A Look Back: The 2009 Reality TV Year In Review - April 2009

With 2009 drawing to a close, it's time to take a look back at the year that was.  The following is Reality TV World's 2009 Reality TV Year In Review, a 12-part, month-by-month review of some of the past year's reality TV headlines, highlights, lowlights, and milestones. 


Today we continue our 12-day countdown with the fourth installment: April 2009.

- American Idol fourth-season winner Carrie Underwood and Dancing with the Stars professional Julianne Hough win Academy of Country Music awards, however Underwood subsequently apologizes for her acceptance speech after some viewers construed a comment as a sexual reference.

- Hough's boyfriend and eighth-season celebrity partner Chuck Wicks says an engagement is coming but denies he's planning to propose on the show. Hough and Wick are eventually eliminated, and she says participating on the show together gave their relationship a spark. In addition, Hough reiterates that she still plans to skip Dancing with the Stars ninth season in the fall.

- Project Runway's lawsuit finally comes to an end but Lifetime announces the sixth season still won't premiere until August. Fashion guru Tim Gunn blames the premiere's delay on Bravo's new The Fashion Show reality series and teases that the season will include a "shocker" in which one contestant is accused of cheating.
 
- The Bachelorette lovebirds Trista and Ryan Sutter welcome the birth of a baby girl.


- So You Think You Can Dance choreographer Alex Da Silva is arrested on suspicion of rape, however the district attorney later claims there is insufficient evidence to charge him.

- America's Next Top Model reschedules March's thirteenth-season New York City casting call that was canceled after chaos broke out.  It goes off without a hitch this time.

- Former Survivor: China castaways Jaime Dugan and Erik Huffman get married.

- Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Jon Gosselin denies being involved with Deanna Hummel after they are photographed leaving a bar together and claims he has never cheated on his wife Kate. TLC also announces the reality series will return for a fifth season in May.

- Reports that The Real World's next installment will film in Washington, D.C. begin to surface.


- VH1 reportedly begins filming its Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew sex addiction spinoff.

- MTV announces that The Hills will continue without Lauren Conrad as Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt get married for real after they initially eloped. MTV camera crews film the nuptials -- which are attended by Conrad and her reported The Hills replacement, former Laguna Beach star Kristin Cavallari.

- Original Survivor winner Richard Hatch asks if he can serve his prison release in Argentina so he can be with his boyfriend, but a judge rejects the request.

- Dancing with the Stars professional Maksim Chmerkovskiy denies Steve Wozniak's claims that he will be walking Chmerkovskiy's fiancee Karina Smirnoff down the aisle at their wedding.

- Simon Cowell reveals he may leave American Idol once his current contract expires after the show's ninth season and insists it is not a negotiating ploy.  He later clarifies the comments but is still adamant that he is only interested in remaining with the show if it's able to keep its top spot in the ratings.


- Former American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe says he doesn't think Cowell would ever actually leave the show.

- New American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi also denies that she's quitting the show while Paula Abdul -- whose contract expires at the end of the 2009 edition -- claims the show could never replace her.

- The cast for NBC's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! revival begins to take shape and while former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is sought after by the network, a judge denies the request.

- Susan Boyle becomes a worldwide Internet sensation after her Britain's Got Talent audition airs.

- A report that jailed NFL star Michael Vick is shopping a post-release reality series surfaces, however his agent denies it.


- MTV orders Gone Too Far, a new reality series that will follow former drug addict Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein as he attempts to help addicts kick the habit.

- American Idol's judging panel uses the show's new The Judges' Save twist to save Matt Giraud from elimination. Paula Abdul claims Simon Cowell wasn't sure about using it on Giraud, and he subsequently states the only reason he agreed to do so is because the alternative choices for saving weren't much better. Giraud is still eliminated a few weeks later and finishes in fifth.

- E! orders The Lamas Family, a new reality series that will follow The Bachelor: London Calling winner Shayne Lamas and her family -- which includes her dad, former Are You Hot? judge Lorenzo Lamas.

- Big Brother host Julie Chen reveals she is pregnant with her first child with CBS president Les Moonves.

- American Idol seventh-season winner David Cook cancels several tour dates due to "family matters."


- Dancing with the Stars celebrity participant Shawn Johnson is granted a restraining order against her alleged stalker.

- Reports that former American Idol third-season finalist Jennifer Hudson is pregnant with her first child emerge.

- 18 Kids and Counting stars Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar reveal they are set to become grandparents as their son and his wife are expecting their first child.

Premieres: River Monsters (4/5); Mythbusters, Season 7 (4/8); American Chopper, Season 6 (4/9); Style Her Famous, Season 3 (4/11); Groomer Has It, Season 2 (4/11); Doing DaVinci (4/13); College Life (4/13); Deadliest Catch, Season 5 (4/14); Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment (4/14); Nanny 911, Season 4 (4/19); Cake Boss (4/19); Build It Bigger (4/20); The Phone (4/21).






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio