From the early days of Flavor of Love and MTV’s The Real World, reality shows have dominated television.
For decades, TV audiences have been tapped in with those bold enough to be vulnerable on our small screens. Viewers love the content and producers love creating it due to the significantly lower overhead as compared to big budget scripted shows.
According to Investopedia, a reality show can cost between $100,000 to more than $500,000 per episode to produce as compared to the millions funneled into movie and scripted series’ budgets. And this is considered when factoring reality stars’ paychecks as well, which can skew a bit low.
For example, the contestants of the long-running reality dating show, The Bachelor, contestants are paid $0, and the Bachelors (AKA the stars) stand to earn only a few thousand dollars per episode.
Fortunately, some reality stars were able to leverage their social capital into real currency and launched successful careers when the cameras went down. Here are a few of the most business-savvy reality stars.
01
Tami Roman
Since the day she burst onto our screen in 1993, Tami Roman has been a force. The trained actress has shared she turned to reality television as a way to gain the notoriety needed to leverage into scripted roles, and over time it worked. Following her time on the Real World, she was one of the most popular personalities on VH1 reality series Basketball Wives, and has since appeared on Marriage Bootcamp and the Real World: Homecoming. Now, she’s co-starring in the hit BET series the Ms. Pat Show among other acting projects.
02
Yaya DaCosta
Camara DaCosta Johnson, otherwise known as Yaya DaCosta, was a contestant on cycle 3 of ANTM all the way back in 2004. Although she was runner-up to Eva Marcille, Yaya has gone on to become a star in her own right. She’s built quite the acting resume with roles in the critically acclaimed film The Butler and a starring spot in Fox series Our Kind of People. Now, she’s co-starring in the hit medical drama Chicago Med.
03
Ray J
04
Jennifer Hudson
In 2004, the powerhouse vocalist competed on the reality singing series American Idol and was beat out by Fantasia Barrino. Since then, Jhud has gone on to secure partnerships with everyone from Weight Watchers to QVC, and became one of the few Black women EGOTs (win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) this year. Talk about an idol!
05
Laverne Cox
Before she was racking up Emmys for her prolific role as Sophia Burset, Laverne Cox was vying to become an assistant.
In the 2008 series, ambitious hopefuls competed for the opportunity to work for Sean Combs. Although Cox was cut, it’s safe to say she landed softly on her feet. She is now one of the leading transgender actresses and an advocate for transpeople’s rights.
06
Cardi B
Belcalis Almanzar appeared on Love and Hip Hop New York in 2015 to help launch her rap career.
And she did just that. Not only is she one of the best-selling female hip-hop artists of our generation, Cardi’s one of the savviest. Her authenticity we fell in love with helped land lucrative deals with Fashion Nova, Marc Jacobs, WhipShots, and Tom Ford among others.
07
Brandee Evans
We all know and love her as Mercedes from Chucalissa, but the popular P Valley actress was once working alongside famed choreographer Laurieanne Gibson on her reality series Beyond The Spotlight.
Although she wound up parting ways, it’s safe to say she went in the right direction.
