[Macie Lightfoot]

It's definitely not reality anymore. The biggest problem with BBUS currently (idk about biggest, but one of the huge problems) is that production goes into the season with predetermined storylines and doesn't give up. I get it in the beginning, because the first few episodes of BBUK are always really inconsistent in terms of plot to the rest of the series because the producers are still trying to get their footing and figure out what storylines are and aren't important (remember when Adam's proposal to Shievonne was left out of the highlights and then it ended up being a huge issue weeks later? stuff like that.) However, with BBUS once they decide on their storylines early on they don't let them go. Hayden/Nicole was not nearly as big of a thing early on in the season despite them getting cute segments every episode, Frankie's been getting a golden edit for almost the whole series even though he's so awful that his ****tiness transcends his golden edit, etc. Similarly on BBAUS, there's now controversy with how someone's sexuality is being portrayed and how accepting his family is. Grodner has a preplanned story she wants to show and doesn't deviate from it unless she absolutely has to. I have no doubt at all that if it wasn't for Twitter and other forms of social media, the BB15 racism scandal would've been swept under the rug much like how a lot of Dick's awfulness wasn't shown in BB8. The only difference was that half a decade later social media was a lot more prominent and there was so much outrage on Twitter about the racism of Aaryn and the others that it had to be addressed.

Until Grodner leaves and BBUS gets an overhaul, the show is dead. The real BBUS happens up north in late winter/early spring.