Television series

The Only Way is Essex

Name: The Only Way is Essex
Released: 2010
Cast: Denise Van Outen, Gemma Collins, Tom Pearce, Bobby Norris, Billie Faiers

Social drama
Light-hearted

The Only Way is Essex is a reality series following a glamorous friend group through their relationships, business ventures and social drama in Essex. It's a soap opera with real people—scripted moments mixed with genuine emotion, impossible hair, and constant reinvention. For anyone who loves watching beautiful people navigate genuine chaos, or wants to understand a particular British cultural moment.

TVMaze rating

2.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy watching people who are entirely unguarded, where the fun comes from big personalities, petty rows, and the sheer nerve of everyday drama played out in nightclubs and kitchens.

Skip it if you want scripted craft, quiet pacing, or anything that feels like it has been carefully shaped; the arguments and recaps can feel repetitive, and the sheer volume of episodes is hard to dip into.

What it asks of you: Each instalment runs about an hour and the story is built season after season, so you need patience for slow stretches between flare-ups and a tolerance for a lot of talking over one another.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Made in Chelsea2011

The posh London equivalent: same formula of gorgeous people, manufactured conflict, and surprisingly sincere emotional moments. If TOWIE clicked for you, this is the natural next step into a different postcode.

But It's even more aggressively edited, and the performative nature can feel exhausting. The cast takes themselves much more seriously in ways that occasionally tip into pompous.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians2007

The godparent of modern reality TV. Same blend of aspirational lifestyle, genuine family dysfunction, and the strange intimacy of watching the same people evolve over years. You'll see where TOWIE borrowed its DNA.

But It's 20 seasons long and the early seasons have a dated quality. Also, the sheer volume of Kardashian content can feel overwhelming if you're not already committed.

The Hills2006

The American precursor that defined the template: young, attractive people in a glamorous city, real drama mixed with obvious production decisions, and surprisingly affecting character arcs across seasons.

But It's visibly of its era—the fashion and music production choices feel dated. Some episodes drag if you're not invested in the specific interpersonal dynamics.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Only Way is Essex

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Absolutely Fabulous1992

Both treat personal drama and lifestyle as performance; both understand that the line between authentic self and constructed persona is where the real entertainment lives.

A comedic inversion of TOWIE's DNA: two women performing exaggerated versions of themselves, blending fiction and reality, obsessed with image and status. It's what TOWIE would be if the script was intentional and hilarious. The influence on reality TV's theatrical self-awareness runs deeper than you'd think.

But It's a comedy from the 90s with different sensibilities around satire and taste. Some jokes land differently now, and the pacing is slower than modern reality TV.

Love Island2019

Captures the same voyeuristic appeal but intensified. You're watching people's relationships form and combust in real-time, with higher stakes and faster pace than TOWIE's slower burns.

But It's relentlessly loud and glossy. If you prefer nuance or quieter moments, the constant energy can feel punishing.

Geordie Shore2011

The northern, messier cousin of TOWIE. Same reality-soap structure but with less polish and more genuine chaos. The friendships feel rawer, the arguments less choreographed.

But It leans harder into the party and intoxication angle. If you found TOWIE occasionally shallow, this digs deeper in that direction rather than away from it.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills2010

Same year, different continent. Older, richer women, but the same reality-TV alchemy: genuine friendships, manufactured conflict, and the strange pleasure of watching people navigate wealth and status.

But The cast is older and the tone is cattier and more serious. It lacks TOWIE's lighter, sometimes self-aware humour.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills poster

Vanderpump Rules2013

Reality TV for people who love character development. A tight friend group, recurring cast, genuine long-term drama that builds across seasons. Same addictive formula, slightly more substance.

But It's very long-form—you need to watch seasons in order and there's a lot of repetitive argument rehashing. Not something you can dip in and out of.

Summer House2017

Smaller scale and more seasonal, but captures the TOWIE vibe in a contained setting. Friend groups, relationships tested under pressure, and the pleasure of watching people you're invested in face genuine stakes.

But It's lower budget than TOWIE and occasionally feels thin on actual plot. Some seasons are noticeably stronger than others.

UnREAL2015

Pulls back the curtain on how manufactured reality TV actually is—the editing, the encouragement of drama, the constructed narrative arcs that TOWIE uses as its framework.

A scripted drama about producing a reality dating show, written by people who worked in reality TV. It deconstructs the machinery behind TOWIE-style programming with dark humour and genuine anger. You'll never watch reality TV the same way.

But It's cynical and bleak rather than fun. It's designed to make you uncomfortable about the medium, which can drain the pleasure from watching it.

The Queen of Versailles2012

Both fixate on wealth, status, and the performance of lifestyle, but this strips away the entertainment machinery to show what that actually costs.

A documentary about a supremely wealthy couple in contemporary America. Like TOWIE but real, unscripted, and somehow more tragic. A fascinating, sometimes painful portrait of aspiration and ego without a script or edit to make it coherent.

But It's slow and observational rather than narrative. There's no music swelling before the drama, and the mess of real life doesn't resolve neatly. It can feel deliberately unglamorous.