Editing Reality television (section)

=== Springboard for political success ===
Two international franchises, ''[[The Apprentice (TV series)|The Apprentice]]'' and ''[[Dragons' Den]]'', are notable for having some of the business people who appeared there as judges and investors go on to win political office. The prime example is [[President of the United States]] [[Donald Trump]]: his stint as host of the original ''[[The Apprentice (American TV series)|The Apprentice]]'' from 2004 to 2015 has been credited by some commentators as a factor in his political success, since it greatly increased his fame, and showcased him as a tough and experienced authority figure.<ref>{{cite web |title=Poll: Trump Surges Past Hillary, Biden, Sanders, and Gore -- Here Are Some Reasons Why |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/423646/poll-trump-surges-past-hillary-biden-sanders-and-gore-here-are-some-reasons-why-david |first=David |last=French |date=September 7, 2015 |publisher=National Review Online |work=The Corner |access-date=March 2, 2016 |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306122900/http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/423646/poll-trump-surges-past-hillary-biden-sanders-and-gore-here-are-some-reasons-why-david |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Lado Gurgenidze]], who hosted the Georgian version of ''The Apprentice'' in 2005, was appointed [[Prime Minister of Georgia]] from 2007, and served until 2008. [[Harry Harkimo]], who hosted the Finnish version of ''The Apprentice'' from 2009 to 2013, has been a member of the [[Parliament of Finland]] since 2015. [[João Doria]], who hosted seasons 7-8 of the Brazilian version of ''The Apprentice'', ''O Aprendiz'', from 2010 to 2011, served as [[Mayor of São Paulo]] from 2017 to 2018,<ref>{{cite news |title=A Rich 'Apprentice' Host in Politics? But This Mayor Says He's No Trump |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/world/americas/a-rich-apprentice-host-in-politics-but-this-mayor-says-hes-no-trump.html |first=Simon |last=Romero |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 10, 2017 |access-date=February 10, 2017 |archive-date=February 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211042425/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/world/americas/a-rich-apprentice-host-in-politics-but-this-mayor-says-hes-no-trump.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and as [[Governor of São Paulo]] from 2018 to 2022. [[Bruno Bonnell]], who hosted the short-lived French version of ''The Apprentice'' in 2015, was a member of France's [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]] from 2017 to 2022.

''Dragons' Den'' investors who have gone on to hold political office after appearing on their country's version of the program include [[Tommy Ahlers]] of Denmark, [[Nir Barkat]] of Israel, [[Anne Berner]] of Finland, [[Tomio Okamura]] of the Czech Republic, and [[Lencke Wischhusen]] of Germany.

In a rare case of a previously unknown reality television alumnus succeeding in the political arena, ''[[The Real World: Boston]]'' cast member [[Sean Duffy]] was a [[U.S. Representative]] from [[Wisconsin]] from 2010 to 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43894.html|title=Sean Duffy's 'Real World' reprise|last=Hunt|first=Kasie|date=October 20, 2010|website=POLITICO|language=en|access-date=December 6, 2019|archive-date=December 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223164035/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43894.html|url-status=live}}</ref>