LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – The LALATE Best Reality TV Stars of 2018 have been revealed. Sometimes it takes a Dallas turtle to carry an entire show on their back, sometimes you just want to just want to offer someone a Shark royalty rate, and other times you are positive that clip-art pillows won’t sell in Charleston.

For our tenth year, the LALATE Best Reality TV Stars of the year list looks a bit familiar and yet a bit refreshed. Familiar faces like Tamra Judge, Vicki Gunvalson, Gamble Breaux, Patricia Altschul and Gina Liano and others have made lists of past. But this year there is a lot of shifts at play.

1 Jay Leno | 2 Kevin O’Leary | 3 Barbara Corcoran. A new leader made the list, with new dominance by CNBC Primetime and ABC. Jay Leno‘s Garage is one of the most entertaining reality TV shows of the decade. A mixture of information, drama, comedy, and suspense are all carefully orchestrated to deliver a show that is singularly one of the best produced reality TV shows on TV.

Readers will note this, year, however, that Shark Tank dominated the list. Kevin O’Leary leads the pack for his incredible sense of “Grinch” like self, destroying hopes in a blink by a reassessment of someone’s absorb valuation. Barbara Corcoran is in turn one of the most lovable persons to ever hit reality TV, and when she gets angry and shouts “Darn it”, she’s incredible.

4 Patricia Altschul | 5 Captain Lee | 6 Robert Herjavec & Lori Greiner. Patricia Altschul has made our list every year of Southern Charm. But after being confined (by an certain Executive Producer) to only have scenes in her bed during the first season, Patricia is out and about, and really delivering the incredible vortex of emerald stability that an often dissy-head cast can’t seem to find. And oh yes, darling, those are real emeralds.

Captain Lee is arguably one of the most undervalued reality TV stars on television. He is singularly responsible for not one but two series because of his incredible ability to be himself. He is unfiltered, he is not orchestrated, he is neither staged, nor embellished. Many reality TV stars “turn up”, or amplify themselves for TV to secure contract renewals. Lee is just the purest of reality TV stars that they are.

As Lori Greiner might say to an inventor to beat Robert Herjavec, “I need your answer now.” But Lori and Robert are truly the most unique answers our list this year, a mixture of soft yet direct, comforting but cautious. They appeal to our sensibilities in delivering an unquestionable sense of reason and reliability.

8 LeeAnne Locken | 9 Gina Liano | 10 Marcus Lemonis. Whether she is dressed as Cher for her testimonials, or convincing co-stars that they she can clone their phones, LeeAnne Locken is a master at timing, testimonials, and sense of delivery. Locken was born to deliver one-liners, her vocalization and dramatic pauses with words is the best in the business, and her ability to allow her body to fall into the moment and forget the cameras shows an incredible comfort with the camera that few will ever achieve.

Gina Liano is everything that many hope to achieve; funny, direct, and lovable. But when you come for her, with hardest or softest of insults, Liano shows her talent, an ability to tear you to pieces and return you sender, with a blinged bow on top. A talent that needs her light to be recognized more in the US, Liano is everything missing in US TV.

Marcus Lemonis is that unusual star, that you don’t realize you like until you see the “sh-t hit the fan.” The CNBC star is beyond incredible in handling surprise, non predicted, dramatic moments that even he, as a veteran, did not anticipate. He leaves you always on his side, but seeing the hurt and happiness together in one.

11 Tamra Judge | 12 Vicki Gunvalson | 13 Gamble Breaux. Housewives don’t come hotter than Tamra Judge, and nor does her drama. Judge’s sense of TV is masterful, her understanding that no one gets a free pass in scene, even her best friends, former friends, and maybe future friends, allows dramatic emotions to surge, not just in the same episode, but also in the same scene.

Vicki Gunvalson‘s understanding of TV, like Judge, is impeccable. But what makes Gunvalson so good is her ability to defend, and fend, and when needed fire back. There is no one who fires a defensive shot back better, when you are watching, and turn an entire season around, then Gunvalson, no matter how low the shot is.

Gamble Breaux is that mixture of uniqueness and complexity that you rarely find on TV. No matter how many seasons she graces our TV screens, the complexity of her delightful, lighthearted, but direct personality leaves you never sure where her scenes are going. And by that, she possesses one of the best reality TV traits anyone can wish for, the ability to keep viewers guessing.

14 Stephanie Hollman | 15 Lydia Schiavello | 16 Kameron Westcott. Stephanie Hollman is least dramatic entry on our list. She is sometimes funny, sometimes introverted, and sometimes inspiring. But what makes Hollman so good is that she never changes. Viewers dislike cast members who turn into puppets of co-stars, or change personalities like they change shoes. That’s not her. Hollman however simply stays Hollman. She has not morphed into an amplified version of herself, or orchestrated lines for the purpose of orchestration. She is our female Captain Lee, a person who starts, and ends, the same way she began.

Lydia Schiavello is one of our most unique entries this year for her ability to blind you with your beauty, and then, when you are not expecting, jab you with her intelligence. Reality TV rarely has seen a soul like Lydia that inherently is lighthearted and happy throughout, bringing a warm and love on camera to contrast with dramatics.

Kameron Westcott is the only entry on our list that we wished Jay Leno did an impersonation of. Westcott, nods her head three times to assure you she is correct, opens her mouth and leaves it open for five seconds to assure you she is shocked you kept your baby a secret from her, and then turns her chin to the right while her eyes goes to left to remind you that that is not the purpose of a coffee cup. Westcott has some of the craziest and most delightful mannerisms of any reality TV star today.

Rounding our top twenty this year are 17 Lisa Rinna, 18 NeNe Leakes, 19 Margaret Josephs and 20 Towanda Braxton.

Terrence Wilt ABOUT THIS AUTHOR || Chief Correspondent: Entertainment (TV, Film, Music) | Terrence (twilt@lalate.com) loves everything entertainment. Terrence delivers original reporting on television, film, and music news, authoring huge exclusives on Hollywood daily. Terrence lives for Braxton Family Values, loves Real Housewives, and can't get enough of Hollywood Divas. From exclusive to breaking news, and shocking spoilers, Terrence has his finger on major TV, film and music news, sometime even before it happens. || TO CONTACT THIS AUTHOR | Email Address: twilt@lalate.com | Telephone: 314-400-8010 | Follow on Twitter: Twitter.com/LALATETV | Biography http://news.lalate.com/author/terrence-wilt/ | LALATE Staff & Physical Address: http://news.lalate.com/staff/



