| The Real World: Miami | |
|---|---|
The cast of The Real World: Miami. |
|
| Format | Reality |
| Created by | Jonathan Murray Mary-Ellis Bunim |
| Starring | Flora Alekseyeun Joe Patane Melissa Padrón Cynthia Roberts Dan Renzi Mike Lambert Sarah Becker |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 22[1] |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | MTV Syndication |
| Original run | 1996 – 1996 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Real World: London |
| Followed by | The Real World: Boston |
The Real World: Miami is the fifth 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 and document their lives and interpersonal relationships. The season was filmed in Miami Beach, Florida, and first aired in 1996.
The Real World: Miami was the first season filmed in the United States outside of New York and California, and the first of two seasons to be filmed in South Florida, the second of which was The Real World: Key West, which followed in 2006.
SallyAnn Salsano, a finalist for this season's cast, went on to become a successful producer and director, best known as the creator the MTV reality television program Jersey Shore.[2]
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This was the first season in which the housemates were given a season-long assignment or task, an aspect of the series that would continue in almost all subsequent seasons (the Brooklyn season dispensed with it). This season the cast was given $50,000 startup money to begin a business of their choosing. The cast's efforts were marked by much disorganization and conflict, and while ideas such as a dessert delivery service and a fashion line were floated about, they were ultimately not able to start the business.
The house is located at 445 E Rivo Alto Dr, in Miami Beach, just north of the Venetian Causeway on affluent Rivo Alto Island. The four bedroom, three bathroom house is on 3⁄10 acres (1,214 m2) of land, and is 4,976 square feet (462.3 m2). Its current owner is former Ford CEO Jacques Nasser.[3]
| Cast Member | Age | Hometown | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah Becker[4] | 25[5] | San Diego, California[6] | Sarah is a graduate of Indiana University who works at Wildstorm Comics in La Jolla, California.[5] A self-described "19-year-old trapped in a 25-year-old body", whom MTV describes as a "tomboy", Sarah enjoys skateboarding, collect empty Blistex tubes and Swatch watches, and dressing up as television characters.[5] In Episode 13, she brings a dog into the house named Leroy.[7] |
| Dan Renzi[7] | 21[8] | Overland Park, Kansas[9] | Dan, who is originally from Kansas,[10][11] is an openly gay student at Rutgers University, where he has been editor of the student paper for two years. His interests include world economics, LGBT rights and environmental studies. In Miami, he begins a modeling career with Irene Marie Models. He also begins dating a man named Arnie who is still in the closet,[7] though he later begins dating another man named Johnny.[12]
[11] During the season, he gets into heated arguments with Melissa[13] and Flora.[14] By the end of the season, he moves to Milan to pursue his modeling career.[6] |
| Melissa Padrón | 22[15] | Miami, Florida[15] | Melissa is a Miami native from a traditional Cuban-American family, who is about to graduate from the University of Miami.[15] In Episode 12, she and Dan get into a fight, during which she calls him a "flamer", after Dan excoriates her for opening his mail, which according to him, could have cost him his job, though they later reconcile.[13] In Episode 20, following an argument with Sarah, Melissa moves out of the house.[16] |
| Joe Patane[17] | 25[18] | Brooklyn, New York[17] | Joe is a graduate business student at Fordham University in New York City. He owns a small business, Computane Corp, and is eager to start the business with his housemates. He has a tall girlfriend named Nicole, but he indicates he has difficulty remaining faithful to her,[18] and when she visits the house, the some of the other housemates, notably Cynthia, express incredulity at their relationship, and an aversion to her.[19] Nonetheless, he proposes to her by the end of the season.[14] |
| Cynthia Roberts | 22[20] | Oakland, California[10] | Cynthia, who is originally from Atlanta, Georgia,[11] is an African-American waitress who attends San Jose State University.[20] Her father passed away some year ago, but she is still close with her mother and sisters.[11] MTV describes her as a "straightforward" person who does not like to kiss on the first date.[20] At the conclusion of the season she accepts a job offer in Miami.[6] |
| Flora Alekseyeun[21] | 24[22] | Boston, Massachusetts[21] | Flora won several national marketing competitions while attending the Art Institute of Boston. During the season, she carries on an affair with a man named Louis, without the knowledge of her boyfriend, Mitchell. MTV describes her as an "uninhibited" woman who doesn't care what others think. She describes herself as both "a carefree spirit", and at times, a "bitch". In the premiere, she takes a job as a bartender, though Cynthia openly criticizes her for dressing provocatively in her job interview.[10] In Episode 18, she gets into a fight with Dan, after Mike tells her that Dan related to him statements by her that Mitchell beat her, and says that Mitchell is very good to her.[14] |
| Mike Lambert | 24[23] | Jacksonville, Florida[6] | Mike has a strong background in accounting and restaurant management, which he is hoping to put to use for the group's business project. He also enjoys partying,[6] and in Episode 17, after sharing time in the hot tub with Melissa another woman he brought home, the trio move to the bathroom, where the other housemates eavesdropping outside the window hear what sound like the lovemaking, though Mike and Melissa deny any shared encounter.[24] |
When Sarah and her friends join Melissa and Flora for dinner at a restaurant, Melissa questions if Sarah's friends could be able to afford dinner there, offending Sarah, who points out that her friends all have jobs, while Melissa does not. Sarah's friends, make a statement to Melissa by paying for the entire dinner and an embarrassed Melissa thanks them for the gesture. She later gets into a fight with Dan after she opens his mail, during which they exchange heated epithets. The next day they talk, and Melissa tearfully admits that her anger comes from a verbally abusive father, and she hated seeing her father in herself. They both apologize for their actions and come to an accord.[13]
Sarah is visited at the house by her friends from Kenosha, Wisconsin, one of whom, Hank, makes a home movie about life in the house. While filming, Flora repeatedly flashes the camera. When the movie is produced, Flora says she does not want the movie distributed to anyone. She claims she was on heavy medication and tries to convince Sarah's friend to sign a contract that the movie won't be released.[16]
In 1998, Joe Patane published his memoirs about his experiences on the show, Livin' in Joe's World: Unauthorized, Uncut, and Unreal: The Memoirs of Joe Patane from the Miami Cast of MTV's The Real World.[17]
During the The Real World Reunion 2000, the first reunion show that involved the Miami cast, Flora revealed that she and Mitchell got married. Joe revealed that he and Nicole broke up, to which Mike expressed relief, because, as he told Joe, Nicole was a "bitch".[25]
Cynthia Roberts appeared in "Floating Deck", a 2008 episode of the DIY Network show Yard Crashers, which depicted the renovation of her back yard.[26]
After enjoying a career in runway and print fashion modeling, Dan Renzi became a model scout for a Chicago agency, a field researcher with the Los Angeles Department of Epidemiology and director of AIDS/HIV program at the Kansas City Gay and Lesbian Center. He has made appearances at celebrity Spring Break parties in the Bahamas.[27]
| Cast Member | RW/RR Challenges | Challenges Won |
|---|---|---|
| Sarah Becker | - | - |
| Dan Renzi | Extreme Challenge, Battle of the Sexes, The Inferno II | Extreme Challenge |
| Melissa Padrón | - | - |
| Joe Patane | - | - |
| Cynthia Roberts | All Stars, Battle of the Sexes 2 | All Stars |
| Flora Alekseyeun | Battle of the Seasons | None |
| Mike Lambert | Challenge 2000, Battle of the Seasons | None |
^* The contestant was a finalist on the Challenge, but lost in the Final Race.