Arizona’s reality TV stars: Where are they now?

From A-list actresses to a controversial bachelor, here’s a roundup of reality TV stars from Arizona.

Whether you love it or hate it, reality TV is an undeniable cultural force that has given us some of our biggest stars and paved the way for modern-day influencer culture. Given just how popular reality TV has become, it’s no surprise that many of the genre’s stars have hailed from the Grand Canyon State.

Here are six reality TV stars from Arizona, how they faired on each respective program, and what they’re up to now.

Star: Emma Stone

Reality TV program: “In Search of the Partridge Family”

Yep, before Emma Stone was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, she was once on a reality TV show. The Valley of the Sun native competed on the VH1 reality series “In Search of the Partridge Family” in 2004. She was billed as Emily Stone at the time, though. In this show, actors were competing for roles in a VH1 reboot of the ‘70s sitcom “The Partridge Family.”

How she did: Stone won the role of Laurie Partridge, which shouldn’t come as a surprise given her immense talent. Although the pilot never aired, that did not stop her acting career. She has gone on to become one of the most successful actors of her generation. The past spring, she took home her second Academy Award for her role in “Poor Things.” Stone is married to comedian, writer, and director Dave McCary. The couple has one daughter, Louise Jean McCary.

Star: Jordin Sparks

Photo courtesy of Jordin Sparks via Instagram.

Reality TV program: “American Idol” 

Glendale native Jordin Sparks appeared on the iconic singing competition show “American Idol” way back in 2007. She was just 17 at the time.  

How she did: Sparks won the program and has released a total of four full studio albums since then. She’s also appeared on TV programs like “Dancing With the Stars” and has been involved with numerous charities. We spotted her at Celebrity Fight Night in Scottsdale a few years ago. The gala raises funds for cancer research. Sparks married Dana Isaiah in 2017 and has a child with him.

Star: Arie Luyendyk Jr.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Reality TV program: “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette”

“The Bachelor” is a reality TV program in which a group of women compete to win the love and affection of one man. The person who “wins” is given the final rose or typically an engagement ring. “The Bachelorette” is its female-centric counterpart. If that sounds like a crazy premise, it’s because it is. And Scottsdale resident, influencer, real estate agent, and racecar driver Arie Luyendyk Jr. was on both programs. After failing to take home the final rose on “The Bachelorette” back in 2012, he became the lead on “The Bachelor” in 2017. 

How he did: Luyendyk is one of the most notorious contestants of all time. He is best known for publicly breaking off his engagement to Becca Kufrin in 2018 after he gave Kufrin the final rose. He left her to date his runner-up pick, Lauren Burnham. This move ultimately led to a major public backlash. Luyendyk and Burnham are still together today. The couple own homes in both Scottsdale and Maui. The pair wed in Maui in 2019 and have three children together. You can watch their parenting adventures unfold on their respective Instagram accounts.

Stars: Amy and Samy Bouzaglo of Scottsdale’s Amy’s Baking Company

Photo courtesy of Samy Bouzaglo via Instagram.

Program: Gordon Ramsay’s “Kitchen Nightmares”

In “Kitchen Nightmares,” celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay visited restaurants throughout the country to try to help them improve. But when Ramsay visited Amy’s Baking Company in Scottsdale back in 2013, the restaurant owned by Amy and Samy Bouzaglo proved to be too much of a nightmare for even him to deal with.

If you’ve never seen this episode before, the entire thing is outrageous and unforgettable. In this YouTube clip alone, Amy meows (yes, you read that right) and says she’s going to hurt someone if they send back her cake and will tell customers to “f***” off if her husband doesn’t. And guess what? He did. They both even yell at multiple customers at the end of the video. This generated plenty of backlash and humorous internet fodder.

How they did: Ramsay leaves and says he can’t help them during the show. The couple appeared on a follow-up episode of the show in 2014. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Amy’s Baking Company finally closed for good in 2015. However, it still has an Instagram account. According to an article in the New York Post published in 2021, the couple left Arizona for California and were residing in Israel after Samy was deported.

Star: Mackenzie Dipman

Photo courtesy of Mackenzie Dipman via Instagram.

Reality TV program: “Love Island”

Scottsdale native and Arizona State University grad Mackenzie Dipman claims on her Instagram account that she is the only contestant who has appeared on “Love Island” twice. Dipman appeared on both seasons two and four.

“Love Island” is based on a UK show of the same name. The basic premise is that a group of contestants are isolated in a villa and must pair off — romantically, for friendship, or just for survival — to ultimately win the show. Contestants pair off on the first day but can recouple throughout the series. Islanders who remain single are kicked off the island.

How she did: She left the island on her first go around and dated Connor Trott after the pair met on the show on Season 2, which aired in 2020. They broke up about six months together in 2021, according to Decider. She competed in Miss Arizona in 2021 and also has her own clothing line called Out of His League.

During her second appearance on the show in 2022, she decided to leave the villa without a romantic partner, according to Distractify. According to her LinkedIn profile, she currently resides in Los Angeles and works as a social media content creator. 

Star: Kinsey Schofield

Photo courtesy of Kinsey Schofield.

Reality TV program: E Channel’s “Party Monsters Cabo”

Reality-TV star-turned royals reporter Kinsey Schofield grew up in Scottsdale. In 2008, she was on E Channel’s “Party Monsters Cabo.” The show was a competition about planning and throwing events for celebs like The Kardashians, Nick Cannon, and Missy Elliott. 

How she did: Schofield was the runner up. Although she didn’t win, but she managed to parlay her reality TV success into a reporting career centered around entertainment news. She’s interviewed the likes of celebs like Emily Blunt, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Kate Hudson. In 2020, she decided to start her own passion project and launched a blog about the British royal family called To Di For Daily. That blog eventually became a book called “R is for Revenge Dress: A Princess Diana-Inspired Alphabet Book,” which was published in 2022.

She appears regularly on TV channels like BBC, Fox News, and CTV to discuss breaking royal news. She also currently cohosts a weekly program on TalkTV with Vanity Fair’s Katie Nicholl titled “Heirs & Spares.” Schofield told us via email that her and Emma Stone were friends when they were both growing up in the Valley.

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.