Is 'Dubai Bling' scripted? Here's what the cast has to say

We've got a lot of curiosity about Dubai Bling but one of our biggest questions is: is Dubai Bling scripted or real? 

The new Netflix reality show—whose first season premiered on Thursday, October 27—follows some of the most well-known and well-to-do residents of the United Arab Emirates, from fashion designer Safa Siddiqui to billionaire widow Loujain Adada and entrepreneur Ebraheem al Samadi. The series is jam-packed with private jets, luxury cars, designer fashions and over-the-top homes, which serve as a sumptuous setting for your usual reality show buffet of cat fights, relationship issues and petty drama. 

But, when we're not busy being gobsmacked by that Dubai Bling cast net worth (apparently, one in 100 Dubai residents is a millionaire—what?!), we're here wondering whether any of the Dubai-set drama shown on the series is authentic or if it's all just cooked up by scheming producers who want to drive up viewership. Are the Dubai Bling cast members secretly great actors playing by a script or are those feuds, fall-outs and funny moments the real deal? Here's what we know.

Is 'Dubai Bling' scripted or real?

Like Bling Empire before it, the reality docusoap is not scripted, assures stars Kris Fade, Safa Siddiqui and Zeina Khoury. While appearing on Fade's radio program, The Kris Fade Show on Virgin Radio DXB, the presenter asked his co-stars if they had anything to say to viewers who thought the show was scripted, which he posted on Instagram Story. 

Khoury replied with a laugh: “If it was scripted, I would have found a better line than, ‘I am the company,'" referring to that iconic fight between herself, Ebraheem al Samadi and Danya Mohammed in episode five. Siddiqui doubled down on Khoury's claim, adding: “You can’t fake this baby, you can’t.”

Now, while we surely believe cast members weren't reading out pre-written lines of dialogue, this is an entertainment show, so even though the events and experiences do seem genuine, it is likely that the production team amped up some of the editing, encounters ("How was Farhana's photoshoot in the same location as LJ and Zeina's?" is the question indeed!) and confessionals for dramatic effect. It's "reality" but it's still a show!

Fans weigh in on those 'is Dubai Bling scripted?' rumors:

Not surprisingly, viewers had plenty to say on social media about the authenticity of the cast members and the circumstances of Dubai Bling. 

"The first episodes of Dubai Bling were hella scripted, but they finally get into their actual characters in the end. The drama felt so real," one fan tweeted, while another gave the cast the benefit of the doubt, writing: "There's no way anything is scripted in Dubai Bling. I know people like this...it's a Dubai drama thing."

Others flat-out believe the reality show is fully orchestrated behind the scenes, with one posting on Twitter: "Dubai Bling is the most (obviously) scripted reality show I've ever watched and I've watched A LOT of reality shows." 

So what do you think: is Dubai Bling fact or fiction?

All eight episodes of Dubai Bling season 1 are streaming on Netflix.