Reality TV Stars Who Ruined Their Own Careers

When a reality TV star falls from grace, they often fall hard, and that can mean the celebrity they'd built with their name and likeness takes an irrecoverable nosedive. Unfortunately, such career plunges have become a sad reality in the frequently disturbing world of reality television — tales of professional disasters are scattered abundantly among the success stories. Even worse, several disgraced reality TV personalities created the collapse of their careers all on their own.

But the consequences are no joke. More than a handful of reality TV personalities have received lengthy prison sentences as part of the fallout from their decisions. In one horrific instance, a reality TV contestant who had taken part in two different reality competition shows was the perpetrator of a murder. Then again, some reality TV stars have lost their popularity for lesser transgressions, such as with a misstep that finds them out of favor with the viewing public or on the chopping block with their show's producers.

Either way, it has to be a bitter pill to swallow to be a reality TV star who authored their own career failure. And while redemption — whether with TV viewers, the law, or both — is sometimes an obtainable goal for these dishonored celebrities, it isn't always guaranteed. Just like with disgraced dramatic actors, sometimes a comeback just isn't in the cards. Still, as a cringeworthy cache of cautionary tales, we'll always be able to look back on these reality TV stars who ruined their own careers.

The following article includes allegations of child abuse and sexual assault.

As prolific as the Chrisleys had gotten, USA Network still canceled the family's "Chrisley Knows Best" after ten seasons when Todd and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of federal fraud and tax evasion charges in 2022, for which they were sentenced to 12 and seven years in prison, respectively. The spinoff "Growing Up Chrisley," which focused more on Savannah and Chase Chrisley — Todd and Julie's children — also met with cancellation, hitting the brakes on the reigning reality family's future in television.

The disgraced Chrisley parents hid their earnings from the government, and they conspired to dupe banks out of $36 million in fraudulent loans, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. As a result of their conviction, Todd and Julie joined the fame-defying list of celebrities in prison, and the remaining Chrisleys did what they could to stay solvent — quite the change from the affluent upper-class lifestyle the family portrayed on their reality show. Subsequently, Savannah started a career in real estate to stay afloat and pay the bills after her folks entered prison.

The Chrisley daughter is not sitting on a nest egg, either. Savannah explained on a 2024 episode of her "Unlocked" podcast, "I was just getting into real estate, and your first year, you're pretty much like, working for every deal that you get. And that's the thing, it's like, people have this misconception that I'm sitting on millions of dollars. And I'm like, 'If you know where it is, please walk me to it. I would love to see it.'"

A prison sentence for fraud in 2017 didn't derail Abby Lee Miller's reality TV career, by which point the dance instructor and choreographer already had seven seasons leading the Lifetime network's popular child dance show "Dance Moms" under her belt. Even after the U.S. Department of Justice convicted her of concealing bankruptcy assets and illegally transporting foreign currency into the country, for which Miller served a year of incarceration, she returned unabated for Season 8 of "Dance Moms" in 2019.

But a final straw ultimately came for Miller. In June 2020, Lifetime summarily dismissed the star after two separate mothers of former "Dance Moms" contestants made accusations of racism against the celebrity instructor. The network vowed that Miller wouldn't participate if "Dance Moms" returned for a ninth season; it likewise canceled the planned spinoff "Abby's Virtual Dance-Off."

But Miller's wasn't finished yet — she since teased a return of "Dance Moms" with her still firmly at the helm, but with a few caveats. "'Dance Moms' Season 9 won't be on the same network," Miller claimed to Pop Crave in a 2022 interview. "It will be on a different streaming service. It's separate, so it's shot a little bit differently. I can't give it away yet, but it's gonna be different. It's a little bit different."

Farrah Abraham first found reality TV fame as a pregnant teen mother on MTV's "16 and Pregnant." She then continued to achieve renown on the network's long-running "Teen Mom," which was later retitled "Teen Mom OG." However, Abraham and the series parted ways in 2017 after the show's producers voiced their discomfort with her continued work in the adult entertainment industry.

Abraham starred in two adult films in 2013 and 2014 — "Farrah Superstar: Backdoor Teen Mom" and "Farrah 2: Backdoor and More." But as documented in a 2018 "Teen Mom OG" episode, it was her subsequent work as a webcam model that caused a heated conversation between her and executive producer Morgan J. Freeman, where Freeman essentially gave her an ultimatum. Since then, Abraham's career has not returned to its "Teen Mom" high. Still, she did attempt a comeback on 2018's "Ex on the Beach," and guest starred in one episode of 2022's "Teen Mom: Family Reunion."

All the same, Abraham seemed sure of her decision to split with the show. "I'm proud of myself not giving in to be sex shamed by Viacom network," she said of MTV's parent company in a 2017 statement on Facebook. "Proud to not have a network take away financial opportunities for my goals, proud to be an advocate for a healthy sex life, safe sex, teen pregnancy prevention, and so much more."

Josh Duggar had already sufficiently sullied his sprawling family's reality TV fame when, in 2015, TLC shuttered the Duggars' "19 Kids and Counting," the show headed by Josh's parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. The cancellation occurred after a 2006 police report emerged that showed Josh had molested several girls when he was a teenager, with some of the alleged victims being his own sisters. Subsequently, Josh was absent from the Christian fundamentalist family's return to reality TV in 2015, "Counting On."

But Josh, the eldest of Jim Bob and Michelle's 19 children and a married father of seven himself, would effectively dash any chances at the family's celebrity redemption when he was arrested in 2021 for downloading images of child sexual abuse. TLC would then cancel "Counting On," seemingly signaling the end of the family's time on television. Josh was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison in 2022.

Jen Shah was living large as one of Bravo's "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" before her arrest came amid the filming of the second season in 2021. In what emerged as nothing short of a shock for reality TV viewers, the star was hit with federal fraud charges related to her running of a nationwide telemarketing scam that preyed on the elderly and vulnerable.

Thus came the end of Shah's reality TV career, at least for a period of several years. In 2022, she pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and received over five years in prison. Hulu chronicled the time leading up to her sentencing in the doc "Housewife and the Shah Shocker." In 2023, just before starting her stint at FPC Bryan Prison in Texas, Shah released a video interview with her lawyer, where she came to terms with the consequences of her actions.

"That was really hard for me to finally accept," Shah said. "I was basically lying to myself. I was lying to myself because I didn't want to accept that I had done these things, or that I had hurt anybody or created victims or my actions caused harm to people."

Thomas Ravenel had already ruined an entirely different career before he ruined his reality TV career. As a politician who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, Ravenel eventually became South Carolina treasurer in 2006. Less than a year later, however, his political office came crashing down when he was indicted by U.S. Attorney Reggie Lloyd on federal cocaine charges in June 2007.

Ravenel, son of late Republican congressman Arthur Ravenel Jr., resigned as state treasurer the following month. Nearly simultaneously, he took leave of his post as state chairman for the since-disgraced and mercurial Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign. A handful of years later, though, he found a new avenue for fame when in 2014 he became part of the cast of Bravo's Southern-based socialite reality show "Southern Charm."

However, that fame wouldn't last. After five seasons, Ravenel left the reality show in 2018 amid a series of sexual assault allegations that were levied against him: In April 2018, a real estate agent named Ashley Perkins accused Ravenel of sexually assaulting her mom, Debbie Holloway Perkins, after they met through a dating app in 2015. In May 2018, Dawn Ledwell, formerly a nanny to Ravenel's children, also went public with an accusation of sexual assault against Ravenel. Ravenel later pled guilty to third-degree assault and battery charges in relation to Ledwell's claim. He would crop up as a guest on Season 7 of "Southern Charm," but he never regained his full reality TV stature.

There are several examples of killers who appeared on TV before being caught. In the realm of reality entertainment, there was once a TV show contestant who would become a killer, and because of the murder, caused the cancelation of two different shows: Ryan Jenkins.

In 2009, Jenkins had already filmed his parts for the VH1 reality shows "Megan Wants a Millionaire" and "I Love Money 3" when police sought him in connection with the murder of his wife, a 28-year-old model named Jasmine Fiore. Jenkins was the only suspect, and he died by suicide days after police charged him with the crime.

Though it was already in the process of airing, the shocking turn of events brought the immediate cancellation of "Megan Wants a Millionaire," which focused on former "Rock of Love" contestant Megan Hauserman's quest for a suitor. "I Love Money 3," also part of the constellation of programs connected to "Rock of Love," never made it to television at all. However, that show did eventually return for a fourth season in 2010.

Navarro College cheerleader Jerry Harris found a national spotlight as part of the Netflix docuseries "Cheer," which followed him and the rest of the Navarro Bulldogs cheer team from Corsicana, Texas, as they prepared to compete in the National Cheerleading Championship. But fate had a different ending planned for Harris — one that would find him receiving an extended prison sentence in 2022, effectively ending his time as a reality TV personality and a nationally competitive cheerleader.

After pleading guilty to two federal counts of sex crimes involving minors, Harris received 12 years behind bars. The two counts were part of a plea deal that was accepted by the disgraced cheerleader, and the charges were for persuading a 17-year-old to send Harris sexually explicit images, and for traveling out of state in an attempt to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a 15-year-old.

Former gunsmith and disgraced reality TV star Will Hayden is now serving multiple life sentences in Louisiana State Penitentiary — also known as Angola, the largest maximum-security prison in the U.S. — because of the fallout that occurred when Hayden, the patriarchal figurehead of the Discovery Channel show "Sons of Guns," received successive charges of sexual abuse and rape.

Hayden's munitions-heavy reality show, which ran on Discovery from 2011 to 2014 and focused on the firearms business he had founded in Louisiana, Red Jacket Firearms, was immediately canceled after Hayden was taken into custody in August 2014 for sexually abusing a child, according to The Advocate. But more charges against him were to follow. That same year, Hayden's oldest daughter, Stephanie, who had appeared alongside her father as Red Jacket Firearms' office manager on "Sons of Guns," claimed that she was also sexually abused by her father as a child.

It was an about-face, as Stephanie had initially defended her father against the initial accusation before recanting that statement. She subsequently sought to help police with the sexual abuse case against her dad. In May 2017, Will Hayden received two concurrent life sentences plus an additional 40 years in prison, all without the possibility of parole. Further adding to the impossibility of his release, he received a third life sentence for rape that July. It's hard to imagine the gunsmith ever returning to reality TV after such a thorough sentencing.

In 2020, a heightened wave of unrest swept the U.S. after the murder of George Floyd and the social justice protests that followed. It was during that period that the reality TV stars Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute were fired from Bravo's long-running flagship "Vanderpump Rules," when it emerged that the two had previously reported a Black co-star on the show, Faith Stowers, to the police for a crime she didn't commit.

While Doute eventually returned to the show in 2023, Schroeder seemingly had more trouble recovering her reality TV career. That's because the fallout for Schroeder was fairly all-encompassing: her management dropped her, she temporarily lost her podcast "Stassi" (formerly "Straight Up with Stassi"), and several brands severed their sponsorship relationship with her when the controversy first broke. However, Schroeder has since attempted a reality TV comeback with appearances on Hulu's "Vanderpump Villa," and she is reportedly working on a new solo show called "Stassi Says."

And these days, the controversy is water under the bridge for Schroeder. Looking back on the incident in 2023, the reality star revealed to Forbes, "When you face challenges, it's really important to have a growth mindset and to think about the ways that you can learn from those challenges and come out stronger on the other side. [...] I'm kind of thankful that things happened the way that they did because my life is so different now. And I know what I care about. And I know what matters. Everything has just shifted."

In an especially convoluted and tragic tale of reality TV fame gone wrong, a former reality show star, Tim Norman, was given life behind bars for arranging the murder of a fellow castmate who also happened to be his nephew.

It's sad but true: Norman was a frequent cast member on the OWN reality series "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's." But in 2023, he received the steep prison sentence for the charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in the 2016 shooting death of 20-year-old Andre Montgomery Jr., a family member also often appeared on the reality series.

"Welcome to Sweetie Pie's" aired on the Oprah Winfrey-founded television network from 2011 to 2018; it chronicles the family life of singer Robbie Montgomery, one of the original Ikettes backing singers for Ike and Tina Turner before she became a restaurateur later in life by opening restaurants under the Sweetie Pie's name. Tim Norman is Montgomery's son; Andre Montgomery Jr. was her grandson. Andre's own father, Andre Montgomery Sr., died in 1995. And though the reality series had already finished its run before the tragic incident took place, the murder now casts a long shadow over "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's" that's impossible to avoid.

After a two-day trial in October 2021, a jury of his peers found Geoffrey Paschel guilty of the June 2019 kidnapping and assault of his ex-fiancée, Kristen Wilson. By early 2022, Paschel had been sentenced to 18 years in prison without the possibility of parole. The full docket of charges was aggravated kidnapping, domestic assault, and interference with emergency calls. Indeed, it appeared that justice had prevailed, but the outcome still must have come as something of a shock for viewers who watched Paschel on Season 4 of "90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days" in 2020.

Subsequently, over 5,000 "90 Day Fiancé" viewers signed an online petition that year to have Paschel removed from the episodes "due to current allegations and criminal charges made against him." But Paschel publicly responded that appearing on the show was his choice.

"I have been repeatedly asked why I would EVER want to be on a show (the best show FYI) where my life would be put in front of everyone to pick apart — especially with my checkered past," he wrote on Instagram in March 2020. "Well, guys, it is MY past. It is MY life. It is MY choice."

If you or anyone you know may be the victim of child abuse, has been a victim of sexual assault, needs help with mental health, or is dealing with domestic abuse, contact the relevant resources below:

• The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

• The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

• The Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

• The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.