By Kelly O’Mara, Pacific Standard

Reality TV attracts millions of viewers and thousands of hopefuls, but at what cost?

Since the beginning of reality TV, the number of shows classified as such has skyrocketed and, with it, the number of people who believe they deserve to be on those shows. Nearly 100,000 people audition for American Idol each season. And Survivor, now in its 27th iteration, reportedly gets almost 20,000 application videos for every installment.