This is the true story... of 85 Real World alums... picked to party in a house... and have it taped for an MTV special... to find out what happens when former reality-TV stars stop being polite... and start getting really drunk.
It was clear from the beginning that this was going to be a wild event. Minutes before arrivals began, the sunny sky grew dark, a cold wind started to blow from the east and the heavens opened up to deliver a rare and unseasonable hailstorm. As stones bounced off the freshly laid red carpet, PAs scrambled to cover lights, mics and soundboards with plastic, and producers started to panic.
Afterall, this was going to be an outdoor award show at a hot mansion around a pool with the Los Angeles skyline in the backdrop. And there was no Plan B. All eyes watched the sky for the next twenty minutes and finally as quickly as the hail came, it stopped.
As if on cue, out of a van popped Johnny Bananas (Season 17, Key West) clutching a lifesize blow-up doll with moving parts and a bright red, gaping mouth. "This is my date", Johnny said. Trailing behind him was Sarah Burke (Season 15, Philadelphia) screaming, "That's my bra that his date is wearing!" With that, the party officially began.
In single file, Real World cast members of the past hit the red carpet posing, cheesing and soaking up every bit of limelight they could -- like plants at the end of a long drought.
Season 20 newbies were heavily chaperoned by MTV staff and kept separate from the others for most of the evening, as if to prevent contamination but with good reason, since they all had the look of hope and naivety that a reality show star has until the day their episodes start airing and they realize what they've done. However, their wholesome good looks didn't mean they weren't up for talking trash about each other.
"There was some drama in our house," confessed Kimberly, 23, a peppy blonde from South Carolina. "Two of guys were pretty bad. I mean they were picking up girls up at clubs and taking them back to the house and having sex with them together at the same time. It was bad."
In all fairness, according to another cast member, it turns out Kimberly had "relations" with one of the guys she was referring to and wasn't happy to find out that she was just a notch on his bedpost. And as anyone who has ever watched the Real World knows, a housemate scorned will do anything to make you look like a heel on national TV. So, looks like we're in a for another wild season.
The good new is, there is life after The Real World and some of the old-schoolers seem to have parlayed their time in the house into a sustainable hustle. Tek (Season 8, Hawaii) has a new underwear line called Stash Wear that boasts a zippered pocket in the crotch of the underwear to "keep your keys and cell phone," he claims. (Someone speculated that the real purpose was to hide your other kind of stash when going through airport security.)
Beth Stolarczyk (aka "Crazy Beth" of Season 2, Los Angeles) is newly engaged and getting married in August. "My mother was so relieved," she said "She had given up hope on me ever getting married" She says she plans to start a family ASAP. "If I still have eggs left!" She is also a business woman who produces a "Women of Reality TV" calendar each year featuring herself and other... women of reality TV.
Once a hottie, now a nottie, Eric Nies (Season 1, New York) was nearly unrecognizable with a long Jim Morrison-esque scruffy hairdo. He says he now "lives on a farm and has cattle." By the looks of him, no one doubted it.
Steven (Season 7, Seattle) is a preacher at a church he started in South Central Los Angeles and says that being on the Real World gave him a platform and opportunity to do what he's doing now. Does he regret his infamous slap he laid on castmate Irene that put him in the hotseat during his time on the show? "Yes, I was young."
Then there's Puck (San Francisco) who is still crazy after all these years. He took offense early in the evening (less than 15 minutes into the award show) over a comedy bit host Jeffrey Ross did referring to the fact that he's married with a family now. "Don't talk about my family, man!" screamed Puck, who clearly didn't see the humor in the fact that someone actually married and reproduced with his crazy ***, although every one else did. So he rallied CT, they stormed the sage and pushed Ross in the pool.
Ross did a few laps while everyone took a break, hit the bar and waited for the wardrobe ***istants to scrounge around to find dry clothes for him to wear so they could continue taping the show.
The awards ceremony featured illustrious honors like, "Best Brush With The Law", "Favorite Love Story" and "Best Early Withdrawal".
Watch the rest of the drama unfold when the Real World Awards air Saturday, March 29, on MTV. -- [I]Zoe Alexander[/I]
[URL="http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Party-Central-Latest/Inside-Real-World/800035732?rssDate=12345678http://"][ via TV Guide ][/URL]
