Please Do Not Swear

Relive reality TV’s golden age with Please Do Not Swear, the explosive oral history of a decade that redefined celebrity and reshaped pop culture.

From the groundbreaking early days of Big Brother to the rise of ‘living soaps’ like The Only Way is Essex, culture critic Louis Staples takes us behind the scenes of the extraordinary decade when reality TV changed everything.

Through candid interviews with reality stars, producers, presenters, and journalists, this explosive book uncovers how the experimental TV formats shaped social attitudes and redefined what it meant to be a celebrity. Featuring iconic moments – from the meteoric rise of Jade Goody to Paris Hilton’s influential The Simple Life – Please Do Not Swear captures the innocence, cruelty and cultural impact of the shows that paved the way for the influencer age.

With humour, gossip and plenty of nostalgia, this definitive oral history reveals the secrets of an unforgiving, unforgettable era when anyone could become a star – for better or worse.