Our Definitive Ranking Of 2016's Most Memorable Reality TV Moments

From Stephanie Davis right through to Honey G.
ITV/BBC/Rex/Shutterstock

Frankly, the past 12 months of reality TV have left us completely exhausted.

It’s been a year of controversy, whether it’s housemates being thrown out of the ‘Big Brother’ compound or debate over the prominence of novelty contestants in TV talent shows.

But away from the usual scandals, there’s also been plenty to smile about this year. Whether it’s unlikely friendships on ‘CBB’ and ‘I’m A Celebrity’, show-stopping performances on the ‘Strictly’ dance floor or ‘Drag Race’ main-stage, and even a couple of romances, there’s been plenty for viewers to sink their teeth into.

Here are just 30 of our most memorable reality TV moments from 2016…

30
'Britain's Got Talent' - Richard Jones wins with patriotic performance
Richard's 'BGT' victory was a particularly controversial one, after it emerged that a very similar trick had been performed in a past series of US sister show, 'America's Got Talent'.

Still, he won the public over, and put on a whole new display at the Royal Variety Performance in the months that followed.
29
'The Jump': What the hell happened?
No, but seriously. A whopping seven celebrities were forced to pull out of the most recent series of 'The Jump' due to injury, averaging out at more than one per week.

We can't help but wonder what 2017's contestants are thinking, to be honest.
28
'Big Brother' - Jayne flips her lid
The most recent series of 'Big Brother' perhaps wasn't the most action-packed (unless you count Marco and Laura in the snug, which we're not), but this rant from Jayne still raises a smirk when we watch it.
27
'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars': The eliminated queens return
The moment the remaining queens discovered that the competitors they'd already given the boot were returning was already guaranteed drama... and that's without the fact they appeared behind a two-way mirror. In the middle of being slated. Ouch.
26
'Great British Bake Off' - Louise has a bit of trouble with her gingerbread house
She didn't huff. She didn't puff. But her gingerbread house fell down anyway. Oh dear.
25
'Celebrity Big Brother': Megan McKenna blows off some steam over mash potato
The epitome of 'that escalated quickly'.
24
'I'm A Celebrity': Larry Lamb and Scarlett Moffatt become unlikely pals
Being grouped together for one of the first Bushtucker Trials of the series put Larry and Scarlett together from the off, and we loved seeing their friendship grow during their time in the jungle.
23
'The X Factor': An uninvited guest joins Honey G on stage
H to the O to the N to the E to the what are you doing here? I'm trying to rap, if you don't mind.
22
'Britain's Got Talent': Former contestants return for the show's 10th birthday
A host of stars from the past 10 years all came back, including Attraction, Jamie Raven, Ashley and Pudsey, Stavros Flatley and Diversity, who even gave a nod to Susan Boyle.
21
'Celebrity Big Brother': Kristina Rihanoff has some news for her fellow contestants
In a first for 'CBB', Kristina gathered the housemates and revealed to them that she was pregnant.

She told the group she felt they were "all one family", which is why she felt comfortable sharing her "private news".
20
'Sam Faiers: The Mummy Diaries': Paul Knightley and his mum celebrate his son's birth
This moment caused a lot of debate. Let's just leave it at that.
19
'The X Factor': Beck Martin debuts 'Friday Night'
We loved everything about this odd clip. The fact it opens with a dry ice machine. The way Nicole is so unimpressed with Simon calling a "filet-o-fish" a "fish burger". The lyric "nothing special".

Often, so-called "wacky" 'X Factor' auditions can feel forced, but seeing the show's crew dancing around to this bizarre song is a moment we can't help but smile at.
18
'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars': The finalists perform 'Read U Wrote U'
But your dad. Just calls her. Katya.
17
'I'm A Celebrity': Joel Dommett conquers his fear of heights
Joel won himself a new legion of fans when he braved this Bushtucker Trial with courage and a sense of humour, despite a severe fear of heights.

He wound up coming second to Scarlett Moffatt, and this moment was definitely an important factor in his early popularity.
16
'Strictly Come Dancing': Ed Balls almost drops Katya Jones
Decidedly less steady on his feet than Joel Dommett was Ed Balls, and never was that more apparent than when he almost dropped his dance partner completely.

We know they somehow manage to recover from the blip, and we're still watching through our fingers.
15
'Great British Bake Off': Val plans a field trip with her fellow bakers
Please, please let this be a BBC Three spin-off.
14
'Celebrity Big Brother': Christopher Biggins is removed
The biggest talking point from this summer's 'Celebrity Big Brother' was when Biggins was given the axe from producers, after a string of potentially offensive comments.

First, there was an anti-Semitic joke, which bosses ultimately chose not to air. Following this, he was reprimanded for comments relating to bisexual people, eventually getting the boot when he blamed them for the spread of AIDS in the 1980s.
13
'I'm A Celebrity': Carol Vorderman and Joel Dommett flirt up a storm in the jungle
They were the only two single members of the cast, so it was inevitable that "flirting" accusations would be thrown at Vorders and Joel before long.

What we weren't expecting was that they'd actually follow through on them, though, first bonding over Joel's maths-based tattoo. He knows the way to a woman's heart, doesn't he?
12
'Strictly Come Dancing': Louise Redknapp performs the Argentine Tango
The former Eternal singer and partner Kevin Clifton snapped up what was at that time the highest score of the series for their routine.
11
'Britain's Got Talent': Alexandr Magala has us all on the edge of our seats
The most shocking stunt in a decade of 'BGT', Alexandr's sword-swallowing was so risky ITV chose to pre-record his semi-final performance, rather than have him do it live.
10
'The X Factor' Honey G makes her debut
Back when the joke hadn't been done to death, this was undeniably one of the stand-out auditions from this year's 'X Factor'.

Admittedly, though, if we'd known quite how thin things would wind up being stretched, we might have restrained our laughs a bit.
9
'Strictly Come Dancing': Judge Rinder makes his dance floor debut
The moment he tore off his judge's robe and revealed the torso underneath is one that will stay with us, long after the memory of this year's 'Strictly' has faded.
8
'Celebrity Big Brother': Tiffany Pollard ANNIHILATES Gemma Collins in the Diary Room
WARNING: STROOOONG LANGUAGE.

It's hard to pick which moment of this 60-second soliloquy has the most bite. Is it the reference to "old maiden" shoes? The completely unexpected C-bomb just a couple of seconds in? Or that wry smile at the very end, when she's declared that Gemma is "nothing of the sort"?

We can't decide, but we give props to Tiffany for proving she's not one to be messed with.
7
'Strictly Come Dancing': Ore Oduba and Joanne Clifton get 40 points for their showdance
The 'Strictly' final definitely belonged to Ore and Joanne, who earned the Glitterball trophy after three impressive performances.

It was this showdance that really sealed Ore's fate, though, with both himself and Joanne putting on an amazing routine that really shone a light on their strengths.
6
'I'm A Celebrity': Carol Vorderman and Scarlett Moffatt take on 'The Big Bush Bake Off'
And we thought the move to Channel 4 would be the most stomach-churning thing 'Bake Off' would be associated with in 2016...
5
'Strictly Come Dancing': Danny Mac's record-breaking Samba
His moves! Her hair! That torso!

We loved every second of this Samba, which became the first in 'Strictly' history to bag 40 points from the judges. We've watched it hundreds of times on YouTube already (and only a couple of hundred of those were because of his chest, honest).
4
'Celebrity Big Brother': Stephanie Davis and Jeremy McConnell's love story
So much has gone on between this pair over the past 12 months that it's easy to forget there was a time we were actually rooting for them to get together.

Theirs was arguably the most tumultuous love story in 'CBB' history (sorry, Chantelle and Preston), and things weren't exactly smooth sailing for them once they left the house, either.
3
'The X Factor': Nicole Scherzinger steals the show in Divas Week
It probably says a lot about this year's series that our favourite performance from across the 10 weeks of live shows wasn't even from a contestant.

Still, who could possibly compete with Nicole?
2
'Strictly Come Dancing': Ed Balls does 'Gangnam Style'
Seeing Ed Balls' progress and genuine joy at being on 'Strictly' was what kept him in the competition for as long as he managed to last.

While so many of his performances stick in our minds, this is the one that truly had everyone talking. Honey G could never, etc.
1
'Celebrity Big Brother': Tiffany Pollard has an understandably extreme reaction when she mistakenly believes David Gest has died
The title says it all really.

A reality TV moment we'll be talking about for years to come, we still can't quite bring ourselves to laugh for cringing, but seeing a group of people get the wrong end of so many sticks made for compelling, if not exactly tasteful, viewing.
Chloe Jasmine and Stevi Ritchie ('The X Factor')

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