Reality TV's Breakout Stars

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Michelle Duggar

TV audiences have followed Michelle and husband Jim Bob's 19 kids and counting — 10 boys, 8 girls and baby Josie — since 2008. In fall 2014, the family premiered their ninth season of programming on TLC, with the televised wedding of Jill Duggar, who has since announced that she and husband Derick Dillard are pregnant.

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Todd Chrisley

Self-made Atlanta millionaire Chrisley keeps his family of five in line with razor sharp zingers and a whole lot of tough love on USA's Chrisley Knows Best. Calling himself a "patriarch of perfection," Chrisley boasts that his family spends more than $300,000 annually on clothing, and he personally approves each member's outfits before they leave the house.

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Sadie Robertson

The stunning teenage daughter of Duck Dynasty's Willie Robertson made her New York Fashion Week runway debut in 2014 and appears on season 19 of Dancing With the Stars. In 2013, Sadie sang a duet with country star Alison Krauss on the Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas album.

Credit: Danny Feld

Abby Lee Miller

Brash Pennsylvania dance studio owner Miller became Lifetime's newest reality TV villain when Dance Moms premiered in 2011. Following her students — and their outspoken stage moms — as they compete locally and nationally, Dance Moms led to Miller's spin-off, Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition.

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Honey Boo Boo

TV fans first 'redneckognized' Georgia's Alana Thompson in a 2012 episode of TLC's Toddlers & Tiaras when she drank a homemade concoction of Go-Go Juice before a beauty pageant. Months later, the spunky pageant queen affectionately dubbed Honey Boo Boo had her own spin-off, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, on the network alongside her mother June Shannon, dad Mike "Sugar Bear" Thompson and sisters Chubbs, Pumpkin and Chickadee.

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Breaking Amish Cast

TLC followed five ex-Amish and Mennonite men and women who moved from their communities to New York City on a brand-new series starting in September 2012. Abe, Jeremiah, Rebecca, Kate and Sabrina made for must-see TV when their off-camera exploits (including Kate's DUI, Jeremiah and Sabrina's former marriages, and Rebecca's daughter) became watercooler talk.

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Buckwild Cast

Five young adults in Sissonville and Charleston, W. Va. were followed by MTV cameras in early 2013 as the group made their own fun in their rural hometowns. In February 2013, following the death of cast member Shain Gandee due to carbon monoxide poisoning, the network decided to pull the plug on the series and not move forward with filming for season 2.

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Farrah Abraham

Iowa high schooler Abraham welcomed daughter Sophia in 2009 on MTV's 16 & Pregnant. The network continued to follow the new mom as she navigated parenthood without Sophia's dad, her late boyfriend Derek, in the picture — on Teen Mom. Four years later, aspiring model Abraham (who got a boob job at age 20) made a sex tape with porn star James Deen.

Credit: MTV

Snooki

A spunky 4'9" Italian with a penchant for hair poufs and pickles made her debut on MTV's Jersey Shore in 2009, and became a household name after she was punched in the face on the Seaside Heights, N.J., boardwalk by a fellow bar patron. Though MTV did not show the incident in full on-air, previews featuring the punch went viral and Snooki cemented her breakout star status. Her spin-off with Jersey Shore BFF JWoww wrapped its second season in April 2013.

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NeNe Leakes

After five years on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Leakes parlayed her reality TV success into stints on sitcoms like Glee and The New Normal. Known on RHOA for her fights with frenemy Kim Zolciak, Leakes premiered her own spin-off, I Dream of NeNe, in fall 2013.

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Giggy

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump's beloved Pomeranian is so high-profile in Hollywood that he has his own agent! "He can do charity; he is open to anything. The only thing he isn't very good at is radio," muses restaurateur Vanderpump — the star of her own spin-off Vanderpump Rules — to Us.

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Gary Busey

Academy Award nominee Busey butted heads with costar Meat Loaf in 2011 during one of the most epic fights The Celebrity Apprentice has ever seen. Two years later, the actor brought his off-beat "Buseyisms" and erratic behavior back to Donald Trump's All-Star season of The Celebrity Apprentice. In recent years, Busey has also appeared on Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew and Celebrity Fit Club.

Credit: TLC

Kate Gosselin

Pennsylvania nurse Kate hit the big time in 2007 when TLC aired Jon & Kate Plus 8, a reality series following her family life with then-husband Jon and their children: Twins Cara and Madelyn and sextuplets Aaden, Collin, Joel, Alexis, Leah and Hannah. Announcing her separation from Jon on TV in 2009, Kate went on to appear as a contestant on Dancing With the Stars and on her own spin-off, Kate Plus 8, about her life as a single mom. Kate Plus 8 wrapped its in 2011.

Credit: VH1

Big Ang

Staten Island, New York's Angela "Big Ang" Raiola burst onto the reality TV scene in 2012 during season 2 of VH1's Mob Wives and later on her VH1 spin-off, Big Ang. The niece of late Genovese crime family captain Salvatore "Sally Dogs" Lombardi, Big Ang — known for her size 36J breasts — owns the Drunken Monkey bar in Staten Island.

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Simon Cowell

Known to American Idol fans as "Mr. Nasty," British record executive Cowell began his industry career in the EMI Music Publishing mailroom before creating U.K.'s The X Factor in 2004. Serving as a judge on American Idol from 2002-2010, Cowell also appeared as a judge on the U.S. X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and Pop Idol. Cowell signed One Direction to his Syco Records in 2011.

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Russell Hantz

One of reality TV's biggest villains, oil company owner Hantz has appeared on Survivor: Samoa, Survivor: Heroes vs. Vilains and Survivor: Redemption Island, making him the only player in Survivor history to take part in the game three times in two years. Known for his cunning game play and ability to locate hidden Immunity Idols, Hantz paved the way for his nephew, Brandon Hantz, to appear on Survivor: Caramoan.