BelleBrit

Ah, ok, that makes a lot more sense then, since I had sworn that there was reference to them thereafter (at a reunion?) having their first meeting captured on camera. I must have missed the part where he said that they were in LA for the Challenge and that Syrus was just egging Sean on. I agree then that Syrus is definitely giving himself more credit than deserved re: getting them together-I don't think that I've watched that first season of the Challenge since it was first on the air, but I remember that Sean did NOT seem shy with Rachel ortalking about his crush on her on the show.

I had thought so too. Syrus said in the interview that they were at a party and Sean was really nervous to go talk to Rachel, so he introduced them since they (Syrus and Rachel) were already friends.

I was a little surprised too, since most of the cast members always seemed to have love for Sean even though they acknowledged his political views were different than most of theirs. I didn't get a sense that there was a falling out per se when he said "ex friend", just that there didn't seem to be much contact/much of a relationship. It wasn't all negative. He does say that on their first night in Boston when he asked everyone if they wanted to go out, Sean's was the only arm that went up.

Nathan has said in interviews that he talks to Irene and that she would be down to do a Homecoming. He did not know the status of what Stephen, Janet, and Lindsey were doing these days-he said that some people refused to communicate, and that he was surprised because they were people who he thought would be down for a Seattle Homecoming. He fell out of touch with David for a while but he talks with him again now, and he got re-connected with Rebecca through discussions about doing a Homecoming. So I'm guessing that no cast members from the Boston season were at Sean and Rachel's daughter's wedding. Syrus gave an interview recently that I watched on YouTube, he referred to Sean as "Ex congressman, ex friend", and when the interviewer asked him about that, Syrus said "We don't talk." He said that he was the one who introduced Sean and Rachel and at that time, he thought that she was more Republican than he was. And he said that at the end of the day, unless someone can stand for basic human rights, he can't eff with them. I think that he ended it by saying that if he saw Sean hopefully it would be cordial and that they wouldn't need to have that conversation, but at the same time, he wants to have that conversation.

Agreed-I think that cast mates should at least say that they do not want to do it, they don't even have to give a reason, I think there has been an implication that some ghosted instead of saying "I cannot do this, I wish you well, please do not contact me about this again." I believe that Nathan from the Seattle season implied that when he tried to get in touch with some people on his cast regarding a Homecoming season, contact was not returned, and the implication was that it was Lindsey/Janet. I think that unless you ended on really bad terms with people, there is a minimum of loyalty/kindness that is owed, though of course we never know the full behind the scenes details. Jon Murray had mentioned in an interview that while Homecoming has not yet been renewed, that they had a few seasons/casts "in their pocket" who they could go to, so I doubt any future Homecomings would be for casts that I'm interested in. When I compared Chicago Kyle to Hawaii Colin, it was more in the sense of them being mediocre white boys who got opportunities. I also preferred Colin to Kyle, even though I did think he was gaslight-y and immature re: his relationship with Amaya, I do think that he felt genuinely hurt when Amaya was interested in his friend.

If I were in the cast, I would have been pissed enough at Julie/production that she wasn’t forced to leave after breaking COVID protocols and “escaping” to her husband’s hotel room. Aside from the fact that the cast had to quarantine for a time before filming could even start, increasing the length of time away from their family and jobs, Julie has no conception or regret for how those actions could impact those around her. One of the castmates is HIV positive (whether Julie knew it at the time or not), she has no idea whether cast/film crews or their family are immunocompromised and what role the established COVID protocols had on them ultimately deciding to sign on to the project. For me, Julie is a little bit of a chicken or the egg situation. A (NYT?) writer on Twitter made the point that a major premise of the NOLA season was that Julie was exiting the house as a slightly better person than when she entered the house, and that the Homecoming season is “…an interesting examination of that.” I do remember production gushing over Julie in the book about how she was a “gift”, because you never knew what she was going to do next. In his Hot Takes and Deep Dives interview where the host and Danny are discussing how Julie’s mom was her agent, Danny says that it points to some of Julie's activities perhaps being “learned behavior”-I think it’s clear that some of that stuff and the attention that Julie got during/after the season created a dangerous Fame Monster synergy in her mind. I believe that Julie has also credited Bunim-Murray with giving her lots of tv/work opportunities following the show (for the Canadian series that she was on), so who knows how many people she knows or is connected to behind the scenes.

Big Chicago Kyle energy. I never got production's infatuation with Colin. If only he had stayed in the reject pile.

So has anyone ever read Colin's "A New Ladies Man" book or whatever dreck? 😬 There is no justice in this world where Colin was given a book deal and Melissa from New Orleans wasn't. Did not know that Kaia wanted to be in the movies. Now I'm thinking of the skit that Kaia and Matt did in the finale. "Five. Long. YEARS, Mickey!" 😜

So Melissa was very difficult to live with after 22 "glorious years without her", yet Julie was very eager to rekindle their relationship after they left the house, texting her immediately after they left and asking her to hang out when they got to the hotel? 😏 I always figured that it may have been an undies with erection picture that Julie was showing Kelley-but, after someone has established with you that they have a boundary and do NOT wish to see that kind of stuff without their consent, it takes a "special" kind of person to not recognize, accept, or even understand why they would choose to have that boundary. I think that Julie gets a special kick out of shocking people, like how she used to push her parents' buttons on the original season by claiming that she is rooming with Matt, or how she used to get really touchy feely with Matt when it was clear that it was making him uncomfortable. Also, I don't think that Julie understands that what 20 year olds feel comfortable chatting about or doing is not the same as what is acceptable when you are 40. I don't even know what to say about Julie downright denying the coffee maker story altogether, except that when all of the other roommates seemingly have a problem with you, the problem is likely you. I think that the conversation that Melissa and Kelley overheard about making good tv provides a lot of context to how Kelley may have felt in thinking that Julie was unpredictable and erratic. She gives off the same energy even when she is getting made up by Beth in that Instagram video. I do wish that Kelley would have been a little more forthright in her interviews with production, but maybe she needed some more time to process before she decided to be public about her true reason for leaving.

Wasn't Colin on a very short lived TV show following his season, or was that not until later on? Maybe he had an agent who wanted him to try out for pilots instead, and that conflicted with the Challenge timing. I remember Amaya said in one of the books (the New Orleans one that had the Hawaii updates) that she thought it was funny because Colin always swore that he did not want to be an actor.

Julie probably thinks that it's appropriate for her to sit with the producers and that she deserves a producer credit for the season... Kelley's Instagram had said that production told her that they would make sure that she and Julie were staying in separate hotels for the award show weekend. I really hope that they had Kelley, Danny, Tokyo, and Melissa at the same hotel, and that they had Julie off somewhere on her own! Melissa said that Matt and Jamie were unable to make it (otherwise, maybe they would have tried to make them sit at a separate table with Julie. I would love to know what Jamie's wife thinks of the Julie situation).

The finale was fine. I enjoyed seeing Lionel and hearing David's song from the original season. But it was very difficult to watch in the context of Kelley's Instagram post and the show presenting as the castmates not knowing why Kelley was leaving and all being on seemingly good terms with Julie. Do we really buy that production did not know what was going on, even if the confrontation about the coffee maker happened on their "day off"?"[after Kelley keyed in production] From that point forward, they moved me to a separate hotel and had all of my activities done without asking me to interact with anyone I felt unsafe around. They will do the same this weekend at the awards show." So does that mean Julie is attending the awards show as well? I feel like the audience and castmates were really robbed of seeing what the show would be like without Julie's nonsense. There was really no need to let them indulge in that fake ass arc about Julie trying to force a love triangle with Jamie. And Julie has some balls by saying in the Mike Lewis interview that Homecoming was a bit of a "Means Girls" situation. Granted I usually watch the episodes in the background while getting ready for work, but did they leave out some of the things that they showed in the previews? I don't remember hearing Tokyo say in the episodes to Julie "stop looking for reasons" and Julie crying and saying "I went through so much pain with religion in general" (I'm fine with us not seeing that scene, unless it's just something I missed).

Ironically, Danny has been a big advocate for psilocybin therapy as a means of treating his complex PTSD and has hopes of opening up a retreat for that purpose in Vermont. Really puts new meaning to when Danny said to Julie when she walked into the house “Girl, you need to put that psilocybin down!” I…think that Julie needs to invest in a different kind of therapy! 😬She is really giving some manic, manic energy this time around.

Danny has repeatedly referred to Julie as a pathological narcissistic in his interviews.

Ok, I also dug out my New Orleans book just to make sure that I did not Mandela Effect the thing about Kelley going to the movies. It was actually Matt that said it, not production, ("The truth is that until Kelley met Peter, she wasn't very happy in the house. Before she met Peter, all she did was eat, sleep, and go to movies.") So, there wasn't anything about production not being able to film her at the movies, but I guess I just interpret it that way/that that was Kelley's motivation since it seems one of the few places where there would be difficulties for them to film. Re: signing on with the rest of the cast. Melissa has said in interviews that even though she had not kept in touch with her roommates, she did feel loyalty to them and since she did not know what each of their financial situations were, she didn't want to be the one person who messed up the opportunity for them. I checked out Julie's Instagram and woof, who are these people commenting to her about how great she is. 🙃 Julie makes several references to the other cast members lawyering up-"I guess I should have known I would get the same editing treatment as Becky and Beth, but I didn't realize that my roommates got together beforehand to lawyer up and plan" and "yup, I know that Melissa and Kelley shared the same lawyer, so I wouldn't be surprised if they got paid way more than the rest of us to just sit around on tic tok [sic] & blame me for all their worries." Oof, she is so ridiculous. Plus I believe that Danny confirmed recently that they all got paid the same, and said yesterday on Instagram that Julie's actually been getting a generous edit.

I'm also surprised that they have not shown a clip of Melissa throwing the chair-it was such a heavily promoted clip when the show was being aired. I was also wishing that they included that Peter had a girlfriend in those clips of when he and Kelley first started dating! 😉 I remember in the book for the season, other cast members/production said that Kelley would spend a lot of time going to the movies before she met Peter, since she couldn't be filmed there. Production also complained about her trying to manage her image on the show. I hope that one of the other cast members sheds light on how many days were left on the project before Kelley left early (assuming she does). I wonder how their contracts handled payment if cast members exited before the full two weeks was up. Is it too late to hope that Squirrel makes a surprise visit before the season is over? 😆

Agreed. I just think it's a little funny in that context because Matt and Julie are the ones that hug Danny in the preview when he gives the teary "I love you!" speech. We have seen that Melissa has been cordial with Julie, but I think even clueless Julie can sense how Melissa truly feels about her because you don't see much of them interacting one on one. I will say that I'm surprised that they did not do a generic clip show from the "demon tv" on all the national and world events that happened immediately following their season-US election of 2000, September 11, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Hurricane Katrina. Danny has commented in show press that the show is nostalgic for a lot of people because it came right before this era. But at the same time, I'm grateful that we'll be spared a clip of Julie crying about how she was supposedly almost on one of the September 11 flights.

Everything with Julie and her husband seemed very contrived. I don't blame Kelley for wanting to peace out, but at the same time, I think that she could hang on a few more days and that it doesn't have to be so dramatic, especially considering she is a life coach and well versed in coping mechanisms. I had a different interpretation of Kelley saying that Julie's husband was "in a state"-a different meaning than that he was just shirtless-and I hope that I'm wrong. It's interesting that Julie said in her Instagram comments that her friends while she was in the house were Jamie and Danny. We do see a lot of Danny and Julie talking and hanging out together, but we also know that Danny has made it very clear in the post-show interviews how he feels about Julie. I'm sure he was trying to be cordial to her when they were in the house just to get by, but I wonder if Julie is surprised by what Danny is saying about her now.

God, why is Julie such a weirdo? Her attaching so much importance to her and Jamie's past is strange when they did not even date and it was 20 years ago. Unless it's all a put on to make good television. I can see why Kelley is uncomfortable with Julie-just in that she really seems like a loose canon who is creating drama and cannot read the room-but other than that, not sure why she is making such a big deal about the "hookups" discussion since they really don't pertain to her. She is the one who was asking Jamie and Julie if they had feelings for each other and if any hookups had happened after the show. It's two weeks, not two months, and it's not like they're going to fly Peter out like they did with Paul. But I am worried about this "hall pass" thing that Julie will be trying to force.

That was an interesting interview. Melissa responded to the interview via Twitter taking exception with a few of Danny's takes, namely his claims that no producers or security guards were asking them to leave (he said it was just three straight people wanting to leave a drag show because Julie was acting too drunk), and that Tokyo hadn't changed as much as it would appear he has (she says that he came in open and then put his guards back up after the Julie incident). Danny also says that there was a scene where Tokyo physically tried to remove him that did not make the show. We all knew that the Paul situation was staged and forced, but I didn't realize that Danny really had no choice in the matter-Danny was still resisting and then he realized that they were going to fly Paul in no matter what, and that Paul was "too much of a narcissist to resist."

Yes! I remember Jamie talking in the book about how Matt was going to do web design for him, Melissa was going to work on a women's line for him, he had offered jobs to David and Julie, and had given shares of the company to everyone in the cast. Not sure how long it took before Soulgear fizzled out and he moved on to the next. I remember there was also a lot in the book about people being annoyed because Jamie wanted to promote his company on the show, and it made me laugh since we've seen various members of the cast wear t-shirts for Kelley's book on Homecoming.

I think that there was also a bit about this in the Real World New Orleans you Never Saw. In the book they said it was innocent, it seems Kelley and Danny were just two attractive people who tried kissing for the hell of it, and they said that they were going to laugh if it turned into an episode about what they were doing under the covers. Danny did say in one of the earlier (original New Orleans) episodes that he was "attracted to Kelley and Jamie big time." In the Real World You Never Saw video, Julie insists to them that she hears them making "sounds" under the covers, and they said that it was mostly cuddling going on. I agree that it seems Julie is looking for a fling, and not just to make herself a storyline. Her discussion with Jamie when they were jumping rope was so odd, especially in the context of her wanting to room with him because they had unfinished business.

That episode was so painfully awkward to watch. They let the cast off easy with the quotes from the book-I remember a lot of the cast talking smack about each other (mainly Danny/Kelley vs. Melissa/Jamie) and many were upfront that they were unlikely to keep in touch with each other, though as someone mentioned upthread, Melissa disavowed the book shortly after the show ended. I remember Kelley and Danny talking a lot about how fake they found Jamie's persona to be, and Danny saying that he knew that Jamie wasn't as in love with a girl who he had met in New Orleans as he claimed to be/that he had messed around on her with other girls. Kelley/Jamie had hooked up a few times prior to Kelley meeting Peter, and Danny and Kelley would have occasional makeout sessions. I am grateful that production has spared us from seeing clips of Julie crushing on Matt, at least so far.

I remember that the casting special was edited to imply that Colin had potential romantic chemistry with the Polish “beauty queen” who grew up in a tough neighborhood (and, was edited to imply that he was very put off byAmaya and got a “very 90210 feel” from her). I remember Jason from Real World Boston being the one who said that Amaya would “bring comedy” to the cast. I have a lot of empathy for Amaya when I watch the episodes now, but I definitely remember laughing more at her than with her. I remember reading in one of the books that Justin said that there was one night when he drank with Amaya, and Amaya was very drunk and crawled onto the top bunk with Colin. Colin pushed her and she fell off the top bunk. Amaya took her blankets and slept, for some reason, on the treadmill. Justin said that he felt partially responsible since he was the one who got drunk with Amaya, but that he also became obsessed with the idea of turning on the treadmill to see what would happen.

The worst Hawaii Matt episode for me was the one where he was eavesdropping on Amaya during her STD scare and asked Teck and Kaia"Why do women visit the gynecologist?"(!) and he said something in his interview to the effect of "Why isn't Amaya being more careful with who she shares her genitalia with?"