WAGs (or Wags ) is an acronym used to refer to wives and girlfriends of high-profile sportsmen and women. The term may also be used in the singular form, WAG , to refer to a specific female partner or life partner who is in a relationship with an athlete. The term was first used by the British tabloid press to refer to the wives and girlfriends of high-profile footballers , originally the England national football team . The WAGs acronym came about following an increasing focus on the coverage of athletes' partners in the late-20th century, and it came into common use during the 2006 FIFA World Cup to refer to Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole , although the term had been used occasionally before that.
157-455: After achieving popularity, the acronym became a focus of reality television shows such as WAGs Boutique , WAG Nation , and WAGS . It has since been used by some media in other countries to describe the female partners of athletes in general. Variations have also been developed for other relations, such as husbands and boyfriends, and for other celebrities, such as the wives and girlfriends of celebrities and world leaders. The WAGs acronym
314-522: A Mormon splinter group), Breaking Amish and Amish Mafia (the Amish ), and Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and its spinoffs ( Romani people ). The Real Housewives franchise offers a window into the lives of social-striving urban and suburban housewives. Many shows focus on wealth and conspicuous consumption , including Platinum Weddings , and My Super Sweet 16 , which documented huge coming of age celebrations thrown by wealthy parents. Conversely,
471-580: A nuclear family (filmed in 1971) going through a divorce; unlike many later reality shows, it was more or less documentary in purpose and style. In 1974 a counterpart program, The Family , was made in the UK, following the working-class Wilkins family of Reading . Other forerunners of modern reality television were the 1970s productions of Chuck Barris : The Dating Game , The Newlywed Game , and The Gong Show , all of which featured participants who were eager to sacrifice some of their privacy and dignity in
628-438: A "People's Sunday", with unreserved seating and readily available, inexpensive tickets, allowing those with more limited means to sit on the show courts. In 2022, on the centenary of the tournament's move to its current site, routine scheduled play began on the "Middle Sunday". This was attributed to advances in grass technology and maintenance meaning the courts no longer required a day of recovery mid-tournament. Before 2022,
785-522: A "circus" and giving praise to new England manager Fabio Capello 's more disciplined regime, and after England had qualified for the 2010 World Cup by beating Croatia 5–1, Capello made his first public comment on the WAGs by making it clear that the England players will only be able to see their wives and partners the day after a match, stating that "We are there to play, not for a holiday". As it happened,
942-477: A 2003 paper, theorists Elisabeth Klaus and Stephanie Lücke referred to the former category as "docusoaps", which consist of "narrative reality", and the latter category as "reality soaps", which consist of "performative reality". Since 2014, the Primetime Emmy Awards have used a similar classification, with separate awards for " unstructured reality " and " structured reality " programs, as well as
1099-454: A Reality or Reality-Competition Program , was added. In 2007, the web series The Next Internet Millionaire appeared; it was a competition show based in part on The Apprentice , and was billed as the world's first Internet reality show. In 2010 the Dutch singing competition show The Voice of Holland , created by John de Mol Jr. , premiered; it added to the singing competition template
1256-524: A broadcast centre, two extra grass courts and a tunnel under the hill linking Church Road and Somerset Road. Stage two (1997–2009) involved the removal of the old No. 1 Court complex to make way for the new Millennium Building, providing extensive facilities for players, press, officials and members, and the extension of the West Stand of the Centre Court with 728 extra seats. Stage three (2000–2011)
1413-443: A camera crew on an outdoor adventure , such as hunting , fishing , hiking, scuba diving , rock climbing, wildlife photography, horseback riding, race car driving, and the like, with most of the resulting action and dialogue being unscripted, except for the narration. In the 1966 Direct Cinema film Chelsea Girls , Andy Warhol filmed various acquaintances with no direction given. The Radio Times Guide to Film 2007 said that
1570-584: A celebrity going about their everyday life: notable examples include The Anna Nicole Show , The Osbournes , Gene Simmons Family Jewels , Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica , Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Hogan Knows Best . VH1 in the mid-2000s had an entire block of such shows, known as "Celebreality". Shows such as these are often created with the idea of promoting a celebrity product or upcoming project. Some documentary-style shows shed light on rarely seen cultures and lifestyles. One example
1727-529: A champions tiebreak taking place meaning the winner needs to get to 10 points and win by two points. If the score is 9–9 play continues until one player wins by two points. All events are single-elimination tournaments , except for the Gentlemen's, Senior Gentlemen's and the Ladies' Invitation Doubles, which are round-robin tournaments . Up to 1921, the winners of the previous year's competition (except in
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#17327763848371884-674: A distinction between, on the one hand, those such as Victoria Beckham, who are "businesswoman", and Cole and Rooney, who "have a job" and those who, in her view, had the wrong "priorities" and simply spent their boyfriends' money. During the course of the World Cup, the Times coined the term "WWAGs" (" Wimbledon Wives and Girlfriends") for the girlfriends of male participants in the All-England Lawn Tennis Championships in 2006. The most photographed partner in
2041-413: A finalist three times, and been ranked no. 2 in the world; his low ranking was due to having been hampered by a persistent shoulder injury for three years, which had only just cleared up. In 1996, the title was won by Richard Krajicek , who was originally unseeded (ranked 17th, and only 16 players were seeded) but was promoted to a seeded position (still with the number 17) when Thomas Muster withdrew before
2198-421: A game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier as an outdoor version of real tennis and originally given the name Sphairistikè , was added to the activities of the club. In spring 1877, the club was renamed "The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club" and signalled its change of name by instituting the first Lawn Tennis Championship. A new code of laws, replacing the code administered by
2355-403: A notable athlete. Some independently famous women described in this manner include La La Anthony , Victoria Beckham , Gisele Bündchen , Cheryl Cole , Ciara , Ayesha Curry , Hilary Duff , Kendall Jenner , Khloé Kardashian , Irina Shayk , Taylor Swift , Carrie Underwood , and Gabrielle Union . The singer Jamelia (whose footballer boyfriend, Darren Byfield , played for Jamaica ) drew
2512-528: A period of three months. The separation of one of the contenders, Michaela Henderson-Thynne, from her erstwhile partner, Middlesbrough midfielder Stewart Downing , raised some issues of principle and terminology. Giles Smith in the Times enquired whether "one can still be registered as a WAG after one has separated from one's footballer?" Smith noted also that a former beauty queen and controversial Celebrity Big Brother contestant, Danielle Lloyd , whose relationship with West Ham United 's Teddy Sheringham
2669-564: A player's previous grass court performance. Since 2002 a seeding committee has not been required for the Gentlemen's Singles following an agreement with the ATP, and since the 2021 tournament , the seeding has followed the same process as the ATP rankings. From 2002 to 2019, the top 32 players (according to the ATP rankings) were seeded according to a formula that more heavily weighted previous grass-court tournaments: ATP Entry System Position points + 100% points earned for all grass court tournaments in
2826-481: A spouse leading a "high" life of socialising and shopping. Alf Ramsey, who thought the role of a footballer's wife essentially that of a housewife, had once observed that he "didn't know much about women and the only women I know are footballers' wives". However, as his biographer noted, this remark was made "at a time when the phrase 'footballers' wives' had yet to become the embodiment of predatory lust." Broadly speaking "Footballer's wife" and "WAG" were synonymous, but
2983-440: A televised competition. The 1976–1980 BBC series The Big Time featured a different amateur in some field (cooking, comedy, football, etc.) trying to succeed professionally in that field, with help from notable experts. The 15-episode series is credited with starting the career of Sheena Easton , who was selected to appear in the episode showing an aspiring pop singer trying to enter the music business. In 1978, Living in
3140-466: A third award for " reality-competition " programs. In many reality television programs, camera shooting and footage editing give the viewer the impression that they are passive observers following people going about their daily personal and professional activities; this style of filming is sometimes referred to as fly on the wall , observational documentary or factual television . Story "plots" are often constructed via editing or planned situations, with
3297-687: A top athlete and celebrity, the brutal nature of the murders, and issues of race and class in Los Angeles celebrity culture, the sensational case dominated ratings and the public conversation. Many reality television stars of the 2000s and 2010s have direct or indirect connections to people involved in the case, most notably Kim Kardashian , daughter of defense attorney Robert Kardashian , and several of her relatives and associates. The series Expedition Robinson , created by television producer Charlie Parsons, which first aired in 1997 in Sweden (and
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#17327763848373454-690: Is Birmingham , also in Great Britain. The men's event which is outside Europe before Wimbledon is the Antalya open in Turkey. The only grass-court tournament scheduled after the Championships is the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships at Newport, Rhode Island , USA, which takes place the week after Wimbledon. Since 2015, the championships have begun one week later than in previous years, extending
3611-794: Is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London . It is chronologically the third of the four Grand Slam tennis events every year, held after the Australian Open and the French Open and before the US Open . It is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as
3768-403: Is in place to protect local residents from late-night disturbances. When the roof was built on Centre Court—something that allowed matches to continue at night under the lights—the local Merton Council put the time limit into place when granting planning permission for the roof. A statement from Wimbledon in 2018 read: “The 11pm curfew is a Planning Condition applied to balance the consideration of
3925-467: Is injured in what appears to be a career-ending crash, Carley divorces him and subsequently marries Ricky's teammate Cal Naughton Jr. ( John C. Reilly ); Carley explains her decision by remarking, "I am a driver's wife! I don't work!" Many partners of Rugby league players have been associated with the WAGs term by the media. Examples include Terry Biviano, Candice Falzon and Lauryn Eagle . Many partners of Rugby Union players have been associated with
4082-542: Is meant to resemble scripted soap operas – in this case, the television series Desperate Housewives and Peyton Place . A notable subset of such series focus on a group of women who are romantically connected to male celebrities; these include Basketball Wives (2010), Love & Hip Hop (2011), Hollywood Exes (2012), Ex-Wives of Rock (2012) and WAGS (2015). Most of these shows have had spin-offs in multiple locations. There are also fly-on-the-wall-style shows directly involving celebrities. Often these show
4239-490: Is minimal and low-key from official suppliers such as Slazenger and Rolex . The relationship with Slazenger is the world's longest-running sporting sponsorship, providing balls for the tournament since 1902. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , Wimbledon 2020 was cancelled, the first cancellation of the tournament since World War II. The rescheduled 134th edition was staged from 28 June 2021 to 11 July 2021. The 135th edition
4396-653: Is shows about people with disabilities or people who have unusual physical circumstances, such as the American series Push Girls and Little People, Big World , and the British programmes Beyond Boundaries , Britain's Missing Top Model , The Undateables and Seven Dwarves . Another example is shows that portray the lives of ethnic or religious minorities. Examples include All-American Muslim ( Lebanese-American Muslims ), Shahs of Sunset (affluent Persian-Americans ), Sister Wives (polygamists from
4553-673: Is sometimes interpreted as demeaning to women, and it has been criticised by the partners of many athletes as well as by groups such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission . It is a popular belief that the first recorded use of the term WAG was in 2002: "It was never guaranteed that the wives and girlfriends (or "the Wags", as staff at the Jumeirah Beach Club call them for short) would get along. Mrs Beckham's tongue, for one thing, has previously run away with itself." In 2006 it
4710-525: Is still ongoing. The program was structured as a series of interviews with no element of the plot. By virtue of the attention paid to the participants, it effectively turned ordinary people into a type of celebrity, especially after they became adults. The series The American Sportsman , which ran from 1965 to 1986 on ABC in the United States, would typically feature one or more celebrities, and sometimes their family members, being accompanied by
4867-461: Is widely considered the world's premier tennis tournament and the priority of the club is to maintain its leadership. To that end a long-term plan was unveiled in 1993, intended to improve the quality of the event for spectators, players, officials and neighbours. Stage one (1994–1997) of the plan was completed for the 1997 championships and involved building the new No. 1 Court in Aorangi Park,
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5024-453: The 2006 World Cup the press gave increasing coverage to the socialising and shopping activities of the wives and girlfriends of English footballers based in the German town of Baden-Baden . Their activities led to frequent suggestions that they contributed to England's exit from the tournament in the quarterfinals. "It was a circus", Rio Ferdinand claimed, alleging that distraction caused by
5181-538: The Marylebone Cricket Club , was drawn up for the event. Today's rules are similar except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net. The inaugural 1877 Wimbledon Championship started on 9 July 1877 and the Gentlemen's Singles was the only event held. 22 men paid a guinea to enter the tournament, which was to be held over five days. The rain delayed it four more days and thus, on 19 July 1877,
5338-617: The Summer Olympic Games and became the first Olympic grass court tournament since tennis was reintroduced as an Olympic sport and the first to be held at a Grand Slam venue in the Open era. In April 2013, Wimbledon unveiled its 'Master Plan' a vision in which to improve the championships over the next 10–15 years. This was in large part due to other Grand Slam tournaments such as the French Open and Australian Open also announcing expansion and re-development plans. Aspects of
5495-618: The United Kingdom in 1964, the Granada Television documentary Seven Up! broadcast interviews with a dozen ordinary 7-year-olds from a broad cross-section of society and inquired about their reactions to everyday life. Every seven years, the filmmaker created a new film documenting the lives of the same individuals during the intervening period. Titled the Up Series , episodes included "7 Plus Seven", "21 Up", etc.; it
5652-424: The "WAG" look. Mrs. Rooney noted that "apparently more and more women are getting into debt because they try to shop and party like a footballer's wife. If I heard of anyone doing that, I'd tell them to get a grip". Sunday Times columnist India Knight observed, while waiting in an airport queue, that "it's as if a low-level wannabe footballer's wife vibe that is neither aesthetically pleasing nor edifying has become
5809-503: The "Wimbledon Championships" or simply "Wimbledon". From 1912 to 1924, the tournament was recognized by the International Lawn Tennis Federation as the "World Grass Court Championships". In the period of 1915–1918, no tournament was organised due to World War I. During World War II, the tournament was not held in the period 1940–1945. On 11 October 1940 one bomb hit a corner of the competitors’ stand of
5966-633: The "casual repetition of this chauvinist term has normalised it". Dana Johannsen described the term as "the most odious acronym in sport", while Melanie Dinjaski argued that it demeans women and "implies a link between women and dogs, happily wagging their tails at their owner's (player's) side". In examining the use of the term WAG, Shawna Marks concluded that its use in the Australian media "highlight[s] sexist norms that persist within Australian football culture", and that this extended to other groups, such as women fans and players. Some of those described by
6123-650: The 1950s, game shows Beat the Clock and Truth or Consequences involved contestants in wacky competitions, stunts, and practical jokes. Confession was a crime and police show that aired from June 1958 to January 1959, with interviewer Jack Wyatt questioning criminals from assorted backgrounds. The radio series Nightwatch (1951–1955) tape-recorded the daily activities of Culver City, California police officers. The series You Asked for It (1950–1959) incorporated audience involvement by basing episodes around requests sent in by postcard from viewers. First broadcast in
6280-403: The 2018 tournament, a tiebreak game is played if the score reaches 6–all in any set except the fifth (in a five-set match) or the third (in a three-set match), in which case a two-game lead must be reached. Since 2019, a final set tiebreak game is played if the score in the final set reaches 12–all. In 2022 it was decided all matches would have a final set tiebreak once the match reached 6–6, with
6437-662: The 2018–19 and 2019–20 television seasons. The success of the two franchises has led to other globally-syndicated franchises of reality competitions based around guesswork, such as Game of Talents (which began in Spain in 2019) and The Masked Dancer (which began in the United States in 2020). Specialist skill-based TV competitions became popular during this decade with such programs like The Great British Bake-Off , Lego Masters , The Great British Sewing Bee and Forged in Fire shown. Television development across all genres
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6594-471: The 2019 Championships, quad wheelchair competitions would become a permanent event. As a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic , the All England Club announced on 1 April 2020 that the entire grass-court season was to be cancelled as a public safety precaution until June 2021, marking the first time a Wimbledon tournament would not be played since World War II. Club officials considered playing
6751-449: The 2020 cancellation on expected losses of around £250 million ($ 312 million). In April 2022, due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , the All England Club announced that Russian and Belarusian players would be prohibited from competing in the tournament. Unlike the ATP and WTA, participation as neutral athletes is also prohibited. On 20 May 2022, the ATP, ITF, and WTA announced that they will not award ranking points for
6908-467: The 2025 Wimbledon Championships, all in-person line judges will be replaced by electronic line calling system for the first time in the tournament's 147-year history and the 2025 Wimbledon Championships will run from 30 June to 13 July. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a private club founded on 23 July 1868, originally as "The All England Croquet Club". Its first ground was at Nursery Road off Worple Road, Wimbledon. In 1876, lawn tennis ,
7065-469: The 21st century, the series is often considered a prototype of reality television programming. In the early 1940s the young German television station, named after Paul Nipkow had staged a show in which a young couple acted as model Aryans and presented their everyday lives without a script to the camera ( Familienchroniken - Ein Abend mit Hans und Gelli ). Even though it was clearly Nazi propaganda and
7222-534: The Bounty Hunter , Police Stop! , Traffic Cops , Border Security and Motorway Patrol . Shows set at a specific place of business include American Chopper , Miami Ink and its spinoffs, Bikini Barbershop and Lizard Lick Towing . Shows that show people working in the same non-business location include Airport and Bondi Rescue . The Championships, Wimbledon The Wimbledon Championships , commonly called Wimbledon ,
7379-569: The British press during the tournament of 2006 was Kim Sears, the girlfriend of Scottish player Andy Murray . Sears is the daughter of Nigel Sears, former coach of the Slovak player Daniela Hantuchová . The term "wives and girlfriends" (in unabbreviated term) was commonly used during the Ryder Cup golfing competitions at The Belfry in 2002 and Oakland Hills near Detroit in 2004 , the press having given these partners about as much coverage as
7536-476: The Centre Court. The championships did go ahead in 1946 even though the damage meant that 1,200 seats were lost. The organisers were unable to repair the damaged section until 1947 and the Centre Court was fully restored and renovated for the 1949 edition. In 1946 and 1947 Wimbledon was held before the French Championships . It was thus the second Grand Slam tennis event of the year. Wimbledon
7693-635: The Dutch production company Endemol . Although Dragons' Den originated in Japan , most of its adaptations are based on the British version.) In India, the competition show Indian Idol was the most popular television program for its first six seasons. During the 2000s, several cable networks, including Bravo , A&E , E! , TLC , History , VH1 , and MTV , changed their programming to feature mostly reality television series. In addition, three cable channels were started around that time that were devoted exclusively to reality television: Fox Reality in
7850-458: The England team were knocked out of that tournament at an even earlier stage. During the peak era of the tabloid coverage of the wives and girlfriends of sports figures, the lifestyle of Victoria Beckham influenced the ITV drama series Footballers' Wives (2002) and in particular the character of Chardonnay Lane-Pascoe (played by Susie Amy ). The term "footballer's wife" came to be associated with
8007-532: The English wives and girlfriends ( "les épouses et petites amies des joueurs" ) as "les Wags" : "Et lorsque les Wags ont fini leur shopping ..." [And when the Wags had finished their shopping]. Similarly, in German, "die WAGs" was adopted. Austria's Seitenblicke , for example, carried a story "Ich bin keine WAG!" in German about Cheryl Cole's apparent disclaiming of the appellation of "WAG": "Ich war bei 'Girls Aloud' bevor ich Ashley [Cole] kennenlernte ..." [I
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#17327763848378164-599: The FA booked them a single function room in the Royal Garden Hotel at Kensington. Interest in such partnerships scaled new heights in the late 1990s and early 21st century with the marriage (in 1999) of David Beckham to singer Victoria Adams ("Posh Spice") of the Spice Girls . The couple were widely known as "Posh and Becks" and many aspects of their relationship and nuance of dress were subjected to scrutiny in
8321-559: The Gentlemen's Singles Championship was Goran Ivanišević in 2001. Players and pairs who neither have high enough rankings nor receive wild cards may participate in a qualifying tournament held one week before Wimbledon at the Bank of England Sports Ground in Roehampton . The singles qualifying competitions are three-round events. From 2019 singles qualification will increase to 128 players and no doubles qualification will occur. Previously
8478-414: The Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles) were automatically granted byes into the final round (then known as the challenge round). This led to many winners retaining their titles in successive years, as they were able to rest while their opponent competed from the start of the competition. Since 1922, the prior year's champions were required to play all the rounds, like other tournament competitors. Each year
8635-475: The Past had amateurs participating in a re-enactment of life in an Iron Age English village. Producer George Schlatter capitalized on the advent of videotape to create Real People , a surprise hit for NBC, and it ran from 1979 to 1984. The success of Real People was quickly copied by ABC with That's Incredible , a stunt show produced by Alan Landsburg and co-hosted by Fran Tarkenton ; CBS's entry into
8792-536: The Saturday. The five main events span both weeks, but the junior and invitational events are held mainly during the second week. Traditionally, unlike the other three tennis Grand Slams, there was no play on the "Middle Sunday", which was considered a rest day. However, rain had forced play on the Middle Sunday four times, in 1991, 1997, 2004 and 2016. On the first of these four occasions, Wimbledon staged
8949-655: The South African captain, Graeme Smith . England cricketer Danni Wyatt has long been nicknamed "Waggy". As she explained in 2015, "The girls say I'm a wannabe WAG because I've dated two footballers!" In July 2006 The Sun carried an article on the "RAGs" ("Royals and Girlfriends"), a term introduced for young female members of the British Royal Family, as well as Kate Middleton , then girlfriend and now wife of Prince William , and Chelsy Davy , then girlfriend of Prince Harry . Subsequently, under
9106-476: The Stars , and the investment franchise Dragons' Den . Several " reality game shows " from the same period have had even greater success, including Deal or No Deal , Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? , and Weakest Link , with over 50 international adaptions each. (All but four of these franchises, Top Model , Project Runway , The Biggest Loser and Dragons' Den , were created by either British producers or
9263-533: The U.S. and is syndicated in over 100 countries worldwide. In 2001, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences added the reality genre to the Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding Reality Program . In 2003, to better differentiate between competition and informational reality programs, a second category, Outstanding Reality-Competition Program , was added. In 2008, a third category, Outstanding Host for
9420-473: The U.S. networks used reality series and other unscripted content (including those delayed from their summer lineups) to fill gaps in their schedules while the production of scripted programming resumed. There have been various attempts to classify reality television shows into different subgenres: Another categorization divides reality television into two types: shows that purport to document real life, and shows that place participants in new circumstances. In
9577-491: The U.S. states of Alaska , Louisiana and Texas , shows about cakes, weddings and pawnbrokers , and shows, usually competition-based, whose title includes the word "Wars". Duck Dynasty (2012–2017), which focused on the Robertson family that founded Duck Commander , in 2013 became the most popular reality series in U.S. cable television history. Its fourth-season premiere was viewed by nearly 12 million viewers in
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#17327763848379734-459: The U.S., which they attributed to "The diminishing returns of cable TV's sea of reality sameness". They noted that a number of networks that featured reality programming, including Bravo and E!, were launching their first scripted shows, and others, including AMC , were abandoning plans to launch further reality programs; though they clarified that the genre as a whole "isn't going anywhere." Ratings and profits from reality TV continued to decline in
9891-545: The United States, most of which were in rural markets. Its rural audience share ranked in the 30s, an extremely high number for any series, broadcast or cable. Following from the 1900 House format, the BBC produced a series called Back in Time for Tea in which a family would experience tea time for various decades. In 2014, Entertainment Weekly and Variety again noted a stagnation in reality television programs' ratings in
10048-420: The United States, reality television programs suffered a temporary decline in viewership in 2001, leading some entertainment industry columnists to speculate that the genre was a temporary fad that had run its course. Reality shows that suffered from low ratings included The Amazing Race (although the show has since recovered and is in its 32nd edition), Lost (unrelated to the better-known serial drama of
10205-791: The United States, which operated from 2005 to 2010; Global Reality Channel in Canada , which lasted two years from 2010 to 2012; and CBS Reality (formerly known as Reality TV and then Zone Reality) in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which has run from 1999 to the present. During the early part of the 2000s, network executives expressed concern that reality-television programming was limited in its appeal for DVD reissue and syndication . But DVDs for reality shows sold briskly; Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County , The Amazing Race , Project Runway , and America's Next Top Model all ranked in
10362-456: The WAGs term by the media. New Zealand field hockey player Honor Dillon has been called a WAG since her marriage to out-half Dan Carter . Irish model Holly Carpenter also has the WAG title from the press due to being the girlfriend of Cian Healy . The traditional Scottish sport of shinty has developed the terminology "SWAGs" to refer to the wives and partners of shinty players. The terms
10519-471: The appearance and structure of soap operas. Such shows often focus on a close-knit group of people and their shifting friendships and romantic relationships. One highly influential such series was the American 2004–2006 series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County , which attempted to specifically mimic the primetime soap opera The O.C. , which had begun airing in 2003. Laguna Beach had a more drama-like feel than any previous reality television show, through
10676-579: The city in northeast England, as their wives or girlfriends insisted they only move to teams based in London. He remarked "If someone doesn't want to come to Sunderland then all well and good," Keane said. "But if they don't want to come to Sunderland because their wife wants to go shopping in London, then it is a sad state of affairs. Unfortunately that is what is influencing a lot of footballers' decisions. Priorities have changed for footballers and they are being dictated to by their wives and girlfriends." During
10833-449: The concept of putting strangers together in a limited environment for an extended period of time and recording the drama that ensued. Nummer 28 also pioneered many of the stylistic conventions that have since become standard in reality television shows, including extensive use of soundtrack music and the interspersing of events on screen with after-the-fact "confessionals" recorded by cast members, which serve as narration. Nummer 28 became
10990-446: The concept, instead involving the significant others of professional basketball players. Reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s with shows such as The Real World , then achieved prominence in
11147-413: The doubles titles on numerous occasions; the 2005 Gentlemen's Doubles champions were not only unseeded, but also (for the first time ever) qualifiers. Since 2001, the courts used for Wimbledon have been sown with 100% perennial ryegrass . Prior to 2001 a combination of 70% ryegrass and 30% Creeping Red Fescue was used. The change was made to improve durability and strengthen the sward to better withstand
11304-503: The draw. This system was replaced for the 1927 Wimbledon Championships and from then on players were seeded on merit. The first players to be seeded as no. 1 were René Lacoste and Helen Wills . The Committee of Management decide which players receive wildcards. Usually, wild cards are players who have performed well during previous tournaments or would stimulate public interest in Wimbledon by participating. The only wild card to win
11461-431: The early 2000s with the success of the series Survivor , Idol , and Big Brother , all of which became global franchises. Reality television shows tend to be interspersed with "confessionals", short interview segments in which cast members reflect on or provide context for the events being depicted on-screen; this is most commonly seen in American reality television. Competition-based reality shows typically feature
11618-509: The elements of " beach chic " that the use of denture cleaner to whiten the tips of nails would not make them "look like a WAG", while her colleague Sarah Vine offered advice on "buying some nice perfume that won't make you smell like a WAG on heat". When it was reported, in 2007, that Coleen Rooney would be launching a range of beauty products, London Lite coined the term, "eau de wag" and asked, "who, tell us, who really wants to smell like Coleen McLoughlin?" However, some women did aspire to
11775-809: The episodes were certainly affected by censorship , in recent years the show has been presented more frequently as the oldest reality TV show in the world. Precedents for television that portrayed people in unscripted situations began in the late 1940s. Queen for a Day (1945–1964) was an early example of reality-based television. The 1946 television game show Cash and Carry sometimes featured contestants performing stunts. Debuting in 1948, Allen Funt 's hidden camera show Candid Camera (based on his previous 1947 radio show, The Candid Microphone ) broadcast unsuspecting ordinary people reacting to pranks. In 1948, talent search shows, such as Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts , featured amateur competitors and audience voting. In
11932-576: The favorite or underdog to win. Other criticisms of reality television shows include that they are intended to humiliate or exploit participants; that they make stars out of untalented people unworthy of fame, infamous figures, or both; and that they glamorize vulgarity. Television formats portraying ordinary people in unscripted situations are almost as old as the television medium itself. Producer-host Allen Funt 's Candid Camera , in which unsuspecting people were confronted with funny, unusual situations and filmed with hidden cameras, first aired in 1948. In
12089-493: The film was "to blame for reality television". In 1969, the British rock group the Beatles were filmed for a month during the recording sessions which would become their album Let It Be and released the homonymous film the following year. In 2021, director Peter Jackson created an eight-hour, three-episode television series entitled The Beatles: Get Back . The 12-part 1973 PBS series An American Family showed
12246-410: The final was played. Spencer Gore , an Old Harrovian rackets player, defeated William Marshall 6–1, 6–2 and 6–4 in 48 minutes. Gore was presented with the silver challenge cup, valued at 25 guineas and donated by the sports magazine The Field , as well as a prize money of 12 guineas. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final. The lawns at the ground were arranged so that
12403-415: The former marriage of Dario Franchitti and Ashley Judd . One example of a well known wife of a sportsman is Michaela Fogarty, the wife of former Superbike World Championship star Carl . At the height of her husband's fame, she has been photographed in pit and paddock areas and has also appeared in print advertisements for Ducati motorcycles, which her husband has ridden for. Despite never appearing in
12560-578: The game, lost the hunger that got you the Rolex, the cars, the mansion." Earlier in the season, Keane had publicly advocated the break-up of the Treble-winning team as he believed the teammates who had played in United's victorious 1999 Champions League final no longer had the motivation to work as hard. When Keane became manager of Sunderland A.F.C , he complained about the difficulty signing players to
12717-541: The gap between the tournament and the French Open from two to three weeks. Additionally the Stuttgart Open men's tournament converted to a grass surface and was rescheduled from July to June, extending the grass court season. Wimbledon is scheduled for 14 days, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday. Before 1982 it ended a day earlier, with the women's singles final on the Friday and the men's singles final on
12874-490: The genre was That's My Line , a series hosted by Bob Barker . The Canadian series Thrill of a Lifetime , a fantasies-fulfilled reality show, originally ran from 1982 to 1988. It was revived from 2001 to 2003. In 1985, underwater cinematographer Al Giddings teamed with former Miss Universe Shawn Weatherly on the NBC series Oceanquest , which chronicled Weatherly's adventures scuba diving in various exotic locales. Weatherly
13031-539: The golfers themselves. London Lite and Metro used the y patronising acronym "WABs" ("wives and birdies", the latter a pun on the term for a one under par score for a hole) with reference to the partners of the European team as they arrived in Ireland for the 2006 Ryder Cup at The K Club , Straffan, County Kildare. "CWAGs" (Cricket Wives and Girlfriends) was applied to partners of the England cricket team in
13188-1039: The gradual elimination of participants, either by a panel of judges, by the viewership of the show, or by the contestants themselves. Documentaries , television news , sports television , talk shows , and traditional game shows are generally not classified as reality television. Some genres of television programming that predate the reality television boom have been retroactively classified as reality television, including hidden camera shows, talent-search shows, documentary series about ordinary people, high-concept game shows, home improvement shows, and court shows featuring real-life cases and issues. Reality television has faced significant criticism since its rise in popularity. Critics argue that reality television shows do not accurately reflect reality, in ways both implicit (participants being placed in artificial situations), and deceptive (misleading editing, participants being coached on behavior, storylines generated ahead of time, scenes being staged). Some shows have been accused of rigging
13345-632: The heading "Windsor Mads outdo the Wags", Jasper Gerard reported in the Sunday Times on festivities involving "the Windsor Mads (mothers and daughters), as Fergie [Sarah, Duchess of York] and Eugenie celebrated Beatrice's forthcoming 18th birthday". Though the term has not typically been associated with motor racing, many high-profile sportsmen in motor racing have publicly enjoyed high-profile relationships with celebrities, for instance Jacques Villeneuve 's relationship with Dannii Minogue and
13502-558: The highly successful Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty are set in poorer rural areas of the Southern United States . Some documentary-style shows portray professionals either going about day-to-day business or performing an entire project over the course of a series. One early example (and the longest running reality show of any genre) is Cops , which debuted in 1989. Other such shows specifically relating to law enforcement include The First 48 , Dog
13659-617: The implications of "over-exposure" of certain styles: for example, that the Hermès " Birkin " bag had become less desirable as a result of being de rigueur among the women in Baden-Baden (a development dubbed by Shane Watson as "baglash"); or that reaction to the excessively coiffed hair and "vacant perfection" had perhaps been the "tipping point" for a revival of fashions of the 1980s, commended by Armstrong as "the last era of anti-slick". Armstrong also assured readers who wished to perfect
13816-412: The increasing wear of the modern game. The main show courts, Centre Court and No. 1 Court , are normally used for only two weeks a year, during the Championships, but play can extend into a third week in exceptional circumstances. The remaining 17 courts are regularly used for other events hosted by the club. The show courts were in action for the second time in three months in 2012 as Wimbledon hosted
13973-412: The land of the adjacent Wimbledon Park Golf club for £65 million, so that the tournament qualifying matches can be played on site. On 19 October 2018, it was announced that a tie-break will be played if the score reaches 12–12 in the final set of any match; this will apply to all competitions including in qualifying, singles, and doubles. In a related statement, it was announced that starting at
14130-525: The last Monday in June or the first Monday in July and culminating with the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Singles Finals, scheduled for the Saturday and Sunday at the end of the second week. Five major events are held each year, with additional junior and invitational competitions also taking place. In 2009, Wimbledon's Centre Court was fitted with a retractable roof to lessen the loss of playing time due to rain. A roof
14287-430: The late 2010s. The South Korean competition show I Can See Your Voice , which premiered in 2015, showed guest judges attempting to guess which of a group of contestants could sing, and which could not, without hearing them sing. The show was successful, and spawned several imitators, most notably King of Mask Singer several months later. King of Mask Singer was a more traditional singing competition show, but with
14444-534: The latter was more generic, while the former connoted someone who seemed particularly pampered, perhaps with some of the characteristics also of an " Essex girl ". During the 2005–6 season the actress Joanna Taylor , wife of Fulham midfielder Danny Murphy , wrote a regular column for the Times whose title, "Footballer's Wife", was no doubt partially ironic. Tabloid fashion writers of 2006 identified certain consequences of what Lisa Armstrong described as "WAG fall-out" and Tina Gaudoin as "Waglash". These were mostly
14601-406: The local residents with the scale of an international tennis event that takes place in a residential area. The challenge of transport connectivity and getting visitors home safely is also a key consideration.” Both the men's and ladies' singles consist of 128 players. Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main events on the basis of their international rankings, with 104 direct entries into
14758-470: The long-running reality television show franchises in the United States, such as American Idol , Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor , had begun to see declining ratings. However, reality television as a whole remained durable in the U.S., with hundreds of shows across many channels. In 2012, New York Magazine's Vulture blog published a humorous Venn diagram showing popular themes across American reality shows then running, including shows set in
14915-475: The master plan included new player and media facilities, expansion of the No.1 court including a new retractable roof, new catering and hospitality areas, additional floor to the museum building, construction of an underground car park and new indoor courts and also a total reconfiguration of the site including the relocation of a number of practice, clay and championship courts. Part of the plan also includes acquiring
15072-440: The media as WAGs have argued against the use of the term. Rebekah Vardy reportedly stated that "Wag is a dated term because we're not defined by what our husbands do. We're individuals", Others, such as Girls Aloud member Cheryl Cole , have similarly rejected the eponym and to emphasise their credentials as career women in their own right. There are many celebrities who have been described as WAGs after either marrying or dating
15229-476: The men's and 108 into the ladies' competitions. Both tournaments have 8 wild card entrants, with the remainder in each made up of qualifiers. Since the 2001 tournament, 32 players have been given seedings in the Gentlemen's and Ladies' singles, 16 teams in the doubles events. The system of seeding was introduced during the 1924 Wimbledon Championships . This was a simplified version allowing countries to nominate four players who were placed in different quarters of
15386-480: The mid-20th century, had been due to their shading their eyes, "Wags ... far from using dark glasses to encourage others to leave them alone, treat them as a weapon to attract and excite the paparazzi ". In the Estelle song " American Boy ", Kanye West raps the lyrics; "But I still talk that ca-a-sh, Cuz a lotta WAGs wanna hear it". Two novels have been published using the terminology. The first, A Wag's Diary ,
15543-507: The model for many later series of Big Brother and its clones, and Peter Weir's full-length film The Truman Show . One year later, the same concept was used by MTV in its new series The Real World . Nummer 28 creator Erik Latour has long claimed that The Real World was directly inspired by his show. But the producers of The Real World have said that their direct inspiration was An American Family . According to television commentator Charlie Brooker , this type of reality television
15700-477: The most prestigious. Wimbledon has been held since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts with retractable roofs over the two main courts since 2019. It is the only major still played on grass, the traditional tennis playing surface. It is also the only major that retains a night-time curfew, though matches can now continue until 23:00 under the lights. The tournament traditionally takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, starting either on
15857-402: The necessary viewers to make it worthwhile. (Even in these cases, it is not always successful: the first ten seasons of Dancing with the Stars were picked up by GSN in 2012 and was run in marathon format, but attracted low viewership and had very poor ratings). Another option is to create documentaries around series, including extended interviews with the participants and outtakes not seen in
16014-715: The new No. 1 Court in 1997 emphasised the description. By 1882, activity at the club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis and that year the word "croquet" was dropped from the title. However, for sentimental reasons it was restored in 1899. In 1884, the club added the Ladies' Singles competition and the Gentlemen's Doubles was transferred from the Oxford University Lawn Tennis Club. Ladies' doubles and mixed doubles events were added in 1913. The first black player to compete at Wimbledon
16171-501: The norm ... I saw this phenomenon en masse ". Among other features, Knight identified "enough pink glitter to satisfy the girliest of five-year-olds", massive handbags and huge designer sunglasses. Reflecting on sunglasses as an accessory, Sunday Times Style' s senior fashion writer Colin McDowell suggested that, whereas women had been sure that the poise of Jacqueline Kennedy (1929–94) and Audrey Hepburn (1929–93), style icons of
16328-521: The number of players (or teams, in the case of doubles) are: The four junior events and the number of players or teams are: No mixed doubles event is held at this level The seven invitational events and the number of pairs are: Matches in the Gentlemen's Singles are best-of-five sets. In 2023 it was decided that Gentlemen's Doubles match formats will be changed from best-of-five sets to best-of-three sets due to complaints from partaking players; all other events are best-of-three sets. Up to and including
16485-406: The original airings; the syndicated series American Idol Rewind is an example of this strategy. COPS has had huge success in syndication, direct response sales, and DVD. A Fox staple since 1989, COPS has, as of 2013 (when it moved to cable channel Spike ), outlasted all competing scripted police shows. Another series that had wide success is Cheaters , which has been running since 2000 in
16642-408: The overall viewership tallies for eight consecutive years, from the 2003–2004 to the 2010–2011 television seasons. Another trend was to combine reality TV with a social history angle usually by having contestants taken back to various time periods primarily to see how millennials would cope without modern technology. Examples included The 1900 House , and Bad Lad's Army . In addition to those
16799-422: The past 12 months + 75% points earned for the best grass court tournament in the 12 months before that. A majority of the entrants are unseeded. Only two unseeded players have won the Gentlemen's Singles: Boris Becker in 1985 and Goran Ivanišević in 2001. In 1985 there were only 16 seeds and Becker was ranked 20th; Ivanišević was ranked 125th when he won as a Wild Card entrant, although he had previously been
16956-464: The perceptive opinion of former England full-back Jimmy Armfield that there was "a real international flavour to this World Cup", the Sunday Times published during the 2006 tournament a photograph of the wives of French players Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet with the caption "French Wags Nicole Henry and Beatrice Trezeguet share a smacker [ i.e. kiss]". For its part, the French press referred to
17113-640: The press and other media, particularly tabloid-type media. Victoria Beckham was quoted as saying that she and her husband had "so many wider interests ... fashion, make-up. I mean you think, yeah, football's great, and singing's great. But you've got to look at the bigger picture". Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane had lashed out at footballers' wives and girlfriends, as well as their lavish lifestyle, during their trophyless season in 2001–2002. Keane blamed United's loss of form on some of his teammates' fixation with wealth, claiming that they had "forgot about
17270-535: The principal court was in the middle with the others arranged around it, hence the title " Centre Court ". The name was retained when the Club moved in 1922 to the present site in Church Road, although no longer a true description of its location. However, in 1980 four new courts were brought into commission on the north side of the ground, which meant the Centre Court was once more correctly described. The opening of
17427-413: The recommendations of their national tennis associations, on their International Tennis Federation world rankings and, in the case of the singles events, on the basis of a qualifying competition. The Committee of Management determines which players may enter the four invitational events. The Committee seeds the top players and pairs on the basis of their rankings, but it could change the seedings based on
17584-416: The results resembling soap operas – hence the terms docusoap and docudrama . Documentary-style programs give viewers a private look into the lives of the subjects. Within documentary-style reality television are several subcategories or variants: Although the term "docusoap" has been used for many documentary-style reality television shows, there have been shows that have deliberately tried to mimic
17741-499: The revamped MasterChef , among others. The 1980s and 1990s were also a time when tabloid talk shows became more popular. Many of these featured the same types of unusual or dysfunctional guests who would later become popular as cast members of reality shows. Reality television became globally popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with the successes of the Big Brother and Survivor / Expedition Robinson franchises. In
17898-423: The roof was the completion of the fourth round women's singles match between Dinara Safina and Amélie Mauresmo . The first match to be played in its entirety under the new roof took place between Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka on 29 June 2009. Murray was also involved in the match completed latest in the day at Wimbledon, which ended at 11:02 pm in a victory over Marcos Baghdatis at Centre Court in
18055-480: The same name ) and The Mole (which was successful in other countries). But stronghold shows Survivor and American Idol continued to thrive: both topped the U.S. season-average television ratings in the 2000s. Survivor led the ratings in 2001–02 , and Idol has the longest hold on the No. 1 rank in the American television ratings , dominating over all other primetime programs and other television series in
18212-416: The same-sex doubles competitions lasted for only two rounds. There is no qualifying tournament for Mixed Doubles. The furthest that any qualifier has progressed in a Singles tournament is the semi-final round: John McEnroe in 1977 (Gentlemen's Singles), Vladimir Voltchkov in 2000 (Gentlemen's Singles), and Alexandra Stevenson in 1999 (Ladies' Singles). Players are admitted to the junior tournaments upon
18369-426: The second Monday at Wimbledon was often called "Manic Monday", because it was the busiest day with the last-16 matches for both men's and women's singles. Fans had a pick of watching on a single day any of the best 32 players left, which was also unique in a Grand Slam singles competition. Since 2009 all matches have to finish before 11:00pm. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam that retains a night-time curfew. The curfew
18526-639: The series of Test matches against Australia that began in Brisbane in November 2006: for example, "Jessica the Cwag knocks Ashes Test crowd for six" (the subject of this headline being singer Jessica Taylor , of the group Liberty X , fiancée of batsman Kevin Pietersen ). "WAG" had previously been applied in the context of cricket: for example to model Minki van der Westhuizen , who had been associated with
18683-432: The set of people fitting both the denotation and the connotation of "WAG", and increasingly in non-footballing contexts: for example, the first wife of comedian Peter Cook (1937–95) was described as a "Sixties Wag" and actress Jennifer Ellison , because of her former choice of clothes, "once ... the epitome of a Wag". Fashion writer Shane Watson coined a collective noun , "waggery". One can also be "Wagged". The term WAGS
18840-514: The sheer number of people who still would have needed to be on site led the board to realise "that wasn't going to be a workable option". Prior to the start of the 2003 tournament, the club began paying an annual insurance premium of £1.61m ($ 2 million) to cover losses from cancellation of Wimbledon in the event of a worldwide pandemic as a result of the SARS outbreak ; it would receive an insurance payment of £114 million ($ 141 million) for
18997-522: The singer Joy Beverley . By the late 1960s, then-captain Bobby Moore (1941–93) and his first wife Tina had become regarded as a stylish and "golden" couple. During the 1970 World Cup in Mexico the England manager Sir Alf Ramsey (1920–99) expressed concern at the effects on the team's cohesion of the presence of the wives of four players, a view that seems to have been shared by some other members of
19154-503: The singles event at Wimbledon between Fred Perry in 1936 and Andy Murray in 2013, while no British woman has won since Virginia Wade in 1977, although Annabel Croft and Laura Robson won the Girls' Championship in 1984 and 2008 respectively. The Championship was first televised in 1937. Though formally called "The Championships, Wimbledon", depending on sources the event is also known as "The All England Lawn Tennis Championships",
19311-422: The site of the old No. 2 and No. 3 Courts. On 1 August 2011, the All England Club transferred all of its assets relating to The Championships to a separate though wholly owned subsidiary, The All England Lawn Tennis Club (Championships) Limited, also known as AELTC. Since that time, the club's activities have been formally conducted separately from those of The Championships. In 2012, the All England Club hosted
19468-460: The spotlight, much of her popularity is within the motorcycling fraternity, as she is known for her support of her husband. The two have even appeared in a series which they embark on an adventure riding. A famous fictional example is the character of Carley Bobby ( Leslie Bibb ) in the 2006 film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby . In the film, Carley is shown to be dependent on the success of her husband Ricky ( Will Ferrell ). After Ricky
19625-402: The squad. England's quarter-final defeat by West Germany in that competition has been widely attributed to goalkeeping lapses by Peter Bonetti , whose pre-match nerves were thought by many, including Ramsey himself, to have been accentuated by rumours circulating about the alleged behaviour of his wife Frances. By contrast, during the 1966 World Cup, their wives drove themselves to Wembley and
19782-728: The tennis events of the 2012 Olympic Games . One of the show courts is also used for home ties for the Great Britain teams in the Davis Cup on occasions. Wimbledon is the only remaining Grand Slam event played on natural grass courts. At one time, all the Majors, except the French Open, were played on grass. The US Open abandoned grass in 1975 for green clay and the Australian Open did so in 1988 for hard courts ;
19939-402: The third round of the 2012 Championships. The 2012 Gentlemen's Singles Final on 8 July 2012, between Roger Federer and Murray, was the first singles final to be partially played under the roof, which was activated during the third set. A new 4,000-seat No. 2 Court was built on the site of the old No. 13 Court in time for the 2009 Championships. A new 2,000-seat No. 3 Court was built on
20096-634: The top DVDs sold on Amazon.com . In the mid-2000s, DVDs of The Simple Life outranked scripted shows such as The O.C. and Desperate Housewives . Syndication, however, has been problematic; shows such as Fear Factor , COPS , and Wife Swap , in which each episode is self-contained, can be rerun fairly easily, but usually only on cable television or during the daytime ( COPS and America's Funniest Home Videos being exceptions). Season-long competitions, such as The Amazing Race , Survivor , and America's Next Top Model generally perform more poorly and usually must be rerun in marathons to draw
20253-534: The tournament behind closed doors , but this was ruled out in part because at least 5,000 people–including ballboys, officials, coaches, maintenance, and security–would have still needed to be on site to hold a functioning tournament. Former player and current All England Club board member Tim Henman told the Tennis Channel of the US that the board had carefully considered holding a closed-door Wimbledon. However,
20410-694: The tournament begins on the last Monday in June or first Monday in July, two weeks after the Queen's Club Championships , which is one of the men's major warm-up tournaments, together with the Gerry Weber Open , which is held in Halle, Germany , during the same week. Other grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon are Eastbourne , Great Britain, and Rosmalen in the Netherlands, both combining mixed events. The other women's warm-up tournament for Wimbledon
20567-510: The tournament, as they considered the prohibition unilateral, and constituted discrimination against players based on nationality. On 31 March 2023, the ban on Russian and Belarusian players was lifted by the All England Club. On 9 October 2024, it was announced that line judges would be replaced by electronic line calling technology on all courts starting at the 2025 Championship. Wimbledon consists of five main events, four junior events and seven invitation events. The five main events, and
20724-438: The tournament. In 2023, the Ladies' Singles title was captured for the first time by an unseeded player, Marketa Vondrousova , who ranked 42 in the world. Previously, the lowest seeded female champion was Venus Williams , who won in 2007 as the 23rd seed; Williams was returning from an injury that had prevented her playing in previous tournaments, giving her a lower ranking than she would normally have had. Unseeded pairs have won
20881-401: The twist that judges could not see contestants during the initial audition round, and could judge them only by their voice. The show was an instant success, and spawned an entire franchise, The Voice , which has been highly successful, with almost 50 international adaptations. The Tester (2010–2012) was the first reality television show aired over a video game console. By 2012, many of
21038-504: The underlying stories are real. Another highly successful group of soap-opera-style shows is the Real Housewives franchise, which began with The Real Housewives of Orange County in 2006 and has since spawned nearly twenty other series, in the U.S. and internationally. The franchise has an older cast and different personal dynamics than that of Laguna Beach and its imitators, as well as lower production values, but similarly
21195-793: The use of higher-quality lighting and cameras, voice-over narration instead of on-screen "confessionals", and slower pacing. Laguna Beach led to several spinoff series, most notably the 2006–2010 series The Hills . It also inspired various other series, including the highly successful British series The Only Way Is Essex and Made in Chelsea , and the Australian series Freshwater Blue . Due to their dramatized feel, many of these shows have been accused of being pre-scripted, more so than other reality television shows have. The producers of The Only Way Is Essex and Made in Chelsea have admitted to coaching cast members on what to say in order to draw more emotion from each scene, although they insist that
21352-535: The women in Baden-Baden badly hampered England's 2006 World Cup finals campaign. Prominent women at Baden-Baden included Victoria Beckham , wife of then England captain David Beckham , whom the New Yorker described as "Queen of the Wags" and the Sunday Times as "the original Wag"; Cheryl , née Tweedy, of the group Girls Aloud , who shortly afterwards married Ashley Cole ("Wag weds"), from whom she
21509-440: The wrinkle that the contestants were celebrities who remained masked until they were removed from the show, adding an element of guesswork to the competition. The two shows both spawned successful international franchises, I Can See Your Voice and Masked Singer , respectively. Masked Singer has been especially popular, with over 50 local adaptations; its American adaptation was the third highest-rated series overall of both
21666-425: Was Bertrand Milbourne Clark , an amateur from Jamaica, in 1924. Until 1922, the reigning champion had to play only in the final, against whoever had won through to challenge them. As with the other three Major or Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players; professional players were prohibited from participating. This changed with the advent of the open era in 1968. No British man won
21823-420: Was "less than concrete", was referred to, during a guest appearance on WAGs Boutique , as "an on-off WAG". Smith wondered whether, in those moments when a woman was an "off-WAG", she was really a WAG at all. London Lite referred to Henderson-Thynne and Cassie Sumner, a WAGs Boutique participant whose supposed relationship with Michael Essien was the subject of some doubt, as "fake WAGs". As if to emphasise
21980-659: Was a series consisting of archeologists and historians running a farm though various historical periods, most notably Victorian Farm . Internationally, a number of shows created in the late 1990s and 2000s have had massive global success. Reality-television franchises created during that time that have had more than 30 international adaptations each include the singing competition franchises Idols , Star Academy and The X Factor , other competition franchises Survivor/Expedition Robinson , Big Brother , The Biggest Loser , Come Dine with Me , Got Talent , Top Model , MasterChef , Project Runway and Dancing with
22137-420: Was an A-level student at the time – girlfriend of Theo Walcott , who, at seventeen, was himself the youngest member of the England squad; Abbey Clancy , girlfriend of Peter Crouch ; Steven Gerrard 's fiancé Alex Curran , a model frequently featured in tabloids and fashion magazines; and Spanish former waitress Elen Rives, the then-fiancée of Frank Lampard . Nancy Dell'Olio , an Italian property lawyer who
22294-442: Was an Australian show that depicted a family, similar in concept to An American Family . The 1994–95 O. J. Simpson murder case , during which live network television followed suspect Simpson for 90 minutes being chased by police, has been described as a seminal moment in reality television. Networks interrupted their regular television programming for months for coverage of the trial and related events. Because of Simpson's status as
22451-533: Was completed with the construction of an entrance building, club staff housing, museum, bank and ticket office. A new retractable roof was built in time for the 2009 championships, marking the first time that rain did not stop play for a lengthy time on Centre Court . The Club tested the new roof at an event called A Centre Court Celebration on Sunday, 17 May 2009, which featured exhibition matches involving Andre Agassi , Steffi Graf , Kim Clijsters , and Tim Henman . The first Championship match to take place under
22608-535: Was divorced in 2010; Coleen Rooney , née Mcloughlin, who married Wayne Rooney in June 2008 and who was variously described as a " chavette " and, by the end of the year, listed by the Times as a " national treasure "; and fitness instructor Carly Cole née Zucker, wife of Joe Cole , described by Susie Whally in the Sunday Times as a "new WAG on the block [who] has set the tone for the season's most wanted muscles". Other women that aroused considerable interest included Melanie Slade , due to her relative youth – she
22765-401: Was enabled by the advent of computer-based non-linear editing systems for video (such as produced by Avid Technology ) in 1989. These systems made it easy to quickly edit hours of video footage into a usable form, something that had been very difficult to do before (film, which was easy to edit, was too expensive to use in shooting enough hours on a regular basis). Sylvania Waters (1992)
22922-540: Was first mentioned in the Phil Silvers Show "You'll Never Get Rich" in 1955. In 2010, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) criticised the term as sexist and stated that it could be offensive, as it was often used to demean women. Other commentators have reflected this view. Felicity Morse has argued that "referring to any woman pejoratively as a 'wife or girlfriend' is not acceptable, and that
23079-674: Was generally printed as "WAGs", but a singular, "Wag" or "WAG", quickly came into vogue; for example: "any additional pounds she gained during Wag drinking sessions"; "a property heiress, model and actress, appears a likely sports WAG". Susie Dent 's annual Language Report for the Oxford University Press (2006) capitalised the entire acronym as "WAG" (" w ife a nd/or g irlfriend") . "WAG"/"wag" came also to be used somewhat redundantly ("deluxe-edition Wag girlfriend"), although in such usage "girlfriend" (or "wife") could be interpreted as further denotative specification within
23236-492: Was given further credence by an hour long documentary on BBC Alba , following various partners throughout a shinty season. Some of the "SWAGs" featured in the programme have been given further prominence in print and at shinty events. Other imitative acronyms to emerge in 2006 included: Interest in the partners of footballers dates back at least to the late 1950s when the long-serving England captain Billy Wright married
23393-409: Was impacted in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic , which forced many reality competition series to suspend production (and in some cases curtail a competition already in progress, such as Canadian and Malayalam versions of Big Brother ), until such time that production could recommence with appropriate health and safety protocols approved by local authorities. Due to their quicker turnaround times,
23550-501: Was later produced in a large number of other countries as Survivor ), added to the Nummer 28 / Real World template the idea of competition and elimination. Cast members or contestants battled against each other and were removed from the show until only one winner remained (these shows are now sometimes called elimination shows). Changing Rooms , a program that began in the UK in 1996, showed couples redecorating each other's houses, and
23707-756: Was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in informational programming. COPS , which first aired in the spring of 1989 on Fox and was developed due to the need for new programming during the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike , showed police officers on duty apprehending criminals. It introduced the camcorder look and cinéma vérité feel of much of later reality television. The 1991 television documentary on "typical American high schoolers", Yearbook , focused on seniors attending Glenbard West High School, in Glen Ellyn , Illinois and broadcast prime-time on Fox . The series Nummer 28 , which aired on Dutch television in 1991, originated
23864-461: Was operational over No. 1 Court from 2019, when a number of other improvements were made, including adding cushioned seating, a table and 10 independently operable cameras per court to capture the games. Wimbledon traditions include a strict all-white dress code for competitors, and royal patronage. Strawberries and cream are traditionally consumed at the tournament, in latter years accompanied by Champagne . Unlike other tournaments, advertising
24021-404: Was played between 27 June 2022 and 10 July 2022, and regularly scheduled play occurred in the middle of Sunday for the first time. It marked the centenary of the inaugural championships staged at the Centre Court. The ATP , ITF , and WTA did not award ranking points for the 2022 tournament, due to controversy over the tournament excluding players representing Russia and Belarus . Starting with
24178-570: Was released in October 2007, published by Harper Collins; the second, A Wag's Diary in LA , was published in June 2008. Both books are written by Alison Kervin . In January 2007 a reality television series called WAGs Boutique ( ITV2 ) was launched. This featured two teams of WAGs (few of whom had been among the party in Baden Baden the previous year) who competed to run fashion boutiques over
24335-471: Was the first reality show with a self-improvement or makeover theme. The dating reality show Streetmate premiered in the UK in 1998. Originally created by Gabe Sachs as Street Match , it was a flop in the United States. But the show was revamped in the UK by Tiger Aspect Productions and became a cult hit. The production team from the original series later created the popular reality shows Strictly Come Dancing , Location, Location, Location , and
24492-433: Was the girlfriend of the then England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson , enjoyed quite a high public profile of her own, partly as a result of long-running British press interest in aspects of Eriksson's private life. In an October 2008 press conference, England and Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand heavily criticised the focus on the partners of sporting stars, particularly in Baden-Baden two years previously, calling it
24649-546: Was with Girls Aloud before I met Ashley]. A 2012 Australian reality television series titled WAG Nation aired on Arena . A 2015 American reality television series titled WAGS aired on the E! network , featuring both the professional and personal lives of several women. Two spin-off series, WAGS Miami and WAGS Atlanta , were also produced, focusing on women in Miami and Atlanta , respectively. VH1 's Basketball Wives and its various spin-offs have also featured
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