Is this the cruellest reality TV trick ever?

REALITY TV shows are famous for pulling out nasty surprises for their contestants — but this one might just be the worst of all time.

UK reality TV show Eden has delivered a nasty surprise for contestants.

IF A reality series films in a forest and no one is around to watch it, does it make a TV show?

For the UK’s Eden, 23 strangers were sent to the remote west Highlands in Scotland and tasked with a year-long social experiment: to build a self-sufficient community without the use of modern technology or equipment.

The Channel 4 program started filming in March 2016 and wrapped this week. But as the Guardian reports, contestants returned home to an unpleasant surprise — only three months of their year-long toiling was broadcast on TV.

Starting last July, four episodes of the show aired, covering the months of March, April and May in Eden. According to the Guardian, after the TV audience dropped from 1.7 million viewers to 800,000 viewers, Channel 4 pulled it from the air.

Unfortunately for the remaining contestants, the report goes on to say that they “were not informed that their ordeal had not been broadcast since August.”

A similar American series, Utopia aired in 2014, and followed a cast of 15 men and women as they tried to build a society and survive in an isolated area in California while being filmed 24 hours a day. Also planned as a year-long experiment, Fox cancelled the show, which cost a reported $US50 million, after two months and 12 episodes that drew consistently low ratings. Production was shut down and its remaining contestants sent home.

Reportedly, 13 of the 23 Eden contestants dropped out over the year due to hunger and infighting, though Channel 4 did not confirm those defections. The network indicated it would air additional episodes of the series at a later date.

In a statement to the Guardian, Channel 4 said, “The appeal of Eden is that it was a real experiment, and when filming began we had no idea what the results would be and how those taking part would react to being isolated for months in a remote part of the British Isles. That’s why we did it, and the story of their time, including the highs and the lows, will be shown later this year.”

This story originally appeared in the NY Post and is republished here with permission.