when she didn't make the Top 24. In an interview in 2016, when asked what she would say to Cowell now that she was a successful artist: “I would say thank you for saying no!… It seems like right when I got cut from the show, other opportunities presented themselves and other doors were opening.”

4 Khloé Kardashian On 'The Apprentice'

It's hard to remember a time when the Kardashian family wasn't always super famous, but rest assured that time was once upon us. When the show began in 2007, the famed family wasn't that known, which explains why the family pulled all kinds of publicity stunts, called paparazzi on themselves and created perfect PR plans to work their way to the top of the Hollywood food chain. So it shouldn't be surprising when Khloé Kardashian appeared on season 8 of Donald Trump's reality show The Apprentice taking one for the sake of her family's rise to the top of pop culture stardom.

In 2009, Kardashian featured on The Apprentice, which had contestants compete for a job as an apprentice to businessman billionaire, aka the founder of the show, Donald Trump.

Kardashian lasted five weeks until she was fired on the sixth week due to the fact that she was absent for an episode because she had a required court-ordered education class as the result of a driving infraction she had been charged with that same year.

Trump, who is known to abstain from drinking, told Kardashian that he dislikes people who make those types of dangerous mistakes. He also added: “I lost a little respect for you… If I had known that you were missing time away from the task because of that, you would have never been on the show.” Later, Kardashian, confessed that she hated being on the show. In her defense, good riddance!

3 Kesha On 'The Simple Life'

Kesha has always been known for her catchy music, quirky-rocker sense of style and platinum blonde hair. When her first hit-single TiK ToK came out in 2010, she was the talk of the music industry and her song was played so much that people were practically singing it in their sleep. But before her crazy successful music career took off, Kesha was featured on Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton's reality TV show, The Simple Life where they said goodbye to their privilege and rich-girl luxuries and lived the life of a normal working-class citizen.

On the show, Hilton and Richie stay with Kesha, her mother Pebe, and younger brother at their family's home in Nashville, Tennessee. In the show, Pebe expresses to Hilton and Richie that her love life is non-existent and that she believes that they could find her a better man than she could find for herself. So Richie and Hilton get to work and, with the help of a young Kesha, work together to find Pebe a boyfriend. After scouring newspaper adds, the girls conduct interviews to find the perfect guy for Pebe. Though Kesha doesn't publicly talk about her experience on The Simple Life much, when asked in an interview with Usweekly.com she stated that she and the girls weren't friends anymore. Not because they didn't like one another, they were just different: "… We're just very different. I'm just not that kind of party girl." This makes sense, considering that the reason for the show's cancellation was due to Hilton and Richie's friendship fizzling out.

2 Julianne Hough On 'Show Me The Money'

If a queen of reality dance TV shows ever needed to be crowned it would, without question, be Julianne Hough. Hough, who everyone knows as one of the hearts and souls of the reality dance competition show Dancing With The Stars, made her debut as a pro dancer on the show in 2007, working her way to the judge's table until she left the show in 2017. But did you know that Julianne Hough was on another reality show before her long-time position on Dancing With The Stars?

In 2006, Hough was on the short-lived reality game show called Show Me The Money where she was one of the million dollar dancers.

The show had some of the same elements of many other game shows and was one of the first projects Hough was credited in.

A year later she began her long-standing role on Dancing With The Stars, which lasted for ten years. During those years, Hough transitioned her career so that she focused not solely on dancing but on acting as well, playing lead roles in the remake of Footloose, Safe Haven, Dirty Grandpa, and even starring in the live adaptation of Grease. It looks like her role as a million dollar dancer turned into a million dollar career.

1 Emma Stone On 'In Search Of The New Partridge Family'

When Emma Stone amazed all of Hollywood and the rest of the world with her performance in the critically acclaimed movie La La Land, her vocal abilities seemed to be a surprise to everyone but her. Lo and behold, long before she was known as an Academy-Award winning actress, 16-year-old Stone, whose real name is actually Emily Stone, was living out her dreams as a singer on the reality singing competition show In Search Of The New Partridge Family.

In 2004, Stone auditioned for the VH1's reality competition show that sought out individuals to cast in a show called The New Partridge Family. For her audition, Stone sang We Belong by Pat Benatar. Stone did end up winning a role, getting cast as Laurie Partridge on the show. However, the show ultimately never got picked up and the world never got to experience Emma Stone's voice on screen, until she did La La Land. Stone also gave us a taste of her vocal abilities when she did Cabaret on Broadway in 2014. Stone commented on her experience with the reality show, telling Vogue: “You go in there rolling your eyes, thinking, 'this is just a reality search competition,' but then you're there for seven weeks, and you just really, really want to win.” In another interview with Rolling Stone, she admitted that she “didn't regret it for a minute.”

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