The TV business learned quickly that you don't need a script and actors to create drama, and that putting the budget into clever concepts played out in interesting locations could actually generate far more tension, surprise and emotional engagement than fiction.
The following shows are some of the most involving, exciting shows on TV – while they might not have plots, they certainly have storylines, emotional journeys, high stakes and all the other requirements of entertaining TV. All featuring real people.
And if you're wondering where The Traitors is, you can take it for granted that it would be top of the list. After all, who, in April of the year 2026, needs to be told to watch The Traitors?
1. Race Across the World (BBC iPlayer)
Among reality TV game shows, the "incredibly entertaining" Race Across the World really is up there near the summit. Real pairings, whether that's a parent with a child, a couple, or lifelong buddies, race thousands of miles without internet or air travel on a tiny budget all so they can reach the finish first and win £20,000.
But it's not really about the money, of course.
The race puts teamwork and friendship to the test, as the contestants hustle to get free transport wherever they can, stay in the cheapest hostels, or get by on minimal food just to squeeze an advantage over their competitors, all the while bonding, bickering and making up with their partner in the race.
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There's a celebrity spin-off, naturally, which started in 2023, and is has just the same blend of adventure, strategy, and human drama that makes it utterly wholesome as well as being addictive.
2. The Circle (Channel 4 and Netflix)
The logistical opposite of Race Across The World, The Circle takes place in a single building: contestants inhabit an apartment complex but are only able to communicate through an app called The Circle, where they can be completely themselves or assume a false identity in order to trick their way to the big win.
It’s both hilarious and addictive, and it's wild how players form friendships and rivalries without ever seeing each other. It's also quite sobering about how little you know about the people you might communicate with online.
The UK version sadly got cancelled in 2021, but the US Netflix version ran for seven seasons till 2024. Either way, it’s a must-watch for anyone who loves a twist.
3. Destination X (BBC iPlayer)
It was the BBC's biggest new unscripted hit of 2025 (Celebrity Traitors doesn't count – The Traitors already existed). Thirteen contestants cross Europe in a blacked-out bus and have no idea at all where they are. They gather clues to the location through a series of challenges and the player who guesses furthest from the actual location is eliminated.
Rob Brydon hosts, and the show was so entertaining to play along with at home that the show was renewed for a second season – filming is expected to start later this year.
4. Big Brother (ITVX)
While Big Brother might not have been strictly the very first reality show, it was the one that rocketed the genre into the mainstream. Over the years it's delivered innumerable unforgettable moments since its launch on 2000 ("You are live on Channel 4 – please do not swear.")
It’s currently on ITV, hosted by AJ Odudu and Will Best, with the last three seasons available to stream on ITVX.
In case you don't know, the format is very simple: "housemates" live together in a specially built house and no communication is permitted with the outside world. They exist under 24/7 camera and audio surveillance and are voted out successively until just one winner remains. It's literally a popularity contest.
5. The Summit (ITVX)
Already generating buzz among fans, this new epic adventure reality series is as entertaining as it is tough. Ben Shephard hosts as 14 contestants make their way to the top of one of New Zealand’s most spectacular mountains, while carrying the cash prize they hope to take home. (Sneaking off to a gully and running away downhill isn't allowed.)
With physical and mental challenges set against stunning but punishing terrain, The Summit is beautiful and breathtaking.
6. Hunted (Channel 4)
Like a live-action Bourne film, ordinary people (and occasionally celebrities) go 'off grid' and have to survive up to a month without being tracked down by the authorities (a group of police, military and intelligence experts)
The trackers don't actually have access to the police ANPR camera network, but they are allowed to 'know' when the fugitives are on the road – just like the police would if they knew your reg number – making their ability to track pretty close to the real thing.
If they can stay out of the hands of their would-be captors, they win a share of £100,000. It’s unbearably tense at times and totally addictive.
7. The Fortune Hotel (ITVX)
Under the aegis of the always-charming Stephen Mangan, ten pairs of contestants do battle in a luxury Grenada resort, all of them trying to win a £250,000 cash prize. The teams try to work out which identical briefcase holds the money while avoiding the "Early Checkout Card" that kicks them out of the game and off the island.
Like a really expensive Pass The Parcel, everyone wants to be the one left holding the briefcase full of money when the game is done, and it's up to them to play the games of deception and chance well enough to be the winner.
It’s a beguiling mix of suspense and drama that keeps you hooked to the final reveal.
8. The Mole (Netflix)
Before The Traitors, there was The Mole. It originated in Belgium, had a brief run on Channel 5 in the UK in 2001 but found its true home in the USA.
A group of contestants team up to complete challenges and build a shared prize pot (sound familiar?), while a secret saboteur conspires to undo all their good works by wrecking missions and keeping the money low. The difference to The Traitors is that we don't know who the Mole is either.
Players take a quiz after each round about who they think the Mole is, and the lowest scorer is sent home. The last player standing who correctly identifies the Mole wins the money.
9. 007 Road to a Million (Prime Video)
With a booming Brian Cox in the host's chair (he later joked that he thought he was signing up for a Bond movie), nine teams of two contestants compete in a variety of physical and mental challenges themed around Bond films, all while Jeff Bezos' accountants wince at the expense.
The money's all there on screen though: the contestants are flown from Scotland to Italy to the Amazon rainforest, to Venice, to the Chilean desert in order to escape from things, shoot things, solve puzzles and complete challenges. The game play isn't enormously complicated or original but the scenery? Breathtaking, Moneypenny.
10. SAS Who Dares Wins (Channel 4)
Not to be confused with SAS: Rogue Heroes (totally different kettle of machismo), this game show is the ultimate in physical and emotional punishment. Civilians – in the earlier series – and celebrities more recently all live together in conditions of considerable hardship, being shouted at by actual former special-forces operators.
A special dimension for UK viewers is that the SAS men seem highly capable, self-assured and immune to ego, while you get the sense the producers are actively having to keep US recruit Rudy Reyes from whipping off his shirt and flexing for the cameras.
Whether it's jumping off a cliff, enduring a tear-gas attack or evading pursuit by dog teams, the hopefuls are put through their paces in a gruelling series of challenges, and even if they make it to the end (over half are always pulled out for medical reasons or else drop out voluntarily) only those the selectors deem worthy get to say they've completed the course. (Matt Hancock famously made it to the end only to be ruled out.)
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Grace Henry is Cosmopolitan UK’s Acting Entertainment and Lifestyle Director. She oversees the Entertainment and Lifestyle strategy across print, digital and video. Grace joined Cosmo in March 2025, after working as the Online Entertainment and Factual Editor at Radio Times. As a journalist for almost a decade, Grace has interviewed the likes of Caitlyn Jenner, Eva Longoria, Morgan Freeman, Sylvester Stallone and more. Grace loves all things reality TV, and when she’s not interviewing a big celeb you can find her binging old episodes of The Real Housewives, with Atlanta and Potomac being her top two faves from the franchise. She also loves a female-led drama series – think OITNB and Sex and The City – and is a sucker for a true crime doc!
