Comedy Central

Stephen Colbert may seem like a hard-shelled fake newsman, but inside he's a romantic -- and a devoted fan of "The Bachelor."

Interrupting his own report about the deficit crisis on Thursday's show -- his last before a two-week vacation -- the "Colbert Report" host sighed, "Shut up. Shut up, you stupid, boring news."

"I want to talk about 'The Bachelor.' I love that show," he gushed, before launching a six-minute sendoff of ABC's wildly successful reality dating show.

"Every time I watch, it's just Daddy time," he revealed. "I just pour myself a glass of chardonnay, and I am off to a land of romance."

Between gulps of wine, the starry-eyed host chastised naysayers.

"Don't be a hatah," he admonished, pointing to the series' "successful" track record: "In 16 seasons one guy has gotten married…to the runner-up, after he initially proposed to a different girl. So the system works."

"And how great is Sean?" Colbert continued about the current Bachelor, who's about to pick the woman he wants to marry. "What girl wouldn't want to be with an eligible hunk who has a successful career as a contestant from last season's 'Bachelorette'?"

Good point.

"My favorite part (of the last episode) was the full minute of emotionally charged staring," said the faux journalist, before playing that excruciating clip -- including the melodramatic closeup of Sean's trembling rose -- as his audience guffawed.

Colbert concluded the segment by pitting guest John Sexton, promoting his book "Baseball as a Road to God," against the emotive "Dougie St. James."

"One of you will be my guest tonight, and the other will be going home," declared Colbert, before selecting Sexton for his interview.

Are you as excited about "The Bachelor" finale as Colbert pretends to be? Tell us on our Facebook page!

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Anderson Live

Anderson Cooper is no fan of "The Bacheleor."

Anderson Cooper is not a fan of "The Bachelor," and he wants everyone to know it.

On Tuesday's episode of "Anderson Live," the silver fox accused the dating show of being sham -- and even suggested that some of the bachelors might be gay.

"Haven't we learned this is fake?" he ranted. "These people don't stay together. They don't even last for the reunion show!"

When guest co-host Regina King said she'd like to see Cooper as the Bachelor, the openly gay newsman quipped, "That's how real this show is. I would be the bachelor trying to decide among all these 'lovely ladies'!

"And I've gotta say, there's been a couple of these bachelors where I've been like, I don't think he's really ... Isn't that bachelor checking out (host) Chris Harrison?"

King and Anderson then reenacted a hilarious catfight from the latest show, complete with finger-pointing and this choice quote from one of the bachelorettes:

"My parents said, 'Tierra, you have a sparkle. Do not let those girls take your sparkle away."

"I think these reality shows are damaging us all," Cooper concluded, while acknowledging, "I'm guilty as anybody, I'm not preaching."

Also guilty as charged was guest Emmy Rossum of "Shameless," who, when asked if she's a fan of reality TV, admitted, "I am closetly but only one show: 'The Bachelor.' It's so horrifyingly embarrassing because I want people to think I'm a literate person!"

When Cooper asked whether she questioned its authenticity, Rossum replied, "There's a part of me that does believe in true love ... I think I could probably find an interesting guy if they put 30 cute guys in front of me."

The actress was a good sport about Cooper and King's gift of a "Bachelor" boyfriend pillow (a "really sad" stuffed "arm" for lonely women to cuddle in bed).  

"I would have a meltdown too," she said about the contestants' famous outbursts.

"This house has so much booze in it and seemingly no food," she joked. "I never see these girls eating, and some of them must be PMSing. So they're PMSing and drunk!"

Do you think "The Bachelor" is fake? Tell us on our Facebook page!

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Craig Sjodin / ABC

Emily Maynard on "The Bachelorette."

Another season of “The Bachelorette” is over, and once again, true love -- or a reasonable facsimile -- prevailed. Yes, after weeks of cycling through suitors, (spoiler alert!) Emily Maynard gave her final rose to Jef Holm and he gave her a proposal (and a great big diamond too). And of course, she said yes.

Now they’ll live happily ever.... OK, who are we kidding? If Emily and Jef go the way the vast majority of couples from the “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” reality TV franchise have, they’re far more likely to say “I don’t” than “I do” to each other.

In fact, with 24 seasons and 24 potential pairings between the two shows, only two season-ending couples ever swapped vows.

Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter, from the first season of “The Bachelorette,” were married on an ABC special (aptly titled “Trista and Ryan’s Wedding”) in 2003. Today they’re still together and have two children.

And while Jason Mesnick gave his final rose to Melissa Rycroft on “The Bachelor’s” 13th season finale, he married his last-minute switcheroo pick, Molly Malaney. They too were married on an ABC special (aptly titled “Jason and Molly’s Wedding”) in 2010.

Two other couples can kind-of-sort-of chalk up their marriages to the shows, but they didn’t actually share any on-screen time together. Jesse Csincsak, of “The Bachelorette’s” fourth season and Ann Leuders of season 13 of “The Bachelor” walked down the aisle after meeting as show alums. It was much the same story “Bachelor 10’s” Petyon Wright and her now-husband “Bachelorette 6’s” Chris Lambton.

But that’s it!

Now don’t let those results lead you to lose faith in finding real love on the boob tube. Just because the shows that aim for a happily-ever-after often fail to find it, that doesn’t mean reality TV is lacking in love. You just have to know where to look.

“Survivor”

Somewhere in between their attempts to outwit, outplay and outlast their tribemates, a few “Survivor” castaways managed to out-romance the competition and walk away from the game with the ultimate reality TV alliance -- marriage.

The first and probably best known “Survivor” union is the one between “Boston Rob” Mariano and Amber Brkich, two past players who found love during the “All-Stars” season, got engaged on finale night and made it official months later. They’re now the proud parents of three children.

Jaime Dugan and Erik Huffman met during “Survivor: China” and tied the knot less than two years later. Alex Bell and Kim Powers, of the “Amazon” and “Africa” editions of the show respectively, also found love on “Survivor.”

And the Jeff Probst-hosted reality TV staple could soon claim two more marriages. Past players and longtime couple Jenna Morasca (“Survivor: Amazon” and “All-Stars”) and Ethan Zohn (“Survivor: Africa” and “All-Stars”) are currently engaged, as are “Redemption Island” pair David Murphy and Carolina Eastwood.

“Biggest Loser”

There’s something about this weight-loss competition that leads to gaining spouses. Whether it’s the shared goals, the hard work or just the close quarters on the “Biggest Loser” ranch, the experience produces lasting love results.

For instance, while there were no visible sparks between season-two winner Matt Hoover and third-place “Loser” Suzy Preston during the show's run, the two fell for each other all the same. Months after their season ended, the pair appeared on TODAY, and Matt popped the question. Suzy accepted. The couple married in 2006 and have two children together.

During the finale for season three of “The Biggest Loser,” Marty Wolff became engaged to his former co-competitor Amy Hildreth. They later married and now have a child. And Stephanie Anderson and Sam Poueu, who met and fell in love in “Loser’s” ninth season, married in April of this year.

The next “Biggest Loser” success story to take place off the scale could be the match between former contestants Antoine Dove and Alexandra White, who were engaged during the season eight finale.

Marriages aside, both “Biggest Loser” and “Survivor” are responsible for plenty of other relationships, and the two reality competitions are far from the only ones to be able to boast that. In fact, for “American Idol” it’s practically a regular occurrence, with Jessica Sanchez and fellow “Idol” alum De Andre Brackensick being the show’s latest love connection. Engaged couple Brendan Villegas and Rachel Reilly met on “Big Brother,” which is known for its frequent “showmances.” Even “Dancing With the Stars” can claim pro-and-partner matches, as well as pro-and-pro ones, over the course of the show’s seasons. But romances rarely seem to last in the ballroom bash.

Are you surprised by the unlikely places couples find love on reality TV? Share your thoughts about the romance-themed shows vs. the shows that actually lead to more romances on our Facebook page.

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MTV, Getty Images

Are reality TV shows really real? "Bachelor" creator Mike Fleiss isn't so sure.

Just how real is reality TV? That's been a subject of frequent debate for viewers, reality stars and television critics since the genre first took off. But according to one reality TV bigwig, there really isn't anything to debate. Mike Fleiss, the creator and executive producer of "The Bachelor," insists that more often than not, reality shows aren't the real deal.

“I think most of the shows are fake,” Fleiss revealed during a talk at the Banff World Media Festival.

Of course, not surprisingly, Fleiss doesn't count his reality TV effort among the frauds.

“I think there’s all kinds of (bull) going on behind the scenes with, I would say, outside of the talent shows and 'The Bachelor,' where we really kill ourselves and spend a lot of money and time and destroy our staff to make sure it's real, that 70 to 80 percent of the shows on TV are (bull)," he said. "They’re loosely scripted. Things are planted. Things are salted into the environment so things seem more shocking.”

Fleiss' take on reality TV comes just after a former participant from HGTV's "House Hunters" claimed that much of the action on that popular series is setup and reenacted for effect -- an allegation the network didn't exactly challenge.

But Fleiss feels the producers and networks aren't the only ones responsible for TV fake-outs. Sure, he acknowledges that they're the ones behind the decisions to add a "more shocking" element or an "orchestrated" moment, but viewers have to share some of the blame.

"(Viewers are) not requiring a pure delivery of non-fiction content (from the shows)," he told the crowd at Banff. "They know it's somewhat fake, but they're OK with it."

Are you OK with fake "reality" on TV? Share your thoughts about it on our Facebook page.

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Kate Gosselin on "Dancing With the Stars," Marcel Vigneron of "Top Chef" and NaOnka Mixon of "Survivor: Nicaragua."

There’s nothing like a reality TV villain to inspire bad words from good viewers. Just see the comments that Conda Britt -- who’s been busy making her eye-rolling, complaint-filled presence known on “The Biggest Loser” this season -- has brought out from some of our Facebook pals.

“OMG I want to smack her.” “I can’t stand Conda.” “(She’s) a total b-----...”

You get the idea.

Of course, Conda’s just the latest in a long line of reality TV contestants to get us gabbing. Long before she started bad-mouthing fellow players and backtalking her trainer (seriously, Conda, show Dolvett Quince some respect), plenty of other hot heads earned their spots on our worst-players-ever list.

Here are a few of our top contenders:

NaOnka Mixon (“Survivor: Nicaragua”): If you thought “King Troll” Russell Hantz and Jonny Fairplay were bad, all thoughts of those two men were banished once you witnessed NaOnka’s atrocious behavior on the show. She spouted hateful comments toward her fellow players, stole and hid food from the tribe, knocked over a woman who wore a prosthetic leg and more. Then, SHE QUIT THE GAME! And it didn’t end there. Even after her season aired, she refused to apologize for her actions, telling E! Online, “I played the game exactly the way I said I would at the beginning: I would lie, cheat and steal, I would be faker than faux fur, I would pretend to be your friend and stab you in the back. I lived up to that.” All righty, then.

Kate Gosselin (“Dancing With the Stars” season 10): When it comes to bad attitudes on “DWTS,” the reality TV mom takes the cake. (Although Bristol Palin does deserve an honorable mention.) The problems allegedly started even before the season did. Her pro partner, Tony Dovolani, reportedly complained that “she doesn’t listen and can’t take direction.” (Well, no wonder she moved like a mannequin on the dance floor.)  Her bossy and argumentative ways in rehearsals quickly got to the usually patient and encouraging pro, who was so fed up by week two he (temporarily) quit the show during their practice. During her long, five-week stint on the ballroom bash, Kate also put her whininess, combativeness and weepiness on full display, and even her most ardent supporters couldn’t stand to phone in their votes for her anymore to keep her dancing.

Marcel Vigneron (“Top Chef” season 2 and All-Stars): Some may remember Marcel as the master jerk, er, master cook who harangued his fellow contestants on the second season of “Top Chef,” while others might remember him as the returning jer--chef who baited his competition during the show’s all-star season. But no matter where you remember him from, you’re bound to remember his bad attitude and big ego -- and his foam.  Yes, the only thing more annoying than Marcel’s bleep-packed outbursts (which, FYI, are far more tolerable when set to music) was his commitment to smother otherwise appetizing meals in that always-unappealing foam.

Gretchen Jones (“Project Runway” season 8): OK, let’s just put aside her totally flabbergasting win (featuring granny panties ... granny panties, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia!) over the genuinely brilliant Mondo for the sake of this argument. Let’s stick to her -- as many recappers noted -- Grinch-like personality: She was bossy, controlling, whiny, conceited, belligerent, manipulative and, as fellow contestant April declared, two-faced. (April also called her Hitler, but even we admit that was going a tad too far.) And you know someone’s a total jerk when even the always charming and kind mentor Tim Gunn couldn’t stand her behavior anymore and gave her a smackdown in front of everyone.

Courtney Robertson (“The Bachelor” season 16): Of course, Gunn isn’t the only litmus test one can use to tell a true baddie. When Ellen DeGeneres, aka the current queen of daytime and the nicest of “American Idol’s” former nice guys, doesn’t like someone, well, that kind of says it all. And Ellen hasn’t been shy in expressing her dislike for Courtney. It’s Courtney’s in-it-to-win-it (at any cost) attitude that has many of the show’s fans (like Ellen) and former contestants (like Jennifer Fritsch) ready to see her go roseless and leave the show. “Bachelor” Ben Flajnik, on the other hand, seems perfectly content with the manipulative skinny-dipper.

Jonathan Baker and Victoria Fuller (“Amazing Race,” “Fear Factor”): These two aren’t just the worst pair to ever pull up to a pit stop on “The Amazing Race”; they might just be the worst duo in reality TV history. Jonathan made his memorable “TAR” mark after he shoved Victoria -- yes, actually shoved his wife -- because she dared to pick up his discarded backpack and made them several seconds late to the mat. How did he console his weeping wife after that? By reminding her, “This is a race! This isn’t about compassion!” Sigh.But lest anyone worry about Victoria, an episode of “Fear Factor” later revealed that the (former) couple was in fact a perfect match. After some heckling from Jonny Fairplay, the former Playboy playmate punched the ex-“Survivor.” Not to be outdone, Jonathan ended up tussling with host Joe Rogan. Really.

Vicky Vilcan (“The Biggest Loser” season 6): Conda may be the “Loser” that has fans in a tizzy now, but it was once Vicky (with more than a little help from her in-game BFF Heba Salama) who earned all the ire. She was the contestant trainer Bob Harper called “Shakespearean” due to her over-the-top, manipulative ways. If there was drama to be stirred, she was ready and willing. See, Vicky was all about the game and winning it any way she could. (Well, she was also all about eye-rolling and sneering, but Conda may soon snag top “Loser” honors there.) That’s why Bob also called her the biggest game player in the history of the show.  As for what "Loser" fans called her, well, the less said about that the better.

Are there other reality TV baddies who make your list? Tell us on our Facebook page.

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