DC ExtraTime Flashback: The Real World Takes Over Beantown

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

    Estimated Reading Time: 25 MINS.

In the nearly 30 years that MTV has been gracing us with the most talked-about reality television programming there is, there has been one constant throughout this long and proud journey. And that would be the presence of cast members who come to The Challenge, The Real World and beyond from the six northernmost states on the East Coast, and its biggest city, that has had an incredible impact on the channel.

See any of his twenty overall appearances on The Challenge or the first time he landed onto your screens as that fiesty 22-year-old on The Real World Paris, and the intimidating presence of 3-time champ Chris "C.T." Tamburello has always commanded your attention. The fact that you, the fans, chose him as the biggest reality star ever by Bill Simmons' site The Ringer -- and who smashed his opponent from their famed Cutthroat elimination, Johnny Bananas, in the final no less -- is testament to that legacy. And he is the most visible member of a long & proud tradition of those who come to us from New England and Boston, starting in Real World's early days, and stretching its wings to not only The Challenge, but also Are You The One and other shows along the way.

All Photos Courtesy MTV

Whether they'd be from Boston, from elsewhere in Massachusetts or from Rhode Island, Maine, Connecticut or elsewhere, there's no denying that those from this region have made an enormous impact on MTV. It all began when Soviet-born Boston resident Flora Alekseyeun became the first castmate from this part of the country to be cast on Real World twenty-four years ago on Season 5 in Miami, while the first native New Englander came two years later in 1998 when David Burns went onto the Seattle season and found himself in a forbidden love affair with the lady who cast him on the show but who left him heartbroken in the streets of the Emerald City.

In between those two seasons, the big show brought its talents to New England itself, where they exchanged the first season to take place with swimsuits and bikinis for a whole different locale: a hard-working town rich in tradition and a season that began with snow on the ground. True to the nature of this blue-collar city, a converted firehouse familiar to '80s TV fans was where Season 6 of The Real World took place that year of 1997, and where we had just about everything take place that kept true to the show's uniquely old-school values that defined the show's 30+ season run.

A few weeks ago in this time where being together means going onto videoconferencing and endless hours of FaceTime, there was a special reunion among that group of seven strangers who called that Boston firehouse their home, and where they have had an impact that's been felt from The Challenge and the college called "The Harvard of the West," down to The Hills and even to the most well-known hill in this country: Capitol Hill.