I totally understand your points and can agree to them . It doesn ' t really make sense from a shareholder perspective . BUT , what made TUF popular in the first place ? Regular Joes with barely any experience fighting for that chance at their dream . After they started straying from that formula is when the show went down hill in ratings . The people who watch feel less connected to the TUF cast these days because they can ' t put themselves in their shoes . What made the show a ratings gold mine is that everyone who watched , in majority , could see themselves doing it . It gave viewers hope , in a way , that they could do it and that ' s why they watched . The connection from them to the cast now is completely lost and nobody has interest anymore . opinion .