A group of the producers, executives and stars including Andy Cohen, Kristen Kish, Jay Pharaoh and Joel McHale spent last Friday discussing the future of reality television at Deadline’s Reality TV Summit.

That crew also revealed who they want to work with and the main things that people still don’t understand about the genre in a series of Confessional video interviews.

Watch What Happens Live host Cohen, Top Chef host Kish, The Quiz with Balls star Pharaoh and The 1% Club star McHale were alongside producers including Love & Marriage producer Carlos King, who runs Kingdom Reign Entertainment, Jeff Jenkins, who runs The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives producer Jeff Jenkins Productions, Alex Baskin, who runs Vanderpump Rules producer 32 Flavors, Jazzy Collins, who runs Forced Perspective, and CBS alternative chief Mitch Graham at the confessional booth.

King said, “If I could have any living celebrity join one of my shows it would be the Obamas. Michelle watches all of the reality shows and Barack lets her do it.”

Jenkins took more of a pop-culture approach. “I would kill to do the reality show starring Madonna and her five children. I would sacrifice an arm for that series,” he said.

Pharaoh is a fan of Jay-Z and would like to get him on his Fox game show. “I want all of the Carters to be able to get dunked in the water on The Quiz with Balls, that’s what I want. There’s five of them so it would work.”

McHale, however, chose someone who may not be able to make it: The Price Is Right host Bob Barker. “I would reanimate him and have him come on [The 1% Club]. He’s a national treasure,” he added.

In terms of the challenges in the sector, Cohen, who produces all of the Real Housewives shows, said, “The one thing that people don’t understand about reality TV is how hard it is to just produce and make. In 2026, it’s a feat to produce reality television.”

The idea that reality television is fake was also a popular stereotype that producers and executives wanted to dismiss.

“It is real,” said Kish, who also told Deadline that she really wants to host a queer dating show. “I’ve been the competitor and now I host so I’ve seen all of the different angles on Top Chef.”

Baskin added, “I think it is just the old stereotype that it is all fake and staged and we, as producers, always wish that we had as much control as people think we do.”

“I can honestly tell you that there’s nothing fake about it,” said CBS’ Graham. “On Survivor, we have people that go out there and lose 45lbs, that’s real. It’s incredibly authentic.”

Collins, who has cast shows including Love Island USA and The Bachelor, concluded, “I came up in casting; there’s a lot of story that goes into any sort of casting before we even get them on camera.”

There were plenty of headline to emerge from the event.

Disney alternative boss Rob Mills and producer Jenkins talked about The Bachelorette and Mormon Wives including whether Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of the dating show will ever air.

Truly Original co-founder Steven Weinstock talked about the other reality controversy this season: Summer House and whether West Wilson will appear in a planned Ozarks-set spinoff.  

New Amazon unscripted boss Jenn Levy revealed what she was working on for the first time since landing the job earlier this year, she and her peers talked about the state of the industry and what they want producers to bring them, and the group talked about interest in live programming and making shows abroad.