Reality Acts

I've never been a fan of reality TV shows especially the ones that are broad casted in the Middle East such as Star Academy and the remake of Big Brother (I don't know if they're still airing that). Sometimes, I just get curious to watch one of those reality shows and the latest I've been watching was the bachelor. The guy has probably gone through major plastic surgeries which eventually turned him into a real life sized Ken doll. I should say I'm really not drawn to the show in any way, but I kept on watching it until the finale. Why did I do that? Maybe because I ran out of shows to watch especially that I've wrapped up most of my favorite ones lately and I got nothing to watch. One thing that runs through my mind while viewing such shows is, are they real or the people acting? When the bachelor chooses his future Mrs. does he mean it and are they going to have the happy ending? I always think that reality shows people are paid just as actors do in regular shows. Producers try to show a certain image to the audience and therefore force the people participating in their shows to act in a way to present that image.
MTV has shown tons of reality TV shows over the years. Last year I spent almost a month in Berlin and during that time, the only channel that spoke a language I understood was MTV. I thought it's better than nothing. At the time when I return from shopping or hanging out with my friends I come back to watch TV and chill. One of the weirdest shows came on, which was named "Date My Mom". How gross is that?! It's about a guy who dates three mothers of three daughters and depending on how his day goes with them, he'll choose the winner. Of course other shows come in line to being the stupidest such as Viva La Bam, Dismissed, Next, and some other dating shows.
When people join dating shows, are they at the utmost desperation? They seem to be ready to get humiliated by the public. Aside from being on International TV, they are competing with a few other people to win that someone special. If I were to win, I'd like it to be a solo competition!