Prepare To Be Wowed By How Much These Reality Stars From The Early Aughts Have Transformed

Erik-Michael Estrada was the lead vocalist and 1/5 of Making The Band Season 1 creation O-Town at 21.

Those who got hooked on season 1 of Big Brother were shocked to see outspoken housemate Eddie, who was nominated for elimination weeks in a row, take home the $500,000 grand prize.

Kelly Osbourne turned 18-years-old the same year her family’s reality show, which was really the first of its kind, debuted. The show followed Kelly’s brief singing career.

Bachelor nation, we’ve come a long way, haven’t we? It’s hard to think of this mega-popular reality series in its infancy, but such was the case when we watched Alex Michel work his way through the ladies of season one, eventually picking Amanda Marsh.

Trista Rehn, the runner-up from season 1, was picked as the first Bachelorette. Trista and her ultimate pick, Ryan Sutter, may have been one of the earliest examples of reality TV couple goals. Trista was also featured in the inaugural season of another major reality show, Dancing With The Stars.

Evan Marriott was the first Joe Millionaire when he was 28, putting women to the test to see if they could fall for a heavy equipment operator before revealing he had plenty of cash. Critics of the show say Evan didn’t come across as a nice guy.

“Truth is, I never really wanted to be on TV and because I didn’t understand the repercussions of how popular the show was going to be when it came time to handle the minimal celebrity that I had, I failed miserably,” he said in a letter obtained by The Huffington Post. 

“I reflect back to that interview I did with you in 2003 and think about what a douche I was. All I can say to you is I’m sorry.”

Adrianne Curry became known as the winner of the very first cycle of America’s Next Top Model, but that wouldn’t be her last stint on reality TV during the decade. In 2015, she hosted Surreal Life, where she met Christopher Knight (aka Peter Brady) and ended up marrying him, leading to their reality series, My Fair Brady, which concluded in 2008.

Before we had Jersey Shore, we had the Gottis showing us what tanned Italian life was all about. Carmine was just 18-years-old when the series aired.

Ryan Benson lost an incredible 122 lbs. on The Biggest Loser, but he later revealed, as many other contestants did, that it wasn’t via the healthiest means. He gained the weight back, earning him a spot on spin-off Big, Fat Truth.

Bridget was one of Hef’s three girlfriends on The Girls Next Door, alongside Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson.

Brooke Hogan was just 17 and pursuing careers of pop stardom when we first met her on Hogan Knows Best.

Nicole “Hoopz” Alexander was the laid-back foil to a high-energy Tiffany “New York” Pollard on Flavor Of Love season 1. Though her love affair with Flav didn’t last, Alexander did go on to have a number of high-profile relationships that followed, reportedly linked to both T.I. and Shaq.

RHOC is the one that started it all, and Lauri Waring Peterson was one of the inaugural housewives. She was in the show’s first three seasons, then dropped off a few episodes into season 4.

Kerry Harvick was one of the last ladies standing on season 1 of Bad Girls Club. During the season, Kerry was pursuing her dream of a country music career.

Tailor Made won New York’s heart on season 2 of I Love New York, which aired the same year as season 1.

Farrah stopped filming the show between 2012 and 2016, during which she explored other reality TV endeavors. She’s heading back to the Teen Mom scene in 2022 with Teen Mom: Family Reunion.