| Season Number: | 21 |
| Starring: |
|
| Num Episodes: | 13 |
| Network: | MTV |
| Prev Season: | The Real World: Hollywood |
| Next Season: | The Real World: Cancun |
The Real World: Brooklyn is the twenty-first season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships. It is the fourth season of The Real World to be filmed in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, specifically in New York City after .
It was the first season to include an openly transgender cast member, Katelynn Cusanelli.[1] It also is the first season to feature more than seven cast members, as it featured eight housemates living on Pier 41 in Red Hook. Although it is the only season to set in the borough of Brooklyn, it is also the third season to take place in a city that had hosted a previous season, as the show's first and tenth seasons were set in New York in 1992 and 2001.
The season was aired as 13 one-hour episodes.[2] MTV announced the location in May 2008.[3] The series premiered January 7, 2009, and garnered an 18% increase in ratings over the previous season with 2.3 million viewers.[4] [5] The premiere was made available on iTunes on January 8.[2] On January 4, MTV aired a special called The Real World: Secrets Revealed that documents the evolution of the series over the years.[6]
Prior to the beginning of the season Jon Murray, co-creator of The Real World, and Chairman and President of Bunim-Murray Productions, explained the choice of Brooklyn: "The Brooklyn season, like the Hollywood season, will focus on what people loved about 'The Real World' when it launched in 1992 - genuine people, meaningful conflict and powerful stories...We're thrilled that MTV is allowing 'The Real World' turn 21!"[3] Cast member Chet Cannon remarked on the city that was his home for three months, "Brooklyn is usually spoken of as more a place where you don’t want to go — I just don’t want to get shot down here."[1]
Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead, makes an appearance this season when cast member Ryan Conklin attends a meeting of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
In 2010, the season was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program.[7] [8]
Almost every season of The Real World, beginning with its fifth season, has included the assignment of a season-long group job or task to the housemates, continued participation in which has been mandatory to remain part of the cast since the Back to New York season. However, no group assignment is given to the cast this season; the castmates are free to pursue their own interests, the first such season to do this since the fourth season.[1] The group assignment returned the following season,[4] though producer Jon Murray indicated a desire to dispense with the group assignment again with The Real World: Washington D.C.[9]
Brooklyn is the first season of the series to feature eight cast members moving into the residence together in the premiere. (All previous seasons premiered with seven-member casts, and only introduced new cast members when the departure of others during production necessitated replacements.) This number remains in subsequent seasons.[10] [11] It is also the first season to include an openly transgender cast member, Katelynn Cusanelli.[1]
This is the first season, and the first MTV series, to be broadcast in high definition.[2]
It was originally reported that the cast would be staying at the BellTel Lofts in Downtown Brooklyn, but problems obtaining permits for the construction required MTV to seek a new location.[12] The production chose Pier 41 at 204 Van Dyke Street in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn.[13] Pier 41 was also used as the setting for a bar scene in the 2005 Will Smith film, Hitch.[14] This marked the second time a pier was used as a season residence for the cast after 1998's .[15]
This was the first season of Real World to feature a cast of eight roommates living together. The cast included a trans woman, Katelynn Cusanelli, a first for the series.[16] [17] The cast was photographed publicly for the first time at a Semi Precious Weapons New York Fashion Week party at the Manhattan club Rebel in early September 2008.
| Cast Member | Age | Hometown |
|---|---|---|
| [18] | 21 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Baya, like Chet, is from Salt Lake City, but is not a Mormon, which has caused her to feel isolated in her hometown. Raised by hippie parents, she is a dedicated hip-hop DJ who aspires to be a dancer, and has been described as "the token cute white female" and "laid back", though she suffers from panic attacks. She is active in social and environmental causes.[19] | ||
| 23 | Salt Lake City, Utah | |
| Chet has been described as a "punk rock Mormon", a "hipster" and "straight as an arrow", who eschews alcohol and premarital sex. He is a conservative Republican, (one of two among the housemates, along with Scott[20]), a University of Utah fraternity member with nine siblings, and an occasional prankster. He is an aspiring TV host, and his stated goal on the series is to "show people that Mormons are fun."[21] Chet becomes best friends with Ryan.[22] | ||
| 20 | Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Devyn was Miss American Teen in 2005, and a Miss Missouri Teen. She is a black woman who has been described as a flirtatious diva who likes attention at clubs and on stage, and a sexual person who likes to tease men, and juggle multiple suitors. She is a theatre and music studies major at the University of South Florida who hopes to work in the entertainment industry. She is close to her mother, and was close to her late grandmother.[23] She purchases a Yorkie that she names Brooklyn.[24] | ||
| 22 | Miami Beach, Florida | |
| JD is a half Cuban, half Puerto Rican gay man who, along with his brothers and sister, suffered violent physical abuse at the hands of his father, and lived on welfare.[25] He ran away from home at thirteen, spending some time in foster care, and ensured that his father was repeatedly sent to jail for his abuse. He feels his experiences made him a stronger, independent person. The first among his four siblings to graduate from high school, he put himself through college at the University of Miami, and now works as a dolphin trainer, a dream job he first envisioned in a trip to SeaWorld at age five. A high school competitive swimmer, he became one of the youngest dolphin trainers at Miami Seaquarium at nineteen. He came out to his parents about his sexuality at sixteen, and because of this, he immediately bonds with Katelynn, who confides her transgender status only to him in the premiere.[26] [27] | ||
| 24[28] | West Palm Beach, Florida | |
| Katelynn, or Kat, is an Italian-American trans woman who had a rough childhood. She first realized her gender variance in high school and began living as a woman at 17, which was difficult given her rigid, Sicilian family.[29] She began her transition almost five years prior to moving into the Real World house,[30] and completed her gender reassignment surgery in Thailand in July 2008. She is a self-described computer geek, and holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. She has a boyfriend named Mike whom she hopes to marry. In the season premiere, she initially reveals her transgender status only to JD, though she eventually comes into conflict with him over this[31] and other matters,[32] and reveals her status to the others. She has lost three close friends to AIDS, which inspires her charity work. | ||
| [33] | 23 | Gettysburg, Pennsylvania |
| Ryan was in the Army for three and a half years, having been inspired by the September 11 Attacks[34] to enlist at the age of 17. He spent a year in Iraq, guarded Saddam Hussein at his trial, and suffered a number of near-death experiences.[35] He suffers from knee problems and posttraumatic stress as a result of his tour of duty.[36] He expresses these experiences through his guitar playing, and in a 300-page single-space typed journal. He is described by The Brooklyn Paper as "the fun one" in the premiere. His experiences in Iraq made him highly critical of the war's execution, and hopes a victory for Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential Election will preclude his being recalled to Iraq. He is an aspiring filmmaker who hopes to study at the University of Pittsburgh,[37] and a class clown who plays pranks. He has a girlfriend named Belle.[38] His brother Aaron is a military police officer in the Army Reserves, and they have two cousins in the Army as well. He learns in Episode 11 that he is being recalled to active duty. | ||
| 22 | San Francisco, California | |
| Sarah is an artist who suffered sexual abuse by a teacher and inappropriate behavior by her father, whom she has tried unsuccessfully to have imprisoned, and to whom she has not spoken for eight years, a silence that is broken when he calls her in Episode 4.[39] She has dedicated herself to advocate for survivors of abuse as an art therapist. She hopes to show her art in a gallery, and recently began a relationship with a man to whom her mother introduced her, one of her first heterosexual relationships, as most of her prior ones were with women, though she prefers not to label her sexual orientation.[40] Sarah, whose appearance is described to be that of a "tattooed punk", is observed by The Brooklyn Paper to be the only cast member with an interest in anyone else on a deeper level in the premiere, as contrasted with the gossip-like focus of the other castmates' discussions.[41] | ||
| 23 | Salem, New Hampshire[42] | |
| Scott is a personal trainer, model and actor who has been working out since the age of 14. He recently received the designation of having the "best abs on the East Coast", and was featured in Men's Health magazine. The first in his family to graduate from college, he educates the public on health and fitness with his website.[43] Along with Chet, he is one of two Republicans in the house. | ||
Age at time of filming.
The Real World: Brooklyn Reunion premiered on April 1, 2009, following the premiere of the season finale. The program, hosted by Maria Menounos, featured all eight housemates. Ryan, whose appearance was a surprise to the other seven, is set to leave for Fort Bragg, North Carolina before leaving for Iraq. Sarah and J.D. returned to San Francisco and Miami, respectively, while Kat has gotten a job as an I.T. specialist at the University of Montana. Baya has been producing music and deejaying while living with Scott and Devyn in New York City. Among the topics discussed are how life has changed for the cast, the argument in the season finale, Sarah and Kat's unresolved issues with J.D., the gender conflict in the house, with Ryan and Chet taking issue with what they saw as Sarah's lack of sincerity and prejudice, and the cast's feelings about Ryan's recall. It is revealed that Ryan and Belle broke up, and that he and Baya are in a relationship.[44]
Chet Cannon later appeared in the 2010 VH1 Presents program, The New Virginity, which explores the pop culture movement in which young people declare their chastity, including entertainers and other public figures who make it a part of their public persona.[45] He eventually moved to New York City, and does speaking engagements for Path-U-Find Media with fellow alumna Julie Stoffer. He continues to work in improv and with MTV.[46] Cannon hosted after shows for and . He got married in 2014. All of his former roommates were in attendance, excluding Sarah Rice.[47]
Katelynn Cusanelli speaks across college campuses on LGBT issues. In 2008, she had been dating her boyfriend, Mike, for more than two years. She eventually married, but by July 2012 had recently divorced.[48] [49]
Scott Herman appeared in the movies Living Will and Heist. He is currently a personal trainer and has a YouTube channel with over 2 million subscribers.[50]
Sarah Rice became engaged on October 15, 2014 and got married in May 2015. Susie Meister from served as a bridesmaid, while former roommates Chet Cannon and Baya Voce, alongside Frank Sweeney from The Real World: San Diego and Theresa Gonzalez from Fresh Meat II were in attendance.[51] In 2018, she spoke about suffering a miscarriage.[52] In the subsequent year, she announced her and husband Landon Patterson were going through a divorce.[53]
Devyn Simone hosted and produced Love at First Swipe on TLC alongside Clinton Kelly from What Not to Wear. The show ran for 14 episodes total.[54] Simone also hosted some episodes of The Wendy Williams Show.[55] She got engaged in 2015.[56]
| Baya Voce | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chet Cannon | The Ruins, Cutthroat, Battle of the Seasons (2012), Free Agents | |
| Devyn Simone | Battle of the Seasons (2012), Free Agents | |
| JD Ordoñez | Cutthroat, Battle of the Seasons (2012) | |
| Katelynn Cusanelli | Fresh Meat II, Rivals | |
| Ryan Conklin | ||
| Sarah Rice | The Ruins, Fresh Meat II, Cutthroat, Rivals, Battle of the Exes, Battle of the Seasons (2012), Rivals II, Battle of the Exes II, Rivals III | |
| Scott Herman |
In 2010, The Real World: Brooklyn was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Reality Program" during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.[57]