It’s Monday night and no one is home. It’s just you and the TV. You look out the window to make sure no one is in the drive then close the curtains and turn the lights down. Now you grab the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream from the freezer and cuddle up in your Snuggie, because you’ve waited a whole week and now it is time for “Bachelor in Paradise”!
We all have that one (maybe more) reality show that makes us feel silly to talk about, but is just the right amount of drama that we just don’t get in our lives. There’s a thrill to watching who got voted off this week or got the rose, finding out what the Kardashians are up to, and whether they did in fact say yes to the dress. And there is no shame in that! There are hundreds of thousands of woman (and men) who feel the same way.
So it’s okay to watch that show even if it isn’t as sophisticated or in depth as whatever is on HBO. And it’s okay that your boyfriend thinks it’s dumb. He gets to watch football or some other sport for hours and hours. It is okay and you don’t have to watch it in hiding while binge eating ice cream like you just got dumped.
Hide no more, lovers of reality television! It is time to rise up out of your Snuggie, put your sweatpants back on and make yourself known! Because there are others out there just like you and watching all of that drama alone is just too much sometimes. “The Real Housewives” of whatever city don’t fight alone — they share those moments with several people (including the thousands that watch on TV) and you don’t have watch those moments alone anymore. Live tweet that next episode and see who responds (positively). Ask the girl across the hall that stays in on the same nights to a marathon of “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta.“
Don’t be ashamed to say you love your guilty pleasure show(s). You can step up and be proud to know that you’re not alone because over 2 million people watched the season finale of “Bachelor in Paradise.” You can help another girl (or guy) stuck with the guilt by reaching out and offering them a hand to hold while dealing with that season finale. We can make it through the heartache of the series finale of “Keeping up with the Kardashians” together, and we’ll do it with our heads held high (for the most part because, let’s be real, the Kardashians are my dream family and I will probably cry). Ladies and gentlemen, stay strong!