The 20th season of The Real World premieres tonight, Wednesday, April 23 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on MTV in Canada. The show already premiered in the United States at the same time and night last week. But to help give you a sneak preview of the new season, which is set back in Hollywood, I got the chance to interview a few members of the cast.
First up was Kimberly Alexander. Kimberly is 24 and from Columbia, South Carolina. With her Southern belle charm and naiveté, Kimberly is sometimes perceived as a ditzy blonde and maybe a little judgmental. Raised in a deeply religious household in a small town, she rebelled against her parents’ restrictive rules. However, she’s not quite sure how to harness her newfound freedom and energy. Kimberly loves to be around people and have a good time, but she doesn’t always think before she speaks, and her Real World roommates often find her comments offensive. In Hollywood, Kimberly’s goal is to become the host of an entertainment show.
Here is what Kimberly had to say about her Real World experience…
Josh Clinton: Hey Kimberly.
Kimberly Alexander: Hi, how are you?
JC: I’m doing good. How are you?
KA: I doing well, thank you.
JC: Good. Were you a fan of The Real World before you got on the show?
KA: I watched Sydney, just because I was trying out for the next one. But other than that I hadn’t really watched it for awhile. I watched some of Las Vegas and some of Hawaii, but I wasn’t like a huge fan.
JC: Why did you try out for this season then?
KA: Well I went with a friend for moral support. But then they kept calling back, and I decided to do this. I thought it was a good opportunity.
JC: I see. Did you ever try out or send in any tapes for any other season? What was the tryout process like for you?
KA: No. I just went this time and they just kept calling me back to do more interviews before they finally picked me for the cast.
JC: Cool. You went on to the show without a boyfriend, correct?
KA: Yes.
JC: But Sarah went on the show with a boyfriend. Do you think it’s smarter to go on the show single, since there is all of that temptation and distance?
KA: Personally, for myself, I think that. I wanted to have the full experience and I knew that if I went on the show with a boyfriend I would have been calling and texting, and I wouldn’t just want to go out and have fun. So from my own personal experience, I thought it was good being single. But from the beginning I didn’t think that Sarah and Ryan would have any issues or break up because of the show or anything like that.
JC: Oh, okay. Now I have seen the premiere episode and when you first met Will you made some comments about the city of Detroit, where he was from. What was that all about?
KA: Will is so charming and nice. I’ve dated a guy from Detroit and I wasn’t thinking about that at all. When I met Will and saw that he was so nice and charming and found out he was from Detroit, all I could think about was that 8 Mile movie. That was the only thing in my head. I just kept playing that movie over and over in my head, but then I was like “but Will is so nice and charming.” But you only saw part of that. That is where it came from, though.
JC: Gotcha. Have you seen the whole show or just the first couple of episodes?
KA: I’ve only seen the first episode.
JC: Okay. Well you may not be able to answer this, but from what you have seen so far, do you think you were portrayed accurately? Is the Kimberly we see on TV, the same Kimberly we would find in real life?
KA: Pretty much. I’m pretty spastic and I like to have fun. But I got a lot of mail about being a racist or being judgmental. But I’m not racist. I can see how I was portrayed as that, being a Southern girl and that’s a common stereotype. Which is fine, it’s what I signed up for.
JC: Yeah. So no one in the house seems to like Greg.
KA: That’s correct.
JC: He was voted by America to be in the house. It seemed to me like America voted him in just to stir up trouble, because he has such an “over-the-top” personality. What do you think about that?
KA: I don’t know. I didn’t get that much involved in any of the Internet stuff, so I didn’t see any of his home tapes that he did. But I have heard that he was on billboards and newspapers and getting his name out there. So I think that it wasn’t really America voting for him, it was more him getting the word out and getting the votes to enter the house.
JC: Yeah. Did your opinions of any of the roommates change at the end of your time together than when you first met them in the beginning?
KA: Yeah, definitely. Some changed for the worse and some changed for the better. At first, because of her background and stuff, I was completely opposed of Brianna. But towards the end I loved her to death, and I think that she grew the most and she taught me so much. So probably out of everyone, my opinion of her changed the most. Sometimes we met someone you think they are such a good person, but once you get to know you learn that they aren’t such good people. That happened mostly with the boys.
JC: Did you learn anything about yourself while you were on the show?.
KA: I learned a lot. I think this was definitely a life-changing experience. I learned a lot of things. Being from a sorta small town in Columbia, South Carolina, I learned to be more open-minded and less judgmental. I learned about other cultures and lifestyles. There is a lot of down time, so I definitely thought about who I truly was and what I truly wanted in life to be happy and confident with that.
JC: Cool. The show just premiered in the U.S. and will premiere soon in Canada, but have you had any fans coming up to you yet?
KA: Yes, it’s really weird when it happens. I start to blush. I get really embarrassed, because I don’t know what to say. It’s really weird. I’m just myself, so I don’t understand why people would freak out meeting me. It’s really strange. (Laughs).
JC: Yeah, I bet. Do you think you might want to do a Real World/Road Rules Challenge one day?
KA: Maybe, but I don’t really want to become a reality TV star or anything. I want to do other things. Typically when people are labeled as “reality TV stars” they don’t get chances to do many other things in the entertainment industry in Hollywood.
JC: Yeah. So what are you doing now and what do you want to do in the future?
KA: Right now I’m back home, saving money to move out to LA. But I’m doing some appearances and trying to get more people involved in being green. What I really want to do is be a host on like E! News or Entertainment Tonight. Something like that.
JC: Very cool. Well thanks so much for your time and good luck with everything.
KA: Thank you.
– The Real World: Hollywood airs on MTV on Wednesday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT time.
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