32 Weird Facts About Game Shows & Their Contestants Few Know

On Queen for a Day, a 1950s TV game show, women competed by weeping and telling their sob stories, which were then rated by an applause-o-meter. Many were destitute single mothers; popular prizes included medical care for a very sick child or a replacement icebox because their food had gone bad.

27. A book shop employee auditioned people for a fake reality TV show and made 30 of them to quit their jobs for the “show.” Shortly after giving the challenge, he revealed that the show was fake, making the contestants capture him for press interviews. The con is now known as the “Great Reality TV Swindle.”

28. A 25-year-old contestant named Gérald Babin on the French version of Survivor died during the first competition on the first day. A week later, the staff doctor(Thierry Costa) of the show killed himself. His suicide note claimed the media was making unjust accusations and assumptions about him.

29. There is a game show in Japan about how much food you can stack on an animal before they can't handle it

30. In a game show called “Silent Library” contestants win cash by completing painful challenges and staying quiet.

France has a national competition in which contestants compete to make the most realistic pig sounds.

32. There was a game show in the late 70s called "Three's a Crowd." The tag line of the game show was "Who knows a man better, his wife or his secretary?" The game show lasted 4 months.