Season of television series
| The Real World: Hawaii | |
|---|---|
The cast of The Real World: Hawaii | |
| Starring |
|
| No. of episodes | 23[1] |
| Original network | MTV |
| Original release | June 15 (1999-06-15) – November 9, 1999 (1999-11-09) |
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The Real World: Hawaii is the eighth 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 Pacific States region of the United States, and the first season set in the United States to be filmed outside of the contiguous United States.
The season featured seven people who lived in a modern beach house in Honolulu, Hawaii, which production started from January to May 15, 1999. The season premiered on June 15, of that year and consisted of 23 episodes.
The cast was heavily concerned with castmate Ruthie Alcaide's excessive drinking, which resulted in her leaving the house to enter an alcohol treatment program.[2] This was cited as one of the series' memorable moments by Time magazine.[3]
The cast resided in a 4,095-square-foot (380.4 m2), single-story, three-bedroom, four-bathroom house at 3169 Diamond Head Road in Diamond Head, Hawaii. The property's two-story guest house housed the control room and production offices during the filming. At the time of the filming of the series, the Diamond Head House rented for $10,000.00 a month, and was listed for sale for $7,500,000 in 2006. By March 2008, both houses were torn down, and new building permits were issued in February 2008.[4]
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. The seven housemates worked at the Waikiki Location of Local Motion, a clothing and surf apparel store. They were responsible for booking in-store entertainment under a company they christened "7 Strangers Productions."
| Cast member | Age | Hometown |
|---|---|---|
| Amaya Brecher | 21 | Oakland, California |
| Amaya is a woman who attends UCLA. She became attracted to Colin, with whom she had an on-off relationship. Amaya revealed that in the past she had an eating disorder and issues with her body, but insisted that this was no longer the case. Near the end of the season, the bulk of her roommates began to turn on her, citing her insecure nature and speaking ill of them outside of their presence; however, she reconciles with most of them before leaving. | ||
| Colin Mortensen | 19 | Thousand Oaks, California |
| Colin was a college student at UC Berkeley prior to filming the show. Originally, he was one of the people who just missed making the cast, and was chosen instead to co-host an hour-long look at the casting process. In the last segment of the casting special, he met with the show's producers. There, they informed him that he was the final housemate, much to his surprise. Despite initially returning Amaya's affections, he eventually came to feel, along with Kaia and Matt, that Amaya was needy. He was also upset that she flirted with friends of his when they came to visit. Other cast members also disliked how Colin treated Amaya and how he talked to her. | ||
| Justin Deabler | 21 | Kingwood, Texas |
| Justin is an openly gay student at Harvard Law School and a self-described child prodigy. He does not develop a rapport with the others, except for Kaia during the early part of the show. He takes exception to Teck directly asking him if he's gay in the first episode, and is highly critical of almost all of his fellow housemates, the details of which he goes into during the group trip to India. He refers to Kaia as "ineffectual" and says that "Teck's schtick is so tired it's comatose." He tries to sabotage Amaya and Colin's relationship during the India vacation, but he leaves the house after the trip, partly due to his frustration with the other housemates, but citing as his primary reason a family emergency at home. | ||
| Kaia Beck[5] | 22[5] | Chicago, Illinois[5] |
| Kaia changed her name from Margaret to Kaia, which means "stability" in Swahili, after living in Tanzania. She now majors in African-American studies at University of California, Berkeley. MTV characterizes her as a "strong woman in every sense of the word", and an extremely body-conscious person who maintains a strict diet and exercise routine,[5] and who feels comfortable walking around topless while on camera. She is also a skilled debater and is likely to challenge any idea with which she does not agree.[5] | ||
| Matt Simon[6] | 22 | Del Mar, California |
| Matt was initially attracted to Ruthie. She did not reciprocate his romantic feelings. Matt then became close with Ruthie's twin sister, particularly during the discussions he, she, and her other sister had over Ruthie's drinking problem. He wrote to her when the cast visited India. | ||
| Ruthie Alcaide | 21 | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Ruthie is a bisexual, adopted, Filipina college student at Rutgers University, and a triplet with a brother and sister, in addition to a second sister. She has a penchant for over-drinking, which often results in her passing out at bars, and inappropriate behavior like giving a table dance for her boss' wife. During another binge at the house, she takes a drinking glass and throws it, shattering it. During the first episode, she loses consciousness, and her housemates call the paramedics. Her housemates, along with Ruthie's two sisters, explore the possibility of sending her to a rehab center, but cannot do so without her consent. After Ruthie drives home from a bar intoxicated, her housemates have a meeting with her and tell her she must go to rehab or be evicted from the house. Ruthie feels betrayed, but goes to rehab, eventually returning when her stint is completed. | ||
| Tecumshea "Teck" Holmes[7] | 22[8] | Peoria, Illinois[8] |
| Teck is the son of a minister, whom MTV characterizes as a "ladies man" and a "party animal" with "a contagious energy and humor", but with an "extremely smart and responsible" side to him. His goal is to become an entertainer and segue into politics, hoping to be a positive black role model. He is currently producing, financing, and starring in a low-budget film set in Atlanta.[8] He and Ruthie strip naked as soon as they arrive at the house in the season premiere, and jump into the pool. | ||
| Cast members | Episodes | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | |
| Amaya | Featured | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colin | Featured | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kaia | Featured | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Matt | Featured | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teck | Featured | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ruthie | Featured | Left[a] | Return[b] | Featured | |||||||||||||||||||
| Justin | Featured | Left[c] | |||||||||||||||||||||
Notes
After filming, MTV launched an online auction for selling the season's house items and donated the money to the Recording Artists, Actors and Athletes Against Drunk Driving.[9]
At the 2008 The Real World Awards Bash, Amaya and Colin received a nomination for "Favorite Love Story", while Teck received one for "Biggest Playa".[10][11]
Amaya went on to co-host two shows on astrology via webradio and podcast. On the Cosmic Sutra, she and a psychic discuss astrology, while Stargazing is a gossip show about how celebrities can employ astrology to their advantage.[2]
Colin was part of the cast of the short-lived comedy television series M.Y.O.B.[12] In 2005, he released a guide book, titled A New Ladies' Man: A Complete Guide to Getting, Pleasing, and Keeping the Girl.[13] He later went into educational leadership.[14]
Ruthie Alcaide went on to become a singer in a band, and a lecturer on college campuses about her experiences.[2][15] She has also appeared in alcohol awareness commercials on the Armed Forces Network (AFN).[2][16][17] Explaining her dislike of labels pertaining to her sexual orientation, she has stated that she does not like being called "straight", "gay" or "bisexual", saying, "Just call me Ruthie".[15] In 2018, she appeared in the movie The Rainbow Bridge Motel.[18]
Teck Holmes went on to pursue an acting career, appearing in films such as National Lampoon's Van Wilder and First Daughter, and on television series such as The Hughleys, The Parkers, Friends[2][19] and NCIS.[20] He has hosted TV shows such as MTV's Direct Effect,[2] and the Cartoon Network game show Hole in the Wall.[21][22] His group The Firemen produced a music video for their song "Smoke With Me" that played on BET.[2]
Justin Deabler lives in Brooklyn with his husband and their son. In 2021, he published his first novel, titled Lone Stars.[23]
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