Outlander's Sam Heughan & Caitriona Balfe Reveal Their Reality TV Obsessions | Sorry Not Sorry
Reality television has always had a slightly complicated reputation. The genre has spent decades sitting somewhere between mainstream entertainment and cultural side-eye. Millions of people watch it every week, but it's still the kind of thing people like to pretend they don't love quite as much as they do. But Outlander stars Sam Heughan and Caitríona Balfe are not shy about their obsession with it.
WATCH: Outlander's Sam Heughan & Caitriona Balfe Reveal Their Secret OBSESSION With Reality Shows!
While promoting Outlander Season 8, the actors told JustWatch that when they're not filming new episodes of their fantasy series, they're often watching reality television instead. Balfe also had a slightly different take on the whole "guilty pleasure" label that follows the genre. "Do you know what," she said, "I think I've gotten over the idea of a guilty pleasure. I think it's just, if you enjoy it, you enjoy it."
"First Dates, I like," Balfe added. Heughan is a fan of the show, too, along with its 2017 spinoff, First Dates Hotel." I really love reality shows," he said. The actor also listed some of his other faves like The Great Pottery Throw Down (2015), The Repair Shop (2017), and The Traitors Ireland (2025). "I've now got all this spare time which I never had before. So I'm catching up on all the really good television."
The First Taste Of Reality TV
Many years before streaming platforms filled their catalogs with dating experiments, competition shows, and social-media style drama series, reality television looked very different. In fact, for many viewers, the first real introduction to the genre came from a show that felt surprisingly simple. That show was The Real World. Premiering on MTV in 1992, The Real World followed a group of strangers living in a shared house.
There were no elaborate competitions or prize money involved. Instead, the show focused on their everyday conversations, disagreements, friendships, and the occasional emotional moment that came from putting very different people in the same space. At the time, the format felt new. But more importantly, The Real World laid the groundwork for a genre that would eventually dominate television.
Reality television today looks very different, of course. Shows range from survival competitions to cooking shows to comforting craft series. But the core idea hasn't changed all that much. People are still drawn to watching real people (instead of professional paid actors) interact in situations that feel unscripted, unpredictable, and sometimes surprisingly emotional.
Reality TV Has Its Detractors
Reality television has always had its share of criticism alongside its popularity. Critics have argued that the genre isn't always as "real" as it seems on screen because storylines are often manipulated with clever editing. Producers are also known for (sometimes) manufacturing dramatic situations by placing contrasting personalities in the same space because conflict makes for great television.
Others simply dislike the genre altogether because it feels cheap. And yet reality television continues to thrive. Part of that is because the barrier to entry is so low. You don't need to follow complicated plotlines or remember years of backstory. Instead, you can drop into an episode, meet a few new people, and watch their stories.
It's easy viewing, but that doesn't mean it's completely meaningless. If anything, the staying power of the genre suggests the total opposite. Reality television might look chaotic and a little cringe from the outside, but it taps into something very simple - curiosity about other people and how they handle things that life throws at them.
Why To Watch First Dates (And What To Watch After)
At first glance, First Dates (which debuted in the UK in 2013 and landed a US version in 2017) sounds almost too simple to work as a long-running show. Each episode follows a group of strangers arriving at the same restaurant for blind dates, where cameras capture the entire experience, from the nervous introductions at the bar to the slightly awkward walk to their table.
From there, the format lets the conversations happen naturally. Some couples connect immediately. Others spend the evening dealing with uncomfortable silences or realizing they might not have much in common at all. And then, at the end of the night, each pair decides whether they'd like to see each other again. Although it's billed as a dating show, it feels more like a collection of small human stories.
For viewers who enjoy the warmth of First Dates, there are plenty of other reality shows that tap into the same comforting style of storytelling. Series like The Great Pottery Throw Down celebrate creativity and craft, while The Repair Shop focuses on restoring treasured personal items with surprisingly meaningful backstories.
