10 Horrifying Reality TV Shows You Won’t Believe Exist

5. Who's Your Daddy? (Fox, 2005)

Not knowing your birth parents can be a really distressing thing. As a species (especially in the modern day), we place a lot of value in how we are influenced by our genetics as well as in the influence of who actively raised us. Plus, we're just genetically hardwired to be curious and seek the truth. If you were adopted, the task of tracking down your birth parents would not only be important to you but would also put you through the emotional wringer. So naturally, it was time to make it into a reality show.

The premise is that a woman who was adopted at birth is faced with a panel of eight men, one of whom is her biological father. She has to make the decision of who she thinks is her father and if she chooses correctly, she wins $100,000. If she chooses incorrectly, the man she chose wins the money. It's like Would I Lie To You for sociopaths since it's entirely focussed around deceit. And it's not good-natured deceit like Would I Lie To You. It's actively deceiving a vulnerable young woman into thinking that you're her father for financial gain. Regardless of the result, the woman is reunited with her natural father but that only comes after uncertainty and emotional trauma broadcast on national television, and more lies than a Coalition manifesto. After much criticism, Who's Your Daddy was dropped after a single episode.