MTV's The Real World series was first introduced to the world in 1992 and is still going strong,
not including its successful spin-offs. Apart from the crying and fistfights, it's the romances
that kept us glued to our TVs. Let's find out whatever happened to these couples from
The Real World.
Zach Nichols made his TV debut on The Real World: San Diego without his future lover,
Jenna Compono. Years later, the starlet joined The Real World: Ex-Plosion cast and was invited
back to show off her physicality on The Challenge: Battle of the Exes 2.
While surrounded by their respective exes, Nichols and Compono met and sparks were immediately
flying. According to Us Weekly, the couple started dating and were together for about
a year. As the outlet goes on to note,
"...in 2016 while [Jenna] was filming The Challenge: Rivals III, she learned that [Zach]
had cheated on her when he called her by the wrong name on the phone."
The couple once again laced up their shoes for The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions,
but were stuck in a mix of affection and trust issues.
In 2018, Compono posted on Instagram that the couple reunited. Nichols then faced perhaps
the toughest challenge of his own life: proposing. Lo and behold, just before Christmas in 2019,
Compono said yes.
Fifteen minutes of fame is an expression that both Sean Duffy and Rachel Campos pay no mind
to. Duffy first appeared on The Real World: Boston, while Campos made her debut on The
Real World: San Francisco. The two then returned for Road Rules: All Stars and met for the
first time.
As In Touch summarized,
"The show captured their blooming romance in typical reality TV fashion, make-out sessions,
hand-holding, [and] confession-room flirting."
The lovebirds stayed together and Campos began her television hosting career as a Fox News
contributor and occasional co-host on The View. Meanwhile, Duffy turned to politics,
starting as a district attorney then earning his place in congress representing Wisconsin.
In 2019, Duffy resigned from his seat in congress to spend more time with his wife and family.
Sure enough, before the end of the year, Campos announced that the couple had welcomed the
birth of child number nine.
Something about the Lone Star State helped the love connections in The Real World: Austin
really flourish, especially when it came to Danny Jamieson and Melinda Stolp. Danny jokingly
asked for her hand in marriage during the first night of the series.
But all jokes aside, these two were definitely enamored quite quickly, and sure enough, the
romantic Danny soon proposed in a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park. As Us Weekly elaborated,
Melinda relocated to Boston after the show wrapped. By the time of the reunion show,
the duo were engaged.
The couple eventually returned to play against one another in the Real World/Road Rules Challenge:
The Gauntlet III and that same year, Danny and Melinda sealed the deal through marriage.
Melinda appeared two years later on The Challenge: Cutthroat, and when the world asked for a
relationship update, she confessed that she and Danny were no more and that they were
getting a divorce. Despite the split, the two reunited on TV once again, this time on
The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons as teammates.
As of 2020, only one set of strangers in the same season from The Real World franchise
met, fell in love, and went the distance. Pam Ling and Judd Winick were just friends
when they were living together during their 1994 season of The Real World: San Francisco.
However, it's the show's puppet masters who saw potential in the duo's blossoming romance.
As it turns out, producers even compiled footage for a potential episode, called, quote, "Judd's
Search for Love," according to a 2016 story in The New York Times. But, as Winick admitted
to the outlet, he was actually friend-zoned by Ling originally, seeing as she already
had a boyfriend.
"It takes, like, two weeks to even get used to the cameras, and uh, by then I was, you
know, I was crazy about Pam."
Once the season wrapped, the two spent more time with one another and a true romance formed.
After two children together, the pair have been married for almost 20 years.
During the 2011 season of The Real World: Las Vegas, Heather Marter made it known that
she didn't want to get sexually involved with a roommate. In the very first episode, however,
she kissed housemate Dustin Zito.
The couple started dating, and their on-and-off status endured, despite some bumps along the
way. The two appeared on later seasons of The Challenge: Battle of the Exes and tried
to improve their love life on VH1's Couples Therapy.
Ultimately, the couple announced they were breaking up in 2014. This may have been partly
due to Zito's brush with the law. As reported by TMZ, Louisiana police arrested the reality
TV alum in 2013, after he resisted arrest, causing the officers to subdue him with pepper
spray.
The iconic 2002 season of The Real World: Las Vegas featured plenty of wild nights and
captivating storylines. Housemates Irulan Wilson and Alton Williams hooked up, which
was especially shocking given Wilson's relationship status. According to MTV News,
"The Big Apple native couldn't fight her feelings for the then-22-year-old, even though she
had a boyfriend Gabe."
"And I just want to go out with, you know, some pride."
Wilson then broke off her long-term relationship and started a new one with Williams. The two
dated for several years, including their appearance on Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet
together in 2003.
Ultimately, the pair went in different life directions, as revealed by Williams in 2005,
who declared on Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet II that he was single.
Apparently, the one-time couple stayed amicable after many years apart. In 2019, former housemate
Trishelle Cannatella posted on Instagram that the cast reunited at its Palms Hotel and Casino
suite.
In 2014, MTV decided to throw a loop into the typical format of The Real World series.
Partway through the Real World: Ex-Plosion, the seven strangers' exes moved into the house
and, of course, drama ensued.
One contestant, Jenny Delich, had a chance to escape her past coming on the show, until
she saw her ex-boyfriend of five years Brian Williams walk through the door with his suitcase.
The couple had experienced various ups and downs, as well as one huge meltdown during
their appearance on the show.
At the end of the turbulent season, the pair officially broke up. At the reunion show,
the pair later announced that they were getting back together, as well as moving in together.
The pair documented their move from Los Angeles to Kansas City via a YouTube video, where
they shared the start of the next chapter in their lives. Then, in 2015, Delich announced
on Twitter that she and Williams welcomed their baby girl, Violet Marie Williams, into
the world. As of 2020, the two are still together.
Following The Real World series' slight rebranding and experimental format with Real World: Ex-Plosion,
MTV returned with yet another twist. In 2014, on the following season of Real World: Skeletons,
the seven original strangers faced a rotating cast of skeletons from their pasts.
Madison Walls came in as an ex-heroin addict, while her roommate, Tony Raines, sought to
forget a skirmish with an ex-girlfriend that landed him in the hospital. Well, it looks
like both Raines and Walls pushed through their skeletons. Eventually, the two coupled
up, forming the utterly adorable "Tadison."
After the season ended, Tadison broke up, yet still managed to reside amicably under
the same roof. Though Walls and Raines ultimately split, the couple did welcome a daughter in
2016.
During the same season as lovebirds Melinda Stolp and Danny Jamieson in The Real World:
Austin, Johanna Botta and Wes Bergmann emerged as another hot couple in the house. As Botta
put it in the show:
"We live together, we might as well make out together."
But their relationship didn't come easy and had a lot of drama, like when both Johanna
and Wes ended up sleeping with other people to make the other jealous. By the time they
appeared at the reunion show, the couple even flirted with engagement talk.
In the end, the two never confirmed an engagement and broke off their relationship, although
they didn't let this hold them back from appearing once more on television. The separated pair
saw each other once more while competing in the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins.
Since it's not a reality TV couple without some drama, it looks like their final reunion
show together was a nail in the coffin of their relationship, especially after things
got very tense between the two.
"And I just want to live in a world where I don't get bullied by what I look like."
While filming The Real World: New Orleans, housemates Jemmye Carroll and Ryan Knight
instantly connected in the Big Easy. During the season, the two had a messy but sweet
relationship. The pair continued dating in an on-off type fashion for years while still
appearing on TV. But suddenly, in 2014, Knight tragically died of an accidental overdose.
On the one-year anniversary of his death, Carroll wrote a touching tribute letter published
by MTV News. In the open letter, Carroll recounted her strong memories with the late reality star,
writing, "Knight, I never told anybody this, but I thought we'd end up together too. In my darkest
and most honest hours, I still do."
On the day of his funeral, a mutual friend gave her a card that said,
"Rest [assured] knowing that when Knight left this earth, he believed in his heart of hearts
he would end up with you."
In one of the few seasons filmed outside of the United States, The Real World: Paris,
Chris "CT" Tamburello made his TV debut. That being said, he really made a name for himself
when he returned to compete in multiple The Challenge seasons.
Even more inspiring is Diem Brown, who made her first appearance on Real World/Road Rules
Challenge: Fresh Meat while starting her battle with ovarian cancer. The superwoman participated
in five more competitions before ending her run with 2015's Rivals II. Shortly after being
airlifted from the Panama filming site to a New York City hospital, Brown learned her
cancer returned for a third time.
Nevertheless, throughout it all, Diem still had Tamburello to support her throughout their
long-time romance and ultimate friendship. Tamburello and Diem dated off and on for years.
All the while, Tamburello supported Diem throughout her battle with the disease.
Ultimately, Diem tragically passed away in 2014. Tamburello posted a heartfelt tribute
on his Instagram, writing,
"Our plan to be together forever hasn't changed...it's just going to take a little longer now."
Former Miss Virginia USA contestant Tori Hall made her MTV entrance on Road Rules: Viewers'
Revenge, while a few years later, Brad Fiorenza made his TV debut on The Real World: San Diego.
The two first met when MTV invited each player to compete on the Real World/Road Rules Challenge:
The Gauntlet III.
The couple then played together on the subsequent seasons of The Challenge, even finding time
to get married. When Fiorenza returned for yet another season, many viewers were shocked
to learn that he was single. Sure enough, the pair divorced prior to his appearance.
After the split, Hall moved from Chicago to Nashville. The move led Fiorenza to post the
following scathing message on Twitter,
"Kids are not possessions, they are people. If you teach your kids to dislike one parent...It's
like telling them they are half bad...In my opinion that is child abuse and not negotiable."
Hall, in turn, responded to his claim by saying,
"When I hear of Brad saying something or tweeting irrational, I try to go to the mindset that
he is hurting, and hurt people hurt people."
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