''Back to Reality'' is a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show featuring stars from previous reality television programmes. The show was broadcast on Channel 5 between 15 February 2004 to 5 March 2004. It was advertised by Channel 5 as being "The biggest reality show of all time" however in terms of ratings, it failed to deliver. The 12 contestants spent 3 weeks in a studio built mansion, with no natural sunlight. In the final two weeks, the public voted for their favourite housemate with the two people with the lowest votes every 3/4 nights being put to the housemate vote, where the other contestants has to vote for who they wanted to leave. The show was presented by

Tess Daly Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English model and television presenter who co-presented the BBC One celebrity dancing show ''Strictly Come Dancing'' from 2004 to 2013; she has been the show's main presenter since 2014. ...

and Richard Bacon, the first and only series of the show finished with

James Hewitt James Lifford Hewitt (born 30 April 1958) is a British former cavalry officer in the British Army. He came to public attention in the mid-1990s after he disclosed an affair with Diana, Princess of Wales, while she was still married to then-Pri ...

winning the show ahead of

Maureen Rees Maureen Rees (born 25 February 1942) is a British television personality from Cardiff, Wales, who was Britain's first reality-television star. She became prominent in the late 1990s after her appearances in two series of the BBC One docuseries ' ...

and

Craig Phillips Craig Phillips (born 16 October 1971) is an English television personality and builder. He is known for winning the Big Brother (British series 1), first series of ''Big Brother (British TV series), Big Brother'' in 2000. He is trained as a bri ...

Ratings

The ratings rarely went over 1.6 million despite the show extending its hours (early morning and afternoon live streaming). The lack of ratings was put down to the lack of tabloid interest in the show, despite the sponsoring of the show by popular celebrity magazine 'Heat' and the constant arguments and major events that happened in the house.

Highlights

Events included the threatened walk-out of the contestants after Nick Bateman was referred to as "Nasty Nick", the planned addition of

Jade Goody Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody (5 June 1981 – 22 March 2009) was an English television personality. She came to public prominence in 2002 when she appeared on the third series of the Channel 4 reality show '' Big Brother''. She went on to s ...

's then boyfriend

Jeff Brazier Jeffrey Carl Brazier (born 27 May 1979) is an English television personality and presenter. Early life and education Brazier was brought up in Tiptree, near Colchester in Essex, and attended Thurstable School, a mixed state comprehensive scho ...

(from the reality TV show '' Shipwrecked'') as a thirteenth contestant,

Uri Geller Uri Geller ( ; he, אורי גלר; born 20 December 1946) is an Israeli-British illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic. He is known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other ill ...

walking out, the suspicion of Josie D'Arby being a mole (and the subsequent arguments and divides), the love interest between

and

Sarah Kozer Sarah Ann Kozer (born December 16, 1973) is a television personality best known for her appearance in the reality television series ''Joe Millionaire'', finishing as the runner-up to Zora Andrich. Personal life Kozer was born and raised in the P ...

, the rushing of Jade Goody to hospital and the "Ricardo Incident" when the flamboyant cross-dresser Rocardo Ribero argued with other housemates and then proceeded to destroy the kitchen. The show ended when the public voted '' The Games'' star

to be the winner with

coming second.

Aftermath

Since the show, Channel 5 confessed that ''Back to Reality'' was an expensive but worthwhile experiment however it is unlikely to return. Goody's aggression towards

Rik Waller Richard "Rik" Waller (born 1981) is an English Pop music, pop singer. After appearing as a contestant on the TV series ''Pop Idol'', he had two UK Top 40 hits with cover versions of "I Will Always Love You" and "(Something Inside) So Strong ...

in the series, though attracting little comment at the time, was later cited as evidence that she was a serial bully following her appearance in

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

. However they only actually had one row and made up soon afterwards for the duration of the series.

Contestants

Eviction table

Notes

*: James, who received the most votes after the vote count, had to break the tie in order for either Lizzy or Sarah to be evicted.

References

External links

*
''Back to Reality''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

Craig Phillips
Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Back To Reality (Tv Series) 2004 British television series debuts 2004 British television series endings 2000s British reality television series Channel 5 (British TV channel) reality television shows