The Rundown: Rigorous casting clauses in reality TV aren’t saving any red faces, Real divorces of Melbourne

The reality of reality TV is you can’t hide your past — despite casting director’s best efforts, these scandals managed to slip through to prime-time viewing.

Here’s the thing: the reality of reality TV is you can’t hide your past.

But every year there are a handful of contestants taking part in the ever-growing slate of reality shows being made in Australia who seem to bet that the audience will only see what they show them.

The simple fact is the more successful or high profile a show, the more likely someone is watching who knows a participant and may know of a few of their secrets — perhaps some moments of poor decision making, incidents of personal drama, foolish posts on social media, ill-chosen friends or even brushes with the law.

And it doesn’t take long for those tidbits to be shared...

Year in, year out that handful of contestants are faced with the uncomfortable moment when a piece of their past, that they may have forgotten to tell producers about, rears up to cause headaches.

MAFS groom Simon Blackburn was cut from the show.

Some of those are storms in a teacup, good for a salacious headline and a bit of water cooler chatter, such as past relationships, OnlyFans accounts and surprising side hustles.

Others are a bit more serious.

Past rants on social media often get exposed quickly.

This year Married At First Sight kicked contestant Simon Blackburn off the show just days into film after it was discovered his social media contained videos of him making vile and degrading comments about women and the LGBTIQA+ community.

The Bachelors Jed McIntosh had to address a series of posts on his Facebook account from 10 years ago that contained ugly sentiments towards women. He said by way of explanation the old posts no longer reflected who he is today, that he did not remember making them, had the utmost respect for women, and would never want to harm or hurt anyone.

Musician Jed McIntosh had to address a series of posts on his Facebook account from 10 years ago.

And The Block contestant Omar Slaimankhel this week made headlines after it was revealed that he was in a car with alleged drug importer Mostafa Baluch when he cut off his ankle bracelet and went on the run in NSW in October last year.

Slaimankhel was never charged by NSW Police and there is no suggestion he was involved in any crime, knew Baluch would cut off the bracelet and go on the run, or that he saw him again.

Production companies routinely check the background of contestants during the casting phase.

The terms of the applications for a variety of reality productions show contestants are asked what social media platforms they are active on, must undertake medical and/or psychological tests, are drug tested and must agree to a police and criminal record check.

Contestants can be dumped from the casting process or show if they provide false information in their application form.

Omar and Oz feature on the 2022 season of The Block.

All the application forms and show contracts viewed for this story require contestants to notify producers of any changes in their circumstances “including any criminal charges, investigations and/or convictions which are brought against you, during your continued participation in the program selection process and the program itself.”

The casting application for Channel 7’s MKR asks applicants: “Do you have any criminal charges or convictions?” and asks them to confirm they “are not a user of any prohibited drug or substance.”

For Farmer Wants a Wife there is a detailed clause in the casting terms asking about prior experiences with the law.

Applicants must agree that: “I do not have any current or prior criminal charges, convictions or claims of any kind whatsoever, including but not limited to a criminal charge with no conviction recorded, nor any AVOs or DVOs sought or granted against either me, whether interim or otherwise, other than those I have disclosed to Eureka (production company).”

Real divorces of Melbourne

Real Housewives of Melbourne star Kyla Kirkpatrick has revealed her “conscious uncoupling” with her partner of almost 10 years, saying the pair had a “fabulous divorce dinner.”

“We made a list of all things we wouldn’t miss about each other,” Kirkpatrick quipped of the meal they shared to mark their split.

Kirkpatrick’s “Gwyneth Paltrow moment” was in her words long overdue.

Kirkpatrick, who is known as The Champagne Dame, split from her fiancé Kyriacos Christodoulou in December 2021.

Kyla Kirkpatrick at the DIIDA fashion parade.

“Many of our clients and fans of the show ask me regularly about my relationship status with Kyri and it’s probably a hard one to decipher from the outside looking in as we are still together a lot,” she posted on Instagram.

“But we made the decision to uncouple in the most respectful way possible. We are still great friends and he will always be family and will always be in my life.

“We still had Christmas together and travelled to Europe together despite being separated.

“I don’t believe in burning down the house when you end a relationship.

“I know many of you see us as amazingly complementary to each other and in many ways we are but we had made the decision quite some time ago that we will be best, best friends and not partners in life.

“We would have celebrated 10 years together next month and I’m sure we will still celebrate in some way.

“We actually had a fabulous divorce dinner which was fun! We made a list of all things we wouldn’t miss about each other.

“Sometimes things aren’t forever and that is perfectly OK. Life is a story book of beautiful chapters and when one closes another will begin.”