Cameo CEO Steven Galanis Talks Embracing Reality TV Stars and Staying Authentic With the Rise of AI
Since 2017, Cameo has been the go-to platform for fans to connect with their favorite celebrities or athletes. Platform users submit requests to A-listers and beyond for personalized video messages. These videos create unique connections and access that fans can’t find anywhere else. Cameo CEO Steven Galanis originally had the idea for Cameo at his grandmother’s funeral. He later fleshed out the idea to help famous folks, namely athletes at the time, “get paid to become more beloved,” as he discovered that 80% of NFL players go broke three years after playing their final game.
Cameo has certainly grown since its humble beginnings. Here’s what Galanis told Showbiz Cheat Sheet about how the platform has embraced reality TV stars. Additionally, here’s what Cameo users can look forward to in the future.
Cameo began with just athletes — but celebrities of all types, including reality stars, have embraced the platform
Cameo fans can get a personalized video message from celebrities ranging from Ice-T, to The Office star Brian Baumgartner, to NFL legend Brett Favre, to former Bachelor host Chris Harrison. Steven Galanis, Martin Blencowe, and Devon Townsend founded Cameo in 2017. Today, these celebrities (and over 50,000 other creatives) are accessible to the public.
“When you get a cameo from someone, you actually like them more than you liked them before,” Galanis told Showbiz Cheat Sheet.
Galanis explained that he and the other co-founders realized that follower count didn’t necessarily translate to a high income. With Cameo, they wanted to change this. “This was a problem that was really personal to us,” he explained. Additionally, he “felt that people wanted experiences with talent that actually were extremely authentic.”
While the platform was originally just for athletes, it grew exponentially. Today, influencers, reality stars, and online personalities can join Cameo.
“The first summer of Cameo, Sonja Morgan ended up onboarding from The Real Housewives of New York City, and she just was a massive hit,” Galanis continued. “… We started to find that reality was a tailor-made vertical for this medium.”
CEO Steven Galanis talks embracing reality TV stars, particularly in the Bravo world
Speaking with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Cameo CEO Steven Galanis noted that reality TV has “been huge for awhile” as a category, and he’s embraced it with his company. Bravo, in particular, has produced a wealth of celebrities on Cameo.
“It’s just continued to get bigger and bigger,” he explained, noting that he headed to BravoCon toward the end of 2025 with seven of his team members — five more than a few years back.
“If you were to go look at any of the Bravo franchises, it is way more common than not that you’re going to be on Cameo for any given person on any given show,” he stated. “There are some casts where we have literally everybody. And I think that makes it cool. In that Bravo world, it’s part of the creator monetization stack that they’re used to doing now. Just like athletes will go to autograph signings, Bravo stars will do Cameos.”
Galanis noted that joining Cameo has become “a rite of passage” for many new reality stars, including those on The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Love Island, and more. Once they’re off the show, it becomes “standard operating procedure” for them to join the platform and connect with fans.
Galanis noted that referrals are a huge part of getting famous folks on Cameo, as is direct outreach from the company’s talent management team. However, anyone “in the world” can enroll in Cameo.
Steven Galanis says stars ‘spilling the tea’ make for some of the ‘coolest’ Cameos
Some reality TV stars are often on the Cameo Leaderboard. In December 2025, Bronwyn Newport from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City made an appearance. CEO Steven Galanis noted that some of the “coolest cameos” he’s seen come from stars “spilling the tea.”
“A lot of the reality stars, they love to give tidbits on things that are happening on the show, or, here’s what’s going on behind the scenes,” he explained to Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “I see that more in reality than I see that in other verticals. There have actually been cases where somebody will say something on Cameo that goes viral — it really ends up being newsworthy. And sometimes, things like that will wind up on TMZ, because somebody says something in a Cameo that’s shocking, and it wasn’t expected.”
The CEO talks about how the platform is staying authentic in the face of AI and what’s next
With the rise of AI, Steven Galanis wants Cameo users to know that the platform will stay authentic.
“One thing you’ll always see from us is our mission is to create the most personalized and authentic fan experiences,” he explained. “And our intention is to continue to double down on authenticity and to create additional formats for people to have really authentic, genuine human connections as opposed to AI slop.”
Galanis believes there’s a place for AI in entertainment and the reality ecosystem. “But I think our calling card will always be authenticity.”
So, what can fans look forward to? According to the CEO, Chance the Rapper is joining Cameo on Dec. 8, 2025 — a star who’s been at the top of his list.
Additionally, Cameo joined forces with Chomps for the “Bury the Beef” campaign. Chomps is offering a discount on personalized Cameo messages from One Tree Hill duo Chad Michael Murray and James Lafferty. Galanis hopes reality stars with brand deals can get those brands to subsidize the cost of the consumer videos in the future.
“I think there’s going to be this larger trend where brands are trying to attach themselves to authenticity as opposed to so much of the AI slop that’s going on out there,” Galanis continued.
