Let's chat: Your favorite Jews of reality TV
I like to think I have a healthy combination of high brow and low brow taste — but when I go low, I go really low. So it’s no surprise that I recently found myself enraptured with the TLC show “MILF Manor” streaming on Max.
It is, unfortunately, exactly what it sounds like. Each season features a group of moms in their 40s through 60s looking to find a love connection with a group of younger men in their 20s and 30s. In the case of the first season, those younger men turn out to be the other MILFs’ sons. It’s a Freudian hellscape of double dates with moms, jokes about daddies, blindfolded massages, sex ed with fruit, shameful secrets, hot tub failures and at least one Jew.
That’s right. My interest was piqued by one of the sons — everyone’s favorite — Jose, and when I googled “Jose from MILF Manor” to see what he was up to these days, I quickly discovered that his name is Jose Mizrahi and he is, in fact, a Mexican Jew. While his Jewish identity doesn’t come up during his time in the Manor, I found an interview he did with a podcast where he opens up about his background, including how his grandparents immigrated from the Middle East to Mexico before World War I, how he was raised in a large Jewish community steeped in tradition, and the stuffed grape leaves he would eat at Shabbat dinners. (I don’t know why he couldn’t have mentioned any of this during his romantic getaway with a contestant who refers to herself as Disco Mommy, but to each his own.)
This is not the first time I’ve found myself surprisingly delighted by a Jewish contestant on a ridiculous dating show (see here and here), and I know there are many more instances of Jews being on everything from “Survivor” to “Real Housewives.” I also know that not all Jews of reality TV offer the greatest representation for our tribe (see, ahem, “Real Housewives”) but it all still hits that sweet spot of seeing one of us where you might not expect it (and occasionally it ends up with a scene of elder ladies doing an aquatic version of “Hava Nagila” in the pool).
So, I want to know: Who’s your favorite Jewish person that’s graced the wilds of a reality TV show? And who’s the one you wish maybe didn’t? Let us know in the comments (and go watch “MILF Manor,” season two gets even wilder!!!).
I personally am excited to see how Jon Lovett from Crooked Media is portrayed on the upcoming season of "Survivor" (which, btw, I have never watched.) People are predicting he's going to get the villain edit.
On the "reality" TV shows that I watch, there are not many (if any) Jewish people. However, there is one TV "reality" show which I have been faithfully following for almost a decade: TLC's "I am Jazz", a (so-called) "reality show, chronicling the day-to-day life of the Jennings family (a pseudonym, for the family's protection), revolving around their transgender daughter, Jazz (also a pseudonym), which premiered on this network in 2015, the new episodes of which last aired early in 2023. While I do not know if this program will be back for any future seasons (the return of TLC's various series is sometimes "iffy", due to contractual negotiations, etc.), I do still occasionally enjoy the "reruns", still available on TLC's "On Demand" listing on cable TV. I especially enjoy seeing episodes featuring Jazz's maternal grandparents, who seem to be very "NY Jewish"...like the family in which I grew up, & ME!!! ~ Cheryl in NJ (formerly of NY)