Reality TV shows… some would consider them to be the worst thing you could possibly spend your time watching, while others live their lives watching every show that the likes of TLC put out and love every second of it. We thought we would have a quick look at what we think are some of the best reality shows to come out of the UK:

The X Factor

British singing talent show ‘The X Factor’ began back in 2004 and has become one of the biggest and most successful talent-based reality TV shows in history. The brain child of music mogul Simon Cowell ‘The X Factor’ features a panel of judges whom together help whittle down hundreds of potential contestants who are then each categorised based on their age, sex and if they’re a group or a solo artist. The format helped open the doors to more potential applicants than the highly successful ‘Pop Idol’ series it followed which was ended abruptly after Idol judge Cowell decided to leave the show and create ‘The X Factor’. At its peak (series 6) the show was pulling in nearly 20 million viewers.

Britain’s Got Talent

In 2007 Simon Cowell once more gave his magical touch to British television talent show competition ‘Britain’s Got Talent’. Working in a similar judging format to that of ‘The X Factor’ the show gave the stage to those with a wide range of entertaining talents in order to win a place to perform in front of the royal family at the Royal Variety Performance. There has been a wide range of winners of the series over the years including an opera singer, gymnasts, shadow performers and even a dancing dog.

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

If you couldn’t get enough of Geordie double act Ant and Dec and their backstage antics over on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ ITV ensured you’d still get your fill of the cheeky duo each night hosting celebrity jungle reality show ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’ The show launched on our screens in 2002 and featured a number of arguable “celebrities” spending a few weeks in jungle conditions over in Australia. The series is most famous for its challenging Bush Tucker trials in which the participating celebs would compete in games in order to win tokens in exchange for meals for the rest of the camp. This often includes a nauseating game whereby the contestant would have to eat things like kangaroo testicles and raw fish eyes.

Big Brother

The British version of the popular reality show ‘Big Brother’ first aired in the UK back in 1997. It featured a group of strangers placed in an isolated house forced to live together as housemates on camera 24 hours a day. They are given tasks and challenges to carry out and each week are asked to nominate other housemates for potential eviction. As time goes on obviously human nature begins to take over and relationships begin to fray and the more interesting psychological aspects of being cut off from the outside world begin to show themselves. It’s undergone a number of changes and developments over the years to keep things fresh for the audience however its viewing figures struggle to get close to what it was receiving in its first few years on air.