Entertainment

17 Celebrities You Totally Forgot Appeared On Reality Shows

It's always a small miracle when a celebrity can make the jump from reality television to the A-List, but it does happen — and sometimes it happens so well that we completely forget they were ever on a reality program in the first place. From former wannabe singers on American Idol to the cutthroat tribe members on Survivor, there are a ton of bonafide stars who popped up on programming of the unscripted variety. Check out the 17 celebrities who you almost forgot were ever on reality TV.

by Kaitlin Reilly

Lucy Hale

The Pretty Little Liars star recently released a country album, but in 2003 she was a hopeful contestant on American Juniors. The starlet made it to the Top 5 on American Juniors and formed a quintet with the four other contestants.

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Bill Rancic

Yes, Bill Rancic and his wife, Giuliana, are on their own reality series Giuliana and Bill, but the reason why the E! star’s husband is famous in the first place has to do less with her and more with Donald Trump. Rancic won the first season of Trump’s reality series The Apprentice.

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Laverne Cox

Cox is known now for her groundbreaking role on Orange Is The New Black, but back in the day she was competing for a job with Sean Combs on I Want To Work For Diddy in 2008. She later acted as the star and producer of her own makeover show, TRANSForm Me.

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Analeigh Tipton

You may know Tipton from her role as the babysitter who fell in love with Steve Carell in Crazy, Stupid Love, or from her upcoming ABC series Manhattan Love Story, but the actress got her start on a reality series. Tipton was a finalist on Cycle 11 of America’s Next Top Model.

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Emma Stone

Stone is a huge movie star now, but she could have been big in the reality TV world as well. In 2004 she was in the pilot of In Search Of A New Partridge Family, which not-so-sadly never made it to series.

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Jacinda Barrett

The actress has recently had roles on shows like The Following and Suits, but before all of that she was just another contestant on MTV’s Real World. She was a part of the fourth season cast, in London.

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Elisabeth Hasselbeck

The former panel member on The View and current Fox & Friends host finished in fourth place on Survivor: Australian Outback in 2001.

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Jamie Chung

Chung plays Channing on NBC’s Believe and Mulan on Once Upon a Time, but before she was a TV actress she was just another housemate. She was a castmember on Real World: San Diego in 2004 and one on Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II in 2005.

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Nicole Scherzinger

The Pussycat Dolls front woman first showed us her pipes (and her dance moves) on competition show Popstars in 2001. She later won Season 10 of Dancing With the Stars. (No surprise there.)

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Katharine McPhee

Smash alum McPhee will star in the upcoming series Scorpion but the now-actress originally wanted to make it as a pop star. She was the runner-up to Taylor Hicks on Season 5 of American Idol.

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Heather Morris

She may be Brittany S. Pierce to Glee fans, but Morris also auditioned for a different TV series — So You Think You Can Dance. She made it to Vegas week in Season 2 but failed to move on. She seems to be doing just fine, of course.

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Josh Henderson

You may know him as the younger J.R. on TNT’s Dallas, but the actor actually had boy band aspirations back in the day. He won the second season of the WB reality series Popstars and credits the show for jump-starting his success in the industry.

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David Giuntoli

The Grimm star got his start on reality TV with Season 12 of MTV’s Road Rules.

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Jennifer Hudson

It’s hard to remember that Hudson came in seventh (yes, seventh) place on the third season of American Idol in 2004. It’s much easier to remember her huge Oscar win for Dreamgirls in 2007.

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Nicole Richie

Can you believe that there was a time when this woman was referred to simply as “Paris Hilton’s friend?” Richie originally rose to fame as sidekick to Hilton on their reality show The Simple Life, which aired from 2003 to 2007.

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Julianne Hough

Hough still has the dancing chops, but now she’s more interested in acting on the big screen than sashaying across a stage. Hough started her career as a professional dancer on Dancing With The Stars. She’ll return to her roots as a judge on the new season of the dance show.

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Chris Daughtry

The vocalist and lead guitarist of the band Daughtry kicked off his music career on American Idol when he came in fourth place during the show’s fifth season. That wasn’t the end of his reality TV career though — Daughtry sings the theme song to Fox reality show Utopia.

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