Jessie Buckley Is Not The First Best Acting Oscar Winner Who Got Their Start In Reality TV (Yes, Seriously)

Focus Features

The 98th Annual Academy Awards have come and gone, and while the 2026 Oscar winners list is filled with historic moments and pleasant surprises to cap an unpredictable awards season, one of the only assumed "locks" ahead of the ceremony was Jessie Buckley's Best Actress win for her performance in Chloé Zhao's "Hamnet." /Film's Chris Evangelista called Buckley's devastating portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare "brilliant and heartbreaking" in his review, a sentiment clearly shared by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Buckley has emerged as one of our finest living actors, nabbing her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Maggie Gyllenhaal's "The Lost Daughter" and winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in "Cabaret."

But Buckley's career began in a medium often looked down upon: reality competition television. After the prestigious Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London rejected her application (fumble of the century on its part), Buckley competed on "I'd Do Anything." She was ultimately the runner-up and offered the opportunity to be the understudy to the winner, Jodie Prenger, in the 2009 West End revival of the musical "Oliver!" However, Buckley turned it down and continued forging her own path.

Buckley has been transparent about her time on "I'd Do Anything" being less than ideal, telling Vogue, "I look back at it, and I feel like, 'God, you're so brave.' I don't know if I'd have that courage now, and I don't know if that was kind of innocence or ignorance." Her humble beginnings serve as a fascinating factoid on the resume of one of the most formidable performers of her generation, but she's not the first winner of an acting Oscar statue to compete on a reality TV show — she's the fourth.

Paramount Pictures

Jessie Buckley is only two awards cycles removed from another Best Actress Oscar winner who got her start on reality competition TV: Emma Stone. Competing under her birth name, Emily Stone, the two-time Best Actress Oscar winner was among the winners of "In Search of the Partridge Family," a show that sought actors/singers for a revival of the hit sitcom from the 1970s. Emily Stone won the role of Laurie Partridge, but the revival never went beyond the odd, faux-documentary pilot. Given Stone's Best Actress nomination for "Bugonia," this means two-fifths of the 2026 Best Actress nominees got their start on reality TV.

Interestingly, there are also two Best Supporting Actress Oscar winners who have appeared on reality TV. Jennifer Hudson — currently the youngest woman to ever reach EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status — famously got her start as a contestant on "American Idol." Hudson is now a cultural juggernaut with a wildly successful daytime talk show, a permanent reminder that her controversial elimination during the Top 7 episode of season 3 is proof that U.S. citizens frequently suck at voting. (That season's eventual winner, Fantasia, was a good call, though).

Joining Hudson is Ariana DeBose, who became the second woman to win an Oscar for playing Anita in "West Side Story." There's been much discussion about DeBose's history as "The Bullet" in "Hamilton," but less acknowledged is her past as a contestant on the sixth season of "So You Think You Can Dance" in 2009, where she finished in the top 20. A few years later, she made her Broadway debut originating the role of Nautica in "Bring It On: The Musical," with music provided by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The rest, as they say, is history.

Lionsgate

While comedic legend and Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Mo'Nique didn't get her start on reality TV, she is the only Oscar-winner to ever host a reality competition series. Three years before her Oscar win, she was the host of VH1's "Charm School," a spin-off of the dating game show "Flavor of Love" centered around Flavor Flav. "Charm School" ostensibly served as a finishing school for the losing contestants of "Flavor of Love," helping them develop "proper etiquette." It was the precise kind of 2000s-era trash that viewers couldn't get enough of, and Mo'Nique was the perfect host to control the chaos.

Additionally, Oscar-nominated musicians Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé competed on "Star Search" as children, and a pre-fame Lady Gaga famously appeared on the MTV stress-prank competition show "Boiling Point." 17 years before Tom Hardy was nominated for an Oscar for his role in "The Revenant," he similarly won The Big Breakfast's "Find Me a Supermodel" competition at the age of 21, earning a brief contract with Models 1.

But Jessie Buckley and Emma Stone weren't the only 2026 Oscar nominees to have appeared on reality TV, as Best Supporting Actress nominee (and singer, songwriter, actor, model, dancer, choreographer, and music video director) Teyana Taylor famously appeared on MTV's "My Super Sweet Sixteen." An important distinction, however, is that this appearance came after Taylor had already been credited as the choreographer for Beyoncé's hit single, "Ring the Alarm," and was invited to join Pharrell Williams' Star Trak Entertainment label through Interscope Records.

Considering the staying power of the popularity of reality TV, there's no telling what the future holds. Who knows? Perhaps 2030 will be the year we see an Oscar-winner who had their heart broken on "Love is Blind."