Is MTV’s ‘Wild ’N Out’ Scripted? Nick Cannon Reveals If Show’s Fake

Currently airing its 10th season, MTV’s “Wild ’n Out” has been around for quite a while. It’s gone through a couple network changes, location changes, a few cast switch-ups and some hiatuses since its 2005 debut, but one thing that’s remained the same is the audience’s response to the series.

Fans clearly love it enough that it’s set to air its 11th season later this year, but they also have a few questions about the sketch comedy series. Specifically, just how scripted is the supposed improv show?

International Business Times took it right to the source, “Wild ’n Out” creator and host, Nick Cannon, to get the scoop.

“I don’t think any of it’s scripted,” he told IBT. “We just doing stuff and stuff just ends up being hilarious and the magic behind the show is that you only see 22 minutes on television, but it takes about an hour to shoot. So, you see the best of the best in that timeframe.”

Cannon maintained that the show really is improv and that “nobody prepares” for what’s exactly to come during filming. The 20-year entertainment veteran, who got his start on another sketch series, Nickelodeon’s “All That,” instead explained how the cast might rehearse how to play the various games, as well as best practices — making sure they “annunciate, project and open up to the audience.”

He likens it to how a sports team will have practices, but when it comes down to it, they don’t control what happens during an actual game.

“[It is] kind of like, how you can’t rehearse in a football game, you can’t rehearse a basketball game. You go to practice and then once you go to practice, you know you create chemistry and you know when it’s time to get the ball, you know what to do with it,” he said.

Between all of the actual filming of the series and the rehearsing, Cannon never gets tired of working on the project because he always keeps things fresh.

“It’s fun,” he said. “I don’t do anything in life unless I enjoy it and I also enjoy the new energy, so I make sure I keep new energy coming through all the time, with the young people and new artists. Just watching them grow and develop is something really exciting.”

Plus, he’s always got his favorite improv game — Pick Up and Kill It — to keep his excitement going.

Check out new episodes of “Wild ’n Out” on MTV on Thursdays at 11 p.m. EST.