France, the acclaimed nation that gave the world the Cannes Film Festival and the Nouvelle Vague is now absolutely obsessed with reality TV. The same country that awarded films such as “The Anatomy of a Fall” and “Blue is the Warmest Color” the prestigious Palme D’Or is also losing its mind over watching contestants eat bugs on tropical islands and fight over who borrowed whose hair straightener.
This is France’s reality TV nouvelle vague, a cultural movement that’s swept the nation faster than you can say “C’est du cinéma!” From families religiously gathering around the television every Friday night to millennials building Instagram empires off reality show fame, the French have embraced the genre with the same passion they once reserved for arguing about Godard films. And honestly? The drama is just as spicy.
Here are the top seven reality TV shows that are keeping les français glued to their screens!
By Juliette Williamson (Coucou teacher)
1. Koh-Lanta: The Undisputed King
If reality TV were a monarchy, Koh-Lanta would be wearing the crown, scepter, and probably the entire royal treasury. A French version of Survivor, it has been ruling Friday night television since 2001, turning ordinary French people into island warriors and the host Denis Brogniart into a national treasure more beloved than some politicians. The premise is simple: strand contestants on a remote island, make them compete in increasingly ridiculous challenges (often involving poles, balance, and questionable food choices), and watch as alliances form and crumble faster than a poorly built shelter.
Koh-Lanta treads the delicate line between completely ridiculous and highly relatable. It’s reality TV with a side of existential crisis, which is probably the most French thing imaginable.
- Watch if you want to see ordinary pushed to their limits (and maybe discover the philosophical side of eating bugs).
image credit: TF1+
2. Secret Story: The Social Experiment
If Koh-Lanta is the dignified elder statesman of French reality TV, Secret Story is its psychologically complex younger sibling with abandonment issues. This Big Brother spin-off burst onto TF1 in 2007 and immediately proved that French audiences had an insatiable appetite for watching attractive people lie to each other in a confined space. The twist? Every contestant enters the house with a secret which they must protect at all costs while simultaneously trying to uncover everyone else’s. The premiere episode pulled in a stunning 4.9 million viewers with a staggering 30.1% audience share.
- Watch if you’re into voyeurism as an art form, or just want to sharpen your lie-detecting skills in French.
image credit: TF1+
3. Les Marseillais: The Social Media Empire
Meet the show that turned regional stereotypes into reality TV gold and accidentally created France’s first generation of Instagram millionaires. Les Marseillais ran from 2012 to 2022 on W9, following a group of young people from southeastern France as they attempted various jobs in exotic locations while living together in a villa. Think Jersey Shore, but with more rosé and better locations. The simple premise of putting stereotypical “Marseillais” together in a house and filming whatever happens quickly evolved into a social media empire that changed how French reality TV contestants thought about fame. The show achieved audiences of up to 1 million viewers and earned the title of “the most popular reality show in France” among younger demographics.
The show’s influence extended far beyond television ratings. It helped establish the template for French influencer culture and demonstrated that reality TV fame, if properly managed, could be transformed into genuine long-term success.
- Watch if you want a crash course in Marseille slang and the birth of French influencer culture.
image credit: W9/Nicolas Bets
4. Top Chef France: Prestige Reality
In a country where food is practically a religion and cooking is considered high art, Top Chef France occupies a special place in the reality TV ecosystem; it’s the show that intellectuals can admit to watching without compromising their cultural credibility.
This cooking competition brings together professional chefs to compete in increasingly complex culinary challenges, judged by some of France’s most respected figures in gastronomy, managing to be reality television that feels educational and inspiring rather than purely exploitative. The challenges often incorporate French culinary history, regional specialties, and techniques passed down through generations of French chefs. Contestants aren’t just competing for prize money, but also participating in the ongoing narrative of French culinary excellence. The judges, including legendary chef Philippe Etchebest, bring genuine credibility and passion to the proceedings. Their critiques are taken seriously not just by contestants but by viewers who genuinely want to understand what makes great French cooking.
- Watch if you want to learn real culinary French and finally understand why beurre blanc deserves respect.
image credit: Marie ETCHEGOYEN/M6
5. L’Agence: Luxury Porn for the Netflix Era
Sometimes you don’t want to watch people surviving on bugs or revealing deep secrets. Instead, you just want to see really expensive real estate and live vicariously through people whose biggest problem is choosing between the château with the better wine cellar or the Parisian penthouse with the superior city views.
Enter L’Agence, the French reality show that follows the Kretz family and their luxury real estate empire. If you’ve ever watched Selling Sunset and thought, “This needs more French elegance and possibly an actual castle or two,” then this is your show. The show found international success on Netflix, introducing global audiences to a particularly French brand of luxury real estate porn. The Kretz family navigates both high-stakes property deals and interpersonal drama with a distinctly French flair (somehow every business meeting looks like it could be taking place in a fashion magazine).
What makes L’Agence particularly compelling is how it showcases not just expensive properties, but French lifestyle and aesthetics. The locations are gorgeous, the interior design is enviable, and even the family arguments happen in settings so beautiful they could double as vacation destinations.
- Watch if you’d rather drool over Parisian penthouses and châteaux than actually cook dinner in your own kitchen.
image credit: © TMC
Honorable Mentions
France’s take on the global Drag Race phenomenon brings distinctly French sensibility to drag competition, complete with challenges that incorporate French culture, language, and that particular brand of French artistic expression that somehow makes everything more elegant. Watch if you want French wit, couture, and cultural references bedazzled in rhinestones.
Les Marseillais vs le Reste du Monde: Tribal Warfare
The ultimate expression of French regional rivalry turned into reality TV competition. When Les Marseillais contestants face off against “the rest of the world” (really other French reality stars), it becomes a surprisingly effective proxy for France’s ongoing cultural negotiations between different regions and identities. Watch if you want tribal warfare, French reality-style: slang, drama, and region vs. region feuds.
The French version of the international hit brings psychological strategy gaming to a gorgeous château setting, because if you’re going to betray people on television, you might as well do it somewhere with proper architecture and good wine. Watch if you dream of psychological betrayal games, but insist on proper wine and château vibes while plotting.
Love is Blind France (Pour le meilleur et à l’aveugle)
Launched in September 2025, The French version of Love is Blind is a big hit! Read here (in French!) why Americans are so fascinated by the French version of Love Is Blind. And Make sure you watch 6pm in Paris’ new video series, bringing you the ultimate guilty pleasure learning experience: debriefs of Love is Blind France episodes, through the lens of language and culture.
