Trust nobody! Conspiratorial storytelling and paranoid reading in the Dutch reality TV gameshow Wie is de Mol?

Suspicion has become a central mode of engagement in contemporary media, shaping how audiences interpret both political and entertainment content. Reality TV formats that rely on secrecy and deception encourage viewers to question appearances and evaluate trustworthiness, yet the role of conspiratorial reasoning in such shows remains underexplored. This article examines Wie is de Mol?, a Dutch reality game where contestants unmask a saboteur. Drawing on conspiratorial storytelling, reality TV conventions, paranoid reading (Sedgwick), and media literacy scholarship, we analyze how viewers develop strategies to navigate the show’s multilayered deception. Based on ten focus group sessions conducted during season 22 (2022), we identify five interpretive categories: evaluating (un)reliability, program mechanics, psychological effects, building collective intelligence, and influence and belief revision. WIDM illustrates how entertainment can cultivate critical engagement, offering a low-stakes playground for practicing suspicious reading that resonates with broader debates on media literacy.