The Real World News (Page 2)

Jenn Grijalva was known as the hardcore partying rock star on The Real World: Denver.

Now that the show has aird, MTV Reality News sat down with Grijalva. Here are highlights from the interview:

 MTV Reality World: How did you end up on The Real World? Had you always wanted to be on the show?
Jenn: Well, when I was 18 and close to graduating from high school, I applied for The Real World. But I wasn't ready for the process. I was trying to typecast myself and wasn't honest with the whole process. I made it to the finals, but I was cut. When I was with the Raiders, I was there for four years. After that, I was at a transition. It's hard to find something as appealing and exciting for a regular job. The Real World presented itself again. There was an open casting call at a pub in Berkeley. I went down there and made it 5 minutes before they closed. I just went in there and from that point on, it was interview after interview. There was lots of self-examination. They were asking a bunch of questions that I never would have thought about. It wasn't my lifelong goal to be on TV or be an actress. I just didn't know what to do next.

MTV Reality World: Do you feel that you were accurately portrayed on The Real World?
Jenn: I think reality TV can portray you how they want you to be portrayed. And ideally, everyone wants to be portrayed a certain way. But I do think I was accurately portrayed. I was a single, 22 year-old wild child girl when I was there. I did make bad decisions. I did cry over the wrath I brought upon myself. As far as the show defining me as a person, no â€" that's definitely inaccurate.

It was a very short period of my life. All my roommates had their freshman and sophomore years in college away from their parents and got it out of their systems. For me, I went right into being an NFL cheerleader. I was representing the organization. I wasn't given the opportunity to go out and party and get away with it without a camera. This was kind of like my first time graduating from a scheduled lifestyle. It's out of my system now.

MTV Reality World: Was there anything that you wish MTV had shown that they didn't?
Jenn: Well, the idea of a documentary is to portray the accuracy of your real life. What frustrated me the most is I lost my grandfather during filming. He was only the second. person I lost in my life that I was close to. I left the show for four or five days and went home to comfort my family and to watch my grandfather die from cancer. When I returned, I was a different person. I learned a lot during that time â€" to live life to the fullest. But it was completely wiped out of the show as if it had no importance. They wanted to portray me as a party girl, not show a person losing someone and being really vulnerable. That wasn't fair. They also didn't show that I got my first tattoo when I got back to Denver. It's the nickname that my grandfather gave me.

It was a big step. I took the plunge and they even taped it. I shared my story and opened up and I'm frustrated that they threw it away with the extra tape. I wish they had shown it. It was important and very personal. I went through several interviews about my family and my grandfather and they wiped it out. It didn't fit in my character's role. I was the tough girl who spoke her mind and to show me in a vulnerable state didn't fit. They also cut out when I stopped drinking. At one point they offered me AA classes and I said I'd cool it myself. I stopped partying, lost a relative and they cut out my turnaround. I ended it as a party girl

MTV Reality World: Is there anything that you wish they had not shown?
Jenn: There's a ton of stuff. No one wants to have themselves on TV having sex. But I went into the experience doing it the way you're supposed to do it: be honest with yourself. Be honest with the cameras. It's a documentary on my life - of the things I did. I could probably in a few years say maybe I shouldn't have done this or that. But there's nothing I could pick through that I wish they hadn't shown.

There were bad decisions, tears arguments, foolish moments that I think people can relate to. I put myself out there completely. I think that sets me apart. A lot of my castmembers don't talk about having sex. They said that they had just been "making out." I pride myself that I didn't do that. Watching it myself has taught me a lot. It's kinda nice to get the reality thrown in your face and learn from it.

MTV Reality World: How close are you to your former roommates?
Jenn: I'm really close to Brooke and Davis. I talk to them the most. Tyrie and I are good friends too. Colie and I don't talk often. I don't talk to Alex or Stephen. My socializing friends that I text and talk to are Davis and Brooke. Tyrie and I are pretty close, too.

Frankie Abernathy, the punk rock-adoring former Real World: San Diego housemate whose struggle with cystic fibrosis helped to further raise national awareness about the chronic lung disease, died Saturday evening in her mother Abbie Hunter's Shorewood, Wisconsin, home. An official cause of death has yet to be determined; Abernathy was 25.

According to Hunter, Abernathy was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis â€" a hereditary disease that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive tract â€" at the age of 3. She is survived by a sister, Mamie; her mother; stepfather Perry, and her dad, Joe Abernathy, who now resides in Texas.

"It was very sudden," her mother said. "It wasn't something that was expected. She was doing fine, and we really don't know very much yet. It still was kind of a shock, and it just wasn't how we figured things would go. It seems like her little body just gave out."

Cystic fibrosis is one of the most common life-shortening, childhood-onset hereditary diseases, and every year in the United States alone, 1 in 3,900 children are born with it. Difficulty breathing and insufficient enzyme production in the pancreas are the most common symptoms, and thick mucus production â€" as well as a weak immune system â€" often results in frequent lung infections, which are treated, though not always cured, by oral and intravenous antibiotics.

Hunter said Abernathy, who was born in Blue Springs, Missouri, on December 21, 1981, moved to Wisconsin last fall with her family, and, while she wasn't working full time, she was designing purses forged from old vinyl records. This winter, her health began to worsen.

"It was a day-by-day thing," Hunter said. "Some days she felt good, and some days she felt bad. We were kind of hoping to get her [on a list] to see if she would qualify for a lung transplant, because the disease does get progressively worse. In the winter, most [people with cystic fibrosis] usually have a rough patch, and she had a rough patch this year. She had been sick more this last year than she'd ever been in the past. I am very grateful that it was very quick for her. It certainly made it hard for the survivors. She's just our little girl."

Abernathy â€" who had said at one point during her time on 2004's The Real World: San Diego that "Tomorrow is a privilege, so live today like tomorrow isn't happening" â€" helped put a face to the disease. Abernathy didn't stay for the entire season; she left because of several problems she had with her roommates and because she missed her boyfriend, Dave, terribly.

"Her experience on The Real World taught her about what she needed to do, and it helped other people as well," Hunter said. "I know several people weren't aware of the cutting epidemic at the time" â€" Abernathy cut herself intentionally with a kitchen knife during the show's taping â€" "and I know several people wrote Frankie and thanked her.

She was a different person for The Real World realm, and I think she touched a lot of people and made an impact on a lot of people's lives. That's what you want when you have a child â€" you hope they do that. I wish it had been in a different way, but I am proud of her, and as I said, she got a lot of personal growth out of her experience, and she was very fortunate to have had the experiences she did."

Less-than-stellar ratings for MTV's The Real World: Denver may have observers wondering if the show has legs, but don't count Denver officials among them.

Nielsen Media figures show the Denver season has averaged 2.2 million viewers per episode, compared with last year's The Real World in Key West and its 2.6 million viewers per episode.

The Denver season seemed to be little more than watching the seven housemates engage in drunken, trashy behavior, fans and bloggers noted. We're not sure how this is any different from the past few years, however.

But Denver's civic and business officials praised the chance for national exposure, even if The Real World plot was a bit thin.

"Any time something of that caliber comes to Denver, whether it's the NBA All-Star weekend or the Democratic National Convention or The Real World, it exposes a different side of our city," said Paulina Szafranski, marketing director for Lotus Entertainment LLC, which operates the upscale bar Monarck, a watering hole that had a lot of screen time on the show.

Ginger White, senior economic development specialist for the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs said the city's seen an increase in filming this year over last, "and that's everything from commercials to small independent films."

I Love New York 2 is giving all eligible bachelors a chance to win the heart of Tiffany Pollard via an online casing site.

Similarly, the 20th season of MTV's The Real World will give individuals the chance to vote on at least one cast member.

"MTV is searching for the final castmate to live in the house … and whoever gets the most votes heads to the next Real World destination," says the show's casting website.

Three voting rounds will conclude July 23, when the winner/castmate will be announced. Anyone age 18 and older can register to audition, while those 14 and older can vote.

MTV says that the site allows viewers to "register to be considered for the show or serve as a judge to help determine who makes the cut. … But it's not just castees who make it onto MTV. Even judges may appear throughout the season to discuss whom they voted for and why."