From during The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros;
slightly edited from its original version
BY DC CUEVA
A few weeks ago in marking the 25th anniversary of the longest running show in MTV history, DCBLOG took a look back at a memorable sophomore season of The Real World when, 24 years ago, the show went west to Los Angeles. There, we joined Challenge icon Beth Stolarcyak and country pioneer Jon Brennan as they caught up with roommates Dominic Griffin and Irene Berrera and revisited the same house by the beach where their journey to fame began, part of the path the show and MTV has helped in form of entertainment that has become a ubiquitous part of pop culture.
The most notable member of that Season 2 cast never had a chance to compete on a Challenge, but she has become one of The Real World's most successful alumni and a trail blazer in the reality TV genre. And over a week ago, she returned to her MTV roots to sit down with the panel who, each week, join one of the channel's most well known names for a look at hilarious videos and plenty of opportunities to laugh.
Tami Roman came to that 1993 Real World season from White Plains, NY as part of a female girl group and a career goal to host her own talk show. She also came there as someone who might not be able to do a Real World season in current times: a married lady as wife of NBA player Kenny Anderson. Growing up, though, was much different: her mom once worked three jobs at the same time to help pay the bills, but when the elder Roman was left unemployed she and her daughter were left homeless and had to endure life on the streets of New York. That humble past helped Tami become strong and independent while also appreciating the finer things in life.
As we showed you in our RW Los Angeles retrospective, she was picked up on an RV ride along the way by Jon and Dominic, which brought them cross country to Los Angeles, where they were joined by Aaron, Beth S., Irene and David. For someone who was born to be on camera and had already had some modeling experience, it was, of course, on Real World there that her vivacious, no-nonsense personality was first seen in front of a national TV audience. She watched that first season in SoHo thinking it would be a cool thing to be one of those seven strangers living in that house, and little did she know that she would help cast a mold for others to follow in bringing that "Don't give me any s___" attitude to this show and to MTV's reality programming.
The most notable member of that Season 2 cast never had a chance to compete on a Challenge, but she has become one of The Real World's most successful alumni and a trail blazer in the reality TV genre. And over a week ago, she returned to her MTV roots to sit down with the panel who, each week, join one of the channel's most well known names for a look at hilarious videos and plenty of opportunities to laugh.
As we showed you in our RW Los Angeles retrospective, she was picked up on an RV ride along the way by Jon and Dominic, which brought them cross country to Los Angeles, where they were joined by Aaron, Beth S., Irene and David. For someone who was born to be on camera and had already had some modeling experience, it was, of course, on Real World there that her vivacious, no-nonsense personality was first seen in front of a national TV audience. She watched that first season in SoHo thinking it would be a cool thing to be one of those seven strangers living in that house, and little did she know that she would help cast a mold for others to follow in bringing that "Don't give me any s___" attitude to this show and to MTV's reality programming.
Old school fans will still remember the first notable house fight to take place on The Real World when tensions between the guys and girls led to comedian David deciding to pull the covers off her bed, and exposing her to just her underwear. That led him to leave the house, becoming the first RW roommate to be evicted. But Tami is also remembered for allowing cameras to capture a very personal moment: on the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Roe vs. Wade decision, Tami allowed cameras to capture a personal moment when, while she was pregnant, she decided that it wasn't the right time to become a mom this early. And she made the tough and personal choice to have an abortion… the first time something like that was captured on television.
And in the same manner as both those who joined this world by way of the romantic experiment, Tami has also had the chance to do shows produced by both production firms behind the three shows of the Trifecta. On her Real World season, cameras documented her doing an episode of the early '90s dating game show Studs, which was produced by Lighthearted Entertainment, helmed by Howard Schultz - who created and executive produced the first two seasons of Are You The One? as well as VH1's Dating Naked.
Tami has gone on to bigger and better things, even after the highly-publicized divorce of her and Kenny Anderson which ultimately brought her to a career in television and movies, as well as starting her own lines of hair supplies and cosmetics. This has seen her appear on several few TV shows and sharing a set with Courtney Cox, Kevin Hart, Terrence Howard, Vivica A. Fox and Empire's Taraji P. Henson before landing her ultimate gig.
In 2010, Tami was chosen to be one of five main cast members for VH1's Basketball Wives, which documented the lives of being (or in Tami's case, once being) the spouse of an NBA player, and the show continues airing on MTV's older sibling today - even as she has become partner to boyfriend Reggie Youngblood. In addition, Tami & Reggie also appeared on WE Network's Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars, and has a large social media following: over a million followers on both Twitter and Instagram.
And over a week ago after taking time off in the aftermath of the death of his beloved security guard friend Christopher "Big Black" Boykin, Ridiculousness and host Rob Dyrdek returned for its summer run. And in one of the episodes, Tami was invited to sit on the couch alongside Chanel and Steelo Brim in watching all of the hilarious web videos submitted each week and shown to MTV viewers afterwards. Below is their picture from Instagram.
And over a week ago after taking time off in the aftermath of the death of his beloved security guard friend Christopher "Big Black" Boykin, Ridiculousness and host Rob Dyrdek returned for its summer run. And in one of the episodes, Tami was invited to sit on the couch alongside Chanel and Steelo Brim in watching all of the hilarious web videos submitted each week and shown to MTV viewers afterwards. Below is their picture from Instagram.
- I AM DC
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