January 12, 2026

HEATED RIVALRY! + Annual Awards Show Part 1 ::} 118

1 hour 34 minutes

Episode Video: https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-episode-1-149383252

First off, we’ve missed you! Heated Rivalry, you? Dr. Ray brings in her views on all things Heated Rivals & its parasocial context, convincing Dr. Kay that she needs to get out on the ice immediately! Then, award season continues as Doctors Kay and Ray give their UNIQUE ANNUAL AWARDS to any of the castmates and moments from all of the reality TV shows they watched over the past YEAR! Dr.s Kay & Ray award shows like Below Deck, The Real Housewives Franchise, Traitors, Love is Blind, and the recent season of Survivor with awards like, “Best Sociopolitical Learning Opportunity” and “Most Healing (for us to watch) Representation of Mental Health”!

Themes include racism, sexism, consent, and feminist corrective relational experiences!

This is only part 1 of Annual Awards because Dr.s Kay & Ray spent some time catching up with each other & you all, as well as an extended time on Reality Check! So, the next episode of annual awards will be a continuation, with just the rest of the awards.

For the Reality Check, Dr. Kay shared about the relatively recent shift in psychological literature away from the historical diminishment of “gossip” and towards a look at its values. Then, Dr. Kay shared her favorite poem about “Women’s Talk”.

What do you think: Do you think there is value to “gossip” or “women’s talk”? Relatedly, what do you think about the main actors of Heated Rivalry not disclosing their sexual identities? Can it be both: that they’re fully entitled to avoid labeling themselves (or disclosing really any information about their romantic and sexual lives) publicly–of course–and also that not knowing changes how we see their sex scenes, just as knowing one way or the other would?

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Listeners! Come visit the Patreon for free at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠patreon.com/RealityTest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (or search on Patreon with “@RealityTest”) & check out some of the benefits of a free membership (early access to the audio episodes!) & the paid tier! For only a MEASLY $5/month, you get the bonus features, including Mental Health Check-Up episodes, the VIDEO episodes, the full audio episode archive, and bonus & behind-the-scenes video content!

The first 10 paying members will get shoutouts on the pod & 5 randomly selected members will get a free year of membership after joining! What are you waiting for? Come watch our video episodes, & join us in learning a little something about psych & mental health from our examinations of your favorite reality TV shows, castmates, and tea!

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Reality testing is when we check an emotion or thought we’re having against objective reality.

So, here in Reality Test, we’re going to be testing the thoughts, emotions, interactions, and producer antics of reality television against what we know, as licensed psychologists, about objective reality.

Come with us, let’s Reality Test!

Hosts: Dr. Kay & Dr. Ray

Thank you to our sound extraordinaire, Connor!

Patreon: patreon.com/RealityTest