A Look Back: The 2009 Reality TV Year In Review - May 2009
By Christopher Rocchio, 12/23/2009
With 2009 drawing to a close, it's time to take a look back at the year that was. The following is Reality TV World's 2009 Reality TV Year In Review, a 12-part, month-by-month review of some of the past year's reality TV headlines, highlights, lowlights, and milestones.
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Today we continue our 12-day countdown with the fifth installment: May 2009.
- Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Jon Gosselin claims that he and schoolteacher Deanna Hummel are "just friends" despite reports that he is having an affair with her.
- Kate Gosselinrefutes reports that she's having an affair with family bodyguard Steven Neild, however Jon allegedly states he is still worried about his wife's relationship with the bodyguard.
- Kate Gosselin's estranged brother and sister-in-law allege Jon and Kate's eight children are being exploited, and Pennsylvania Department of Labor confirms it is investigating whether Jon & Kate Plus 8 is violating child labor laws after gets an receiving a complaint.
- Helen Phillips winsThe Biggest Loser: Couples by losing 140 pounds.
- Former Laguna Beach star Kristin Cavallari confirms she's joining The Hills, while Lauren Conrad denies reports that she's returning to the MTV reality series.
- Original Survivor winner Richard Hatch is moved from prison to a halfway house.
- Teyona Anderson winsAmerica's Next Top Model's twelfth season.
- Danny Veltri defeats Paula Dasilva to win Hell's Kitchen's fifth season.
- Reports that Fox is planning to airSo You Think You Can Dance's sixth season in the fall begin to surface. Fox subsequently confirms it -- marking the first time the dance-themed reality series will air outside of the summer programming season.
- An Arkansas television station gets Lambert fans in a uproar by claiming Allen's home state somehow managed to cast 38 million finale votes for him, however AT&T and Fox state the Arkansas party voters weren't responsible for deciding the outcome and the station subsequently retracts the report.
- American Idol second-season champ Clay Aikenbashes Lambert and but then apologizes for what he calls a "colorful" critique of the new runner-up.
- Bravo announces it is developingThe Real Housewives of D.C. -- the fifth installment in its The Real Housewives reality series franchise.
- Internet sensation Susan Boyle makes it toBritain's Got Talent's finale broadcast -- however the pressure is apparently getting to her, as judge Piers Morgan claims she threatened to quit the competition and her spokesperson said she lost her cool after being harassed. Boyle eventually finishes in second place.
- So You Think You Can Dance lead judge Nigel Lythgoe apologizes for his reaction to seeing two male dancers audition together during the show's fifth-season.
- A report claims that American Idol judge Paula Abdul admitted to a painkiller addiction and undergoing rehab, however she subsequently denies it and inists she "never checked into a rehab clinic, never was addicted to or abused drugs, and [has] never been addicted or abused alcohol."
Premieres: New York Goes to Work (5/4); The Fashion Show (5/7); Charm School, Season 3 (5/11); The Real Housewives of New Jersey (5/12); The Bachelorette, Season 5 (5/18); 4th & Long (5/18); So You Think You Can Dance, Season 5 (5/21); Intervention, Season 7 (5/25); Jon & Kate Plus 8, Season 5 (5/25); Obsessed (5/25); Here Come the Newlyweds, Season 2 (5/25); Cake Boss (5/25); The Little Couple (5/26); Hitched or Ditched (5/26); Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood, Season 2 (5/26); Wipeout, Season 2 (5/27); Tattoo Highway (5/27); What Not to Wear, Season 7 (5/29); Jesse James is a Dead Man (5/31); Ice Road Truckers, Season 3 (5/31); HGTV's $250,000 Challenge (5/31); Expedition Africa: Stanley & Livingstone (5/31).
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