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 eleventh installment: November 2009.
- Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Jon Gosselincountersues TLC for $5 million, while the network subpoenas Hailey Glassman, Michael Lohan and Kate Major, among others, to testify against him in its breach of contract lawsuit against him.
- Out editor-in-chief Aaron Hicklin criticizesAdam Lambert's management team for allegedly only agreeing to let the American Idol eighth-season runner-up appear on the gay magazine's cover if it didn't make him look "too gay."
- Original The Real Housewives of Orange County cast member Jeana Kough states she didn't feel appreciated by Bravo, which played a role in her decision to leave the show during its fifth season.
- ABC cancels the premiere of its new Let's Dance reality series because it reportedly couldn't secure enough celebrities to compete on it during the holiday season.
- Jon & Kate Plus 8 nanny Janet Weidenheimer dies at the age of 72.
- American Idol fourth-season champ Carrie Underwood's new "Play On" album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart.
- Wipeout third-season contestant Tom Sparks is taken to a local hospital after complaining of knee pain and subsequently dies at age 33 after suffering a stroke.
- Chidi Uzomah is arrested wielding a knife outside of E! Entertainment's Los Angeles' offices and is subsequently charged with stalking American Idol host Ryan Seacrest after he violated a stay-away order issued in September. Uzomah pleads not guilty and Seacrest receives a restraining order against him.
- Two-time former Wife Swap parents Richard and Mayumi Heene plead guilty to charges stemming from their "balloon boy" hoax. Richard pled guilty to a felony count of falsely influencing the sheriff who led the effort to rescue the couple's supposedly missing son, while Mayumi pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of knowingly filing a false report with emergency services.
- The Hills star Stephanie Pratt is sent to a 30-day rehab stint following her arrest last month on suspicion of drunken driving charges.
- Former A Shot at Love star Tila Tequila sues NFL star Shawne Merriman over their previous altercation in which she claims he allegedly choked her.
- Rebecca Meyer reveals she's dating fellow former The Biggest Loser eighth-season contestant Daniel Wright.
- Nicole FoxwinsAmerica's Next Top Model's thirteenth-season title.
- Big Brother ninth-season winner Adam Jasinskirequests his release from prison after he was arrested in Massachusetts last month for attempting to sell 2,000 oxycodone pills as part of a drug trafficking operation he allegedly operated.
- Irina Shabayeva is crownedProject Runway's sixth-season champion.
- Jose Garces winsThe Next Iron Chef's second-season title.
- An Italian-American organization claims MTV's new Jersey Shore reality series is offensive to Italian-Americans and should be pulled from the air before it even premieres. MTV defends the show.
- Entertainer Donny Osmond and his professional partner Kym JohnsonwinDancing with the Stars' ninth-season title.
- American Idol eighth-season champ Kris Allen's debut album drops at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart after selling only 80,000 units -- the lowest ever for an Idol winner's debut.
- Potential The Real Housewives of D.C. cast members Michaele and Tareq Salahi are accused of attending a White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh without an invitation. Bravo subsequently confirms that the Salahis are being considered as cast members but added neither the network nor show's production company had any knowledge they were crashing the state dinner.
- America's Got Talent judge David Hasselhoff is hospitalized after reportedly suffering a seizure. He is subsequently released and denies that he was being held for psychiatric evaluation.
- Los Angeles International Airport eyewitnesses take pictures of Big Brother eleventh-season lovebirds Jordan Lloyd and Jeff Schroeder competing as one of The Amazing Race's sixteenth-season teams.
Premieres:Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew (11/1); For the Love of Ray J, Season 2 (11/2); Tabatha's Salon Takeover, Season 2 (11/3); Flowers Uncut with Jeff Leatham (11/4); The Real Housewives of Orange County, Season 5 (11/5); Chef Academy (11/16); Intervention, Season 8 (11/30); Hoarders, Season 2 (11/30).
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