Real Nude in the Real World MTV

Reality television is a spectator sport we've been playing since MTV launched "The Real world" in 1992. Before Richard got naked on "survivor." before a group of effeminate guys embarrassed themselves by joining the boy band O-Town on "Making the Band" and before we met the bitchy babes on "Love Cruise." MTV created the reality show that could--and would--for more than a decade. Lately, critics have proclaimed the imminent death of the (text concluded on page 82) genre, but people are still hooked on The Real World and its spin-off, Road Rules. Ten years after its debut, The Real World draws ratings among 12- to 34-year-olds that are almost three times higher than in its first season. To honor reality TV's best, we asked the most memorable alums from The Real World and Road Rules to take things a step further and get even more real--as in, real nude. Take another look at The Real World Los Angeles' Beth Stolarczyk, The Real World Miami's Flora Alekseyeva, Road Rules Semester at Sea's Veronica Portillo and Road Rules Quest's Jisela Delgado. You've watched as they've hot-tubbed, partied and argued with their roommates, but you've never seen them like this.

Promoting itself as the "true story of seven strangers, picked to live in a house and have their lives taped to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real," The Real World features incredibly goodlooking--and often insane--people in an immaculate living space. In the first season, filmed over the course of 12 weeks in New York City, the MTV generation became flies on the wall as Soho loft dwellers Eric, Julie, Kevin, Norman, Heather, Andre and Becky pursued their dreams of becoming a model, dancer, writer, artist, rapper, rock star and singer. Eric was the vapid male model. Julie was the small-town virgin. Norman was the token gay. And so on. On the small screen, they flirted. They cried. They talked about sex. They drank. Kevin moved out as a result of racial tension. Now that's compelling TV. Ten years, 10 cities and more than 70 cast members later, The Real World is still a formidable television presence, the reality program that has launched a thousand copycats. In 1994 came Road Rules, basically The Real World in an RV plus a slew of life-threatening stunts and games and a big monetary prize. Today, prime time is crowded with dozens of reality shows in which nonactors (i.e., wannabe actors) are placed in manipulated circumstances.

"The first line on my audition tape was, 'Hi, my name is Beth and I want to be on The Real World because my life is fucked up,' " says Stolarczyk. "I stood on the balcony of my apartment and explained why girls my age could relate to me. I felt trapped in an unhappy relationship. I had issues."

Delgado--touted as a free spirit by cast mate Blair--was chosen because of her candor during the casting process. "I put no effort into the audition," she says. "We sat at a table and everyone spewed BS. They totally lied their asses off. I was just calling them out on their lies. I made it from one round to the next. Now I know they liked me because I was honest and naive. I didn't know what other people knew." Such as? "I was clueless about editing and the way entertainment companies work."

MTV devotees will recall that when season 10's Road Rulers visited the New York Real Worlders, Delgado caused friction between the roommates when she hooked up with Malik and made out with Blair in the confessional room. The group then vacationed in the Hamptons, where Delgado confessed to Malik that she had kissed nearly everyone there. When she made fun of Malik and some of the other guys on videotape, her cast mates got fed up and confronted her. "They love you or they hate you," Delgado says. "People on the street are like, 'Oh my God, you're Jisela. You went to that Real World house and wrecked their lives!' Viewers need to remember that they're seeing me through the eyes of a production company that's putting on a show. It's entertainment. I did the things I did, but they're not necessarily shown in the order that I did them. To everyone else I look really fucked up." Still, Delgado doesn't begrudge her reputation as one of Road Rules' more difficult personalities. "I'm not bitter," she says. "I signed the papers saying they could do anything they wanted. Some people adore me. They think I'm the coolest person on MTV since Madonna. Without me, MTV wouldn't have had a show. People watched. They tuned in next week. They wanted to know what else I was going to do."

The Real World thrives on human drama, and one of the biggest scandals during Stolarczyk's season was when her roommates David and Tami got into a knock-down-drag-out brawl. In a practical joke gone bad, David tried to pull the covers off of a scantily clad Tami. Then Beth accused David of rape. Tami threatened to press charges, while David pleaded his case to the male roommates. Irene said she would leave if David didn't. David ultimately moved out. MTV viewers who didn't get to see the show when it originally aired can now see it (and the other seasons, which took place in San Francisco, London, Boston, Seattle, Hawaii, New Orleans, New York again and Chicago) in syndication. The next season is being filmed in Las Vegas. "They purposely pick people who won't get along," Stolarczyk says. "During the audition process, I said, 'I hate country music' When I moved in, there was Jon, a country singer." So how real was the show? "A lot of things were taken out of context," Stolarczyk says. "They might have asked me something about Tami, but when they edited it, it seemed like I was saying it about someone else. But that's TV," she says. Like Jisela, Beth was not necessarily one of the best-loved roommates. On the recent Real World/Road Rules Fantasy Challenge, in which 32 cast members reunited to compete in stunts, Stolarczyk was described as "Osama Beth Laden" by New York Real Worlder Norman.

"My friends think it's hilarious, because the Beth on the show is not the real Beth," she says. "Flora and I are known as the bitches. I think people are intimidated by me because I'm confident. I didn't grow up in a trailer park and I don't do drugs, so I'm kind of the odd man out."

So why Playboy?

"Playboy was the last thing I thought I'd do," Stolarczyk says. "Everyone is going to be shocked. People expect this from Flora, but not from me."

"I've wanted to pose for Playboy ever since I was a little girl," Delgado says. "It shows women's bodies as temples."

As for the future of reality TV, time will tell. On realityblurred.com, fans can read updates and gossip about Survivor, Big Brother and Temptation Island. Television critics have reserved headstones for most. According to The Washington Post's David Segal and Paul Farhi, "The reality craze shows how quickly TV can eat its own." Maybe so, but we suspect The Real World and Road Rules will survive. "People like to watch a car wreck, and that's what reality TV is," Stolarczyk says. "As long as it's on, people will watch."

"Without Me, MTV didn't have a show. People watched. They tuned in next week. They wanted to know what else I was going to do."

You can also see these MTV women at cyber.playboy.com.