The Only Way Is Essex would be extended. Ahead of the series it was announced that James Argent would be returning to the series following his break from the show. It was also confirmed that after making brief appearances during the previous series, Lauren Pope and Mario Falcone would be returning to the series as a full-time cast member. With this announcement, it was revealed that Mike Hassini would also be returning to the series having previously left the show after the eighteenth series. Former cast member Elliott Wright also made an appearance during the second episode of the series, whilst Vas J Morgan also
Reality television plots and subject matters on reality television are more authentic and more engaging than in scripted dramas, writing that scripted network television "remains dominated by variants on the police procedural... in which a stock group of characters (ethnically, sexually, and generationally diverse) grapples with endless versions of the same dilemma. The episodes have all the ritual predictability of Japanese Noh theater," while reality television is "the liveliest genre on the set right now. It has engaged hot-button cultural issues – class, sex, race – that respectable television... rarely touches." Television critic James Poniewozik wrote that reality shows like "Deadliest Catch"