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For our final feature in the run-up to tomorrow's DS Awards, we have looked back at the biggest shocks in reality TV history. These are the moments where you screamed at the telly in horror as you saw you most loved/most hated contestants triumph or fail. Sometimes it's down to dodgy judges' decisions, other times it was the strange British public, but they all surprised the bookies and created classic TV moments.
Barnsley-born cricketer Darren Gough looked as though he would be about as graceful as a rhino when it came to ballroom dancing. But as the third series of Strictly progressed, the fast-bowler transformed himself, suddenly coming across as dainty and nifty rather than clunky and bulky. His improvement was so vast that by the time he reached the final, the fact he beat loose-limbed Colin Jackson and the nimble Zoe Ball didn't cause too many jaws to drop. Even still, the fact Goughie managed to go all the way to winning the glitterball trophy is still the biggest shock in Strictly history.
In the fifth week of the second series of X Factor, Maria Lawson was a 66/1 bookmakers rank-outsider to get the boot. While her performance of The Rolling Stones' 'Brown Sugar' was an ill-advised pick from mentor Sharon Osbourne, no one suspected she wouldn't survive. In the first shock of the night, Maria was picked for the bottom two by the public. But even then, the nation presumed the series favourite would be saved by the judges over Irish jokers The Conway Sisters. Little did we count on the inexplicable judgment of Louis Walsh, who voted to save the Conways. Sharon Osbourne apparently blamed the Irish Mafia, but we just blame Louis.
Very rarely do Simon Cowell or the bookmakers get it wrong. But in the final of X Factor series 4, they were both in for a big surprise. White-haired pop-opera oddball Rhydian Roberts had been the star of the series and no one believed he could lose. Even after a duet with Kylie, most believed that little Leon Jackson didn't have enough about him to win the show. But we were in for a shock when Kate Thornton revealed the winner, because the Scottish lad had done it. Despite protests and phone error investigations, the eventual answer was that Leon really was the most popular singer.
Michael Sophocles should have been fired long before week 9 of The Apprentice series four. He had somehow slithered under Sir Alan's net, despite being involved in one of the biggest ever cock-ups in the show's history with the Kosher chicken debacle. He appeared to be clinging on by the fingernails and when it came to the boardroom showdown with loveable toff Raef Bjayou after their botched TV tissue advert, everyone believed Sophocles had finally met his match. Amazingly, Sir Alan believed otherwise, choosing to axe 'The Raef'. We still haven't figured out the multi-millionaire's thinking on that one.
Verne Troyer was the hot favourite. Terry Christian was popular on the forums. Coolio was the outsider and Ben from A1 had potential to surprise. But barely anyone gave mother-of-four Ulrika a cat in hell's chance of winning Celebrity Big Brother 6 when it came to the final. She had come across as reasonably pleasant, but had failed to sparkle in the house, spending most of her time praying for an early exit. But as the housemates were chopped one by one, suddenly there was only Ulrika and Terry left. When Davina revealed the former weather-girl had won, Ulrika uttered the words the whole nation was thinking: "It's a fix!" It wasn't, and it was arguably the biggest shock in the show's history.
What was your biggest reality TV shock? Are you still getting over Ulrika's win in Celeb BB? Voice your opinions below
