RW Homecoming: New Orleans (2022)

[Zizzlezazzle]

It won’t let me post a screenshot because the jpeg size is too big, but Julie is on Beth’s IG Live right now getting made up for the CCA show tonight…I guess they’re closer than I thought (but Beth also never, ever misses an opportunity to promote her line of false eyelashes).

Jon Brennan also popped in for a minute to say “hi”, but no real tea to spill. Julie is being as OTT and extra as always gushing about how she hopes she sees Jeff Goldblum at the show tonight and will lose her sh*t if she does; thanking people who compliment her, notably saying “oh i like you-can I follow you?” to a woman who posted in the comments that “Kelley is a Karen” (pretty sure that title is firmly Julie’s now). And Beth mentioned something about how sweet it was “that the whole cast came together in the end,” with Julie doing absolutely nothing to dissuade her from that fallacy. 

I know the whole cast was invited, but this also solidifies that this woman has zero, zero shame (I mean duh, but wow). Any normal person would be so mortified at the current backlash against them and the prospect of seeing these people again that they’d stay far, far away from them. I’m now getting anxious just thinking about it. Do they all have to sit at the same table or in the same section together?! Holy freaking awkward hell.

[racked]

2 hours ago, Zizzlezazzle said:

 Julie is being as OTT and extra as always gushing about how she hopes she sees Jeff Goldblum at the show tonight and will lose her sh*t if she does;

So she’s definitely going to try to seduce Jeff Goldblum then, poor guy 

[MerBearStare]

2 hours ago, Zizzlezazzle said:

Beth also never, ever misses an opportunity to promote her line of false eyelashes

I haven't watched any of the other Homecomings and I don't follow any of the Real Worlders on social media, so I don't really know what any of them have been up to after their seasons (of either RW or the Challenge) but this is 100% perfect for Beth. If someone had written a parody show of now middle-aged former MTV reality contestants, this would have absolutely been fake Beth's occupation.

[CeeBeeGee]

1 hour ago, racked said:

So she’s definitely going to try to seduce Jeff Goldblum then, poor guy 

OMG STEP THE FUCK BACK from our national treasure, Julie. If you show him Spencer's dick I will hunt you down.

[Hiyo]

Quote

So she’s definitely going to try to seduce Jeff Goldblum then, poor guy 

No.

He will be the one seducing her, obviously.

[Zizzlezazzle]

Not much of an update…they lost to Drag Race, and Melissa posted a photo of their table roster—Julie was not seated with them and must have been at a separate table with some of the other show producers. No pics from her or from Beth after her glam was finished.

Some cute pics and candid videos of the rest of them all decked out and in the elevator, but no one has posted a formal group shot yet of the attending cast, with or without That Woman.

Imagine attending an event like this and your poor behavior and choices leading you to be seated at an entirely separate table from the rest of your cast. Again, my literal nightmare. If she ever addresses this she’ll doubtless frame it in victim mode as “oh the cool kids wouldn’t let me sit with them.”

Someone should also probably do a quick safety check on Jeff Goldblum today.

[DearEvette]

I love how they all so very carefully do not name her, like Voldemort or something.  LOL.  They've either adopted Melissa's 'That Woman' moniker or 'This Person'.  Heh.  Less hits on her name to drive up her false sense of importance.

[Hiyo]

Quote

like Voldemort or something

Or Candyman.

[BelleBrit]

4 hours ago, Zizzlezazzle said:

Not much of an update…they lost to Drag Race, and Melissa posted a photo of their table roster—Julie was not seated with them and must have been at a separate table with some of the other show producers. No pics from her or from Beth after her glam was finished.

Some cute pics and candid videos of the rest of them all decked out and in the elevator, but no one has posted a formal group shot yet of the attending cast, with or without That Woman.

Imagine attending an event like this and your poor behavior and choices leading you to be seated at an entirely separate table from the rest of your cast. Again, my literal nightmare. If she ever addresses this she’ll doubtless frame it in victim mode as “oh the cool kids wouldn’t let me sit with them.”

Someone should also probably do a quick safety check on Jeff Goldblum today.

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).

[noluvnoluck]

Julie's denying all of Kelley's claims:

[noluvnoluck]

On Melissa:

[BelleBrit]

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.

Edited June 13, 2022 by BelleBrit

[funnygirl]

Julie doesn't seem to grasp that Melissa was just being cordial with her during the remaining days. I don't think Melissa ever wanted or expressed that she wanted a friendship again. Adults are able to navigate situations in a kindly manner without having to be friends. But Julie is not an adult.

As for Kelley, we saw on tape how Julie ambushed Kelley when she was walking into the house thrusting her phone in Kelley's face with the photo. She never asked for consent. A simple "do you want to see a hot picture of my husband?" first. 

I think it's funny that Julie was in fact at the Critics Choice event last night. If not for this thread, I would've been none the wiser. I thought it was great that Melissa, Kelley, Danny, and Tokyo were there as the show representatives. They looked like they had a nice time together. That Julie was separated from the rest of them speaks volumes. Production honoring Kelley's wishes for boundaries tells me that they were very much aware of Julie's behavior while filming and understanding of Kelley's concerns. 

Edited June 13, 2022 by funnygirl

[DearEvette]

2 minutes ago, funnygirl said:

Julie doesn't seem to grasp that Melissa was just being cordial with her during the remaining days. I don't think Melissa ever wanted or expressed that she wanted a friendship again. Adults are able to navigate situations in a kindly manner without having to be friends. But Julie is not an adult.

Bingo.

Melissa also very succinctly laid out her philosophy of forgiveness as it related to her conversion to Judaism and that explains a lot about how she treated Julie's apology.  But she was clear in that explanation that she was not Julie's friend.

The thing with Julie's refutations, also, is that she has no credibility.  The show's very first episode established her lack of credibility when they talked about what she did with Danny and Melissa behind their backs and those terrible letters.  She did people dirty and even now, 22 years later, she attempted to explain it away, deflect blame and weasel out of it.  If there had been any evidence of adult growth, you might almost give her the benefit of the doubt or at the very least say it was a she said/she said issue.  But Julie showed no evidence of real adult growth and  blatantly spoke about trying to 'create good tv.'  She invites healthy skepticism in everything she says because she comes across as calculated, if not outright dishonest.

[Bastet]

I thought it was hilarious that Melissa high-fived Julie goodbye when she'd hugged everyone else, and here comes delusional Julie citing that gesture as a sign they were becoming friends again.  That person lives in a world of her own making.

Melissa has said she decided to err on the side of grace in letting the grievance go, to regard Julie's apology as a genuine one, which compels her to accept it lest she become the problem.  That's the space in which she left the house, not Julie's delusions of burgeoning friendship.  (When they started doing press to promote the show, and Melissa realized she was right the first time and that apology wasn't shit, she was "dismayed, but not shocked".)

[MicheleinPhilly]

She is absolutely delusional. 

Because I am a masochist, I actually checked out her IG over the weekend. My word, she is an absolute nutter. And the slobbering sycophants who comment (including Beth S which seriously makes me LOL) are just as pathetic. 

I noted several mentions by her of her season being "written" like she was playing the role that she had been cast for with scripts and all. 

[CeeBeeGee]

JFC, Julie. Do the math. You're the only one anyone had a problem with. You're the outcast. You're the one most of them indicated got a "nice" edit. You're the one who came across as fame-desperate and you're the one who showed they had absolutely no boundaries, including those of a sexual nature.

You. You. You. You are the common denominator.

[BingeyKohan]

It kills me she posts all this as replies to comments from randos. I think it’s because she doesn’t know how to post text in an IG story. The denials don’t surprise me. I’m surprised they’re not more extreme, like her denying her husband even has a pen!s and that she never set foot in the kitchen during her whole stay.

Edited June 13, 2022 by BingeyKohan

[choclatechip45]

I think it was clear from Julie's pre show comments that she gave plenty of reason for Melissa to err on the side of caution. 

[Miss Slay]

Reading all this confirmed a sneaking suspicion I’ve had for a long time. There were many differences between Homecoming 1 (New York) and Homecoming 2 (Los Angeles) but key one was that Los Angeles had viral moments. Moments that were shared on social media and even made it to talk shows.

I believe Julie watched and studied the Los Angeles Homecoming which had the Tammy/David incident as a focal point. It had so much attention – social media posts, think pieces, Youtube analysis, it was written about in newspapers, ect. I think that Julie was trying to re-create that with her David aka Tokyo. He wasn’t very popular during the first season and I think she thought the roommates would side with her and she would get a lot of attention. Luckily, it didn’t go that way.

It's probably going to get nasty when Julie does respond – and I hope the rest of the cast ignores her.

Edited June 14, 2022 by Miss Slay

[Hiyo]

Quote

It's probably going to get nasty when Julie does respond – and I hope the rest of the cast ignores her.

Get nasty?

[heatherchandler]

On 6/9/2022 at 9:38 AM, Hiyo said:

Is it wrong for me to wish that someone tracked down Squirral, invited her to the house, and locked her in a room with Julie? Cause if it is, I don’t want to be right.

Who is Squirral?  

[Hiyo]

In one episode of the original season, Julie is crushing on this guy. Squirrel was a co-worker of his who also seemed to be crushing on him. They all ended up at a house party where people were boxing for fun. Squirrel convinced Julie to go a few rounds with her, and Julie thought it would be fun, for some reason. Squirrel ended up kicking her ass.

Edited June 14, 2022 by Hiyo

[Hiyo]

[choclatechip45]

8 hours ago, Miss Slay said:

Reading all this confirmed a sneaking suspicion I’ve had for a long time. There were many differences between Homecoming 1 (New York) and Homecoming 2 (Los Angeles) but key one was that Los Angeles had viral moments. Moments that were shared on social media and even made it to talk shows.

I believe Julie watched and studied the Los Angeles Homecoming which had the Tammy/David incident as a focal point. It had so much attention – social media posts, think pieces, Youtube analysis, it was written about in newspapers, ect. I think that Julie was trying to re-create that with her David aka Tokyo. He wasn’t very popular during the first season and I think she thought the roommates would side with her and she would get a lot of attention. Luckily, it didn’t go that way.

It's probably going to get nasty when Julie does respond – and I hope the rest of the cast ignores her.

Except Homecoming New Orleans filmed before Homecoming Los Angeles aired. 

Edited June 14, 2022 by choclatechip45

[ljenkins782]

18 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Bingo.

Melissa also very succinctly laid out her philosophy of forgiveness as it related to her conversion to Judaism and that explains a lot about how she treated Julie's apology.  But she was clear in that explanation that she was not Julie's friend.

The thing with Julie's refutations, also, is that she has no credibility.  The show's very first episode established her lack of credibility when they talked about what she did with Danny and Melissa behind their backs and those terrible letters.  She did people dirty and even now, 22 years later, she attempted to explain it away, deflect blame and weasel out of it.  If there had been any evidence of adult growth, you might almost give her the benefit of the doubt or at the very least say it was a she said/she said issue.  But Julie showed no evidence of real adult growth and  blatantly spoke about trying to 'create good tv.'  She invites healthy skepticism in everything she says because she comes across as calculated, if not outright dishonest.

And Kelley just has zero motivation to make shit up. She has a nice life and a book coming out, but even without that, Kelley's never shown an inclination to get entangled in drama. 

Julie's assertion that Kelley "looked bad in an episode" just doesn't make any sense. Kelley looked a bit uptight, but I'll take uptight over wildly inappropriate, boundary-less, shit-stirring. Kelley was mostly in the background for the season, as she wanted to be, so I highly doubt she'd lose her mind and start spreading lies simply because she got a little more airtime where she wasn't psyched about nerf wars and fake Mardi Gras.

Julie still claiming that was a shirtless pic...please. The reaction alone suggests otherwise, plus Danny's confirmation, plus the way the other guys were trying to get away from her phone, I highly doubt they would have been so squeamish over a simple shirtless pic. 

And of all Julie's BS claims in those IG replies, the one I doubt the very most is the one where she  claims she has great friends at home. This girl doesn't have a real friend in the world, I guarantee it. You can't behave this way in life and have real, genuine friends. I could see her having short-term, bright burning acquaintanceships, but narcissists show their true colors sooner or later and people disengage.

[heatherchandler]

10 hours ago, Hiyo said:

In one episode of the original season, Julie is crushing on this guy. Squirrel was a co-worker of his who also seemed to be crushing on him. They all ended up at a house party where people were boxing for fun. Squirrel convinced Julie to go a few rounds with her, and Julie thought it would be fun, for some reason. Squirrel ended up kicking her ass.

Thank you, and thank you for the video. I do not remember this Squirrel.. I have a memory of Baxter and Julie's crush on him.  I love Danny's comments and Melissa's facial expressions.  Also, Melissa saying, "her name is Squirrel!" when Julie said later she didn't think it would get violent, just supposed to be fun boxing.

I am a non-violent person but it was satisfying to see Julie get clocked.

[Zizzlezazzle]

It’s not looking great for future seasons 😩.

[Legalbeagle421]

On 6/13/2022 at 2:52 PM, funnygirl said:

I think it's funny that Julie was in fact at the Critics Choice event last night. If not for this thread, I would've been none the wiser. I thought it was great that Melissa, Kelley, Danny, and Tokyo were there as the show representatives. They looked like they had a nice time together. That Julie was separated from the rest of them speaks volumes. Production honoring Kelley's wishes for boundaries tells me that they were very much aware of Julie's behavior while filming and understanding of Kelley's concerns. 

Same! I thought she wasn’t invited. I went to her Instagram to see if she had posted anything about the Kelley situation and saw pictures of her dressed up. They truly paid her dust and no acknowledgment whatsoever and I love that for them.

[javajeanelaine]

Julie: psycho then, psycho now. 

[ljenkins782]

1 hour ago, Zizzlezazzle said:

It’s not looking great for future seasons 😩.

Can't you just hear that in Amaya's voice? As I was reading, I'm hearing Amaya's throaty drawl saying those words. 

I do think this season, much as I enjoyed it, would strike fear in the hearts of OG seasons. The shenanigans of editing (on top of Julie's insanity) wouldn't entice me to take the chance of looking like a fool or like an adulterer, like what they did to Jamie this season. 

I can just see it, they'd do a SF reunion and edit it to look like Judd was still trying to get with Rachel even after all the years they've both been married to other RW folks. I can see the team who edited this past season thinking that would be a real ratings-grabber.:(

[Asp Burger]

I don't have much to add on this latest post-show round that hasn't been said. We can believe one of two things; (1) Kelley, a fairly public person about whom the worst anyone said even 22 years ago was that she was boring and that she gossiped a little with Danny, has decided to smear Julie with outrageous lies. In this endeavor, she has been embraced and supported by three of five other cast members. The other two haven't commented to say Julie is getting a raw deal and none of this happened. Or (2) Julie, who vowed to be the one to "make good TV," and who's been grossly inappropriate on this series and others before it, was also grossly inappropriate in incidents not caught on camera. As bad as she seemed in what we saw, she was getting a good edit. 

It isn't a hard call for me.

On 6/13/2022 at 2:14 PM, BelleBrit said:

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.

About that. Here is producer Andrew Hoegl's quote about Matt and Julie, from the 2000 New Orleans book. "I thought it was really funny to watch Matt and Julie's relationship. It was so painfully obvious that Julie was just pining away for him every second of the day. For the first month and a half, Matt was totally oblivious, and then afterward he was uncomfortable. After she realized he was uncomfortable, she did it more. She'd try to kiss him on camera! His squirming just made us laugh." 

That quote (and the mentality behind it) is an example of why even those of us who have fond memories of Bunim/Murray shows from the '90s and early '00s have complicated feelings about them today. That's hardly the worst behavior production encouraged (they fed Puck's "bad-boy legend" nonsense by putting him on television regularly for a decade; they invited the violent CT back for Challenge after Challenge; they didn't send Julie herself packing after the harness incident), but it's troubling. Just because it was a cute blond girl doing it didn't make sexual harassment wholesome fun.

You have to wonder what effect it had on Julie if she got positive reinforcement for acting that way in 2000. The feedback could be anything from crew members giggling to producers praising/thanking her for it at the end of the season. Well, there's no "if" -- Hoegl's quote itself is positive reinforcement. 

Edited June 15, 2022 by Asp Burger

[ljenkins782]

Torturing myself with Julie's inept Instagramming (she does seem to have mastered deleting comments though, none of the threads make sense), but this remark prompted by someone complimenting her body caught my eye:

Quote

juliestoffermtv

Verified

@rshicl Thank you! I work pretty hard at eating clean & I really appreciate you posting this compliment! I try not to eat white sugar or flour, and very little milk. Nuts, eggs, broccoli, hummus & coffee are my staples, and then I just do a lot of active things like boating, yoga, running, CrossFit, & chasing three kids + one foster kid around all day lol...🙂

Nice of her to divide her kids into hers + foster kid. Not sure what that kid's situation is, but if they thought they found a home, think again apparently!

Also, Beth S is absolutely shameless with her stupid eyelash business, she'll attach herself to anyone. Too bad for her that Tami couldn't tolerate her, she would have been an ideal model for those dumb things.

[Zizzlezazzle]

3 hours ago, Asp Burger said:

why even those of us who have fond memories of Bunim/Murray shows from the '90s and early '00s have complicated feelings about them today. That's hardly the worst behavior production encouraged (they fed Puck's "bad-boy legend" nonsense by putting him on television regularly for a decade; they invited the violent CT back for Challenge after Challenge; they didn't send Julie herself packing after the harness incident), but it's troubling. Just because it was a cute blond girl doing it didn't make sexual harassment wholesome fun.

Yes, well said. I am making my way through rewatching all of the older Challenges on Paramount+ Right now that start well after the old school Road Rules and Battle of the Seasons/Sexes (which they don’t have) with the first one being the Inferno 2 up to present day.

It’s a masochist exercise that I don’t particularly recommend unless you’re looking for some background noise.

The early aughts challenges are *horrifying* in so many ways. Of course the Tonya sexual assault lingers in everyone’s minds along with Kenny, Evan, Bananas, CT, Wes, Veronica, Tina, etc just generally behaving terribly, but some of the bullying and rampant misogyny got so dark on certain seasons and episodes that it almost made me want to cry: Tonya getting called a r*tard by the boys and viciously ganged up on by the women; clothes getting dumped in pools; women getting called sluts or dumb and stupid and having inferior strength that’s weighing the men down; sooooo many sizeist and negative comments from women and men about challengers’ weights. The Gauntlet 3 finale where Big Easy appears ready to die with his eyes rolling back in his head as he’s being dragged through the final challenge and getting screamed at by Evan and Kenny is the one I finally had to turn off.

BMP is lucky someone hasn’t actually died on one of these things or that there haven’t been further lawsuits despite the draconian contracts they all have to sign.

Like the earlier RW seasons not appearing on TV, you can watch some of the very early Road Rules seasons on Dailymotion, on your computer or phone, and that’s probably what I should be doing  (I started RR European Adventure the other day).
 

[BelleBrit]

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.

[Asp Burger]

From Melissa's Twitter.

[ljenkins782]

Melissa and Kelley look stunning, not a fan of that haircut on Danny. And is Tokyo wearing shorts with a jacket? It's a nice pic of him, but his fashion choices continue to flummox me.

[Bastet]

6 hours ago, BelleBrit said:

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.

I wonder if Melissa knew she did that; adequate COVID protocols were one of her conditions for agreeing to do the show.

[racked]

8 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

Melissa and Kelley look stunning, not a fan of that haircut on Danny. And is Tokyo wearing shorts with a jacket? It's a nice pic of him, but his fashion choices continue to flummox me.

He is committed to that sweatband. But this season made me have so much affection for him. He just seems like a really easy person to be around now. So different from his first go round. Love that they had a great time and don’t mention Julie at all. 

[For Cereals]

23 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

Nice of her to divide her kids into hers + foster kid. Not sure what that kid's situation is, but if they thought they found a home, think again apparently!

She’s gross.  I can only hope it’s a temporary placement.

On 6/13/2022 at 9:34 PM, Hiyo said:

In one episode of the original season, Julie is crushing on this guy. Squirrel was a co-worker of his who also seemed to be crushing on him. They all ended up at a house party where people were boxing for fun. Squirrel convinced Julie to go a few rounds with her, and Julie thought it would be fun, for some reason. Squirrel ended up kicking her ass.

I forgot this!  
 

Also, Julie will never not look like one of the lost Osmands to me.  Same teeth…

Edited June 16, 2022 by For Cereals

[Yogisbooboo64]

12 hours ago, For Cereals said:

Also, Julie will never not look like one of the lost Osmands to me.  Same teeth…

Heh, I've had that thought 22 years ago as well as now.

[Faceplant]

On 6/14/2022 at 11:44 PM, ljenkins782 said:

Nice of her to divide her kids into hers + foster kid. Not sure what that kid's situation is, but if they thought they found a home, think again apparently!

I'm sure she did that just to remind everyone that she is a foster parent. Then everyone will tell her how amazing she is for doing something so selfless. That's a backdoor brag. 

[Asp Burger]

A new Melissa interview in Vulture. "The show had been on for eight seasons by the time we got on, and we kind of did know what we were getting into, but the piece that I didn’t understand was the permanence of the choice. I’m now 45 years old, and I’m still Melissa from The Real World."

If you're out of free articles with this site and you're wondering whether you should clear your browser just for this, I'd say it depends on how much you like Melissa. There's nothing in it she hasn't said on the Homecoming interview circuit, her social media, or the show itself, but it's a pretty good read. I love that "that lady" doesn't come up even once.  

https://www.vulture.com/article/real-world-homecoming-new-orleans-melissa-beck.html#comments

[choclatechip45]

Dave Holmes interviewed Tokyo. Nice to see Tokyo and Kelley have kept in contact and mentions her as part of his support system. 

https://decider.com/2022/06/17/dave-holmes-tokyo-real-world-homecoming-new-orleans-interview/

[Bastet]

8 hours ago, Asp Burger said:

I love that "that lady" doesn't come up even once.  

Her complete absence makes me feel like Melissa agreed to the interview on that condition, like "I would love to answer some of your questions about the show, but I have said all I need to say about that lady".

I like the way Melissa being a big RW fan before and after being on the show affects her thoughts on participating:

Quote

By the time we were approached to gauge our level of interest, I had already seen Homecoming: New York because I have always been a fan of The Real World, even before I got onto the show. I was watching the show as a fan but also as a person who actually had that highly specific experience where your life is changed forevermore by being on The Real World. So when I was watching scenes where Julie Gentry was explaining how she would go on auditions and people would know exactly who she was, but at the same time, she wasn’t able to leverage that visibility into the career of her dreams, that really spoke to me. I really enjoyed getting their perspective on that very weird in-between space before social media and before influencers where we had to navigate life as post-reality-TV not-stars.

Quote

When producers approached me about it, their whole thing was like, “There are going to be hard conversations because we’re going to revisit the racism conversations that you had. We’re going to revisit ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” which Danny had to become the face of and endure for many, many years postshow. So I understood that there was an emotionally wrought intellectual conversation to be had, but I also was told it would be genuinely fun. They wanted to really touch on nostalgia, which, if you look at the landscape of television right now, everybody’s rebooting everything. So I understood that.

I did not watch the show again. I’ve only watched the show one time and that was in the year 2000 when it came out. I really did not want to revisit that because it’s like listening to your voice on an answering machine. So I just went in there raw and understood that we were going to have to talk about the swamp thing. I was thinking, Oh God, they’re gonna bring back all the times that I was flirting with Jamie and here I am now happily married, and that’s going to be a weird conversation. But it was fine. I stayed inside my body as best I could and got the work done. I’m still standing.

From that Tokyo interview, as a fellow introvert, even though I don't share the specific experience of knowing it's possible I'm going to have someone try to talk with me because they recognize me from TV, I nod along with this so hard my neck is going to hurt later:

Quote

Again, I’m a person that just doesn’t go to social events too often, right? And when I do, I have in my head, “Okay, 15 minutes, you’re doing two rounds, thanking everyone, thanking the host, blah blah blah.” I have to save up that energy, but then I also have to know when I have nothing left and all I’m gonna be doing is being a negative booboo.
...
But we also need to realize what we’re capable of, you know what I mean? Because if I can’t give you what you deserve, and I’m not capable of doing anything derivative thereof, then it’s best that we just don’t have the interaction, because I’m not worthy of the moment. But it’s never going to come across that way. It’s going to come across like, Oh, you’re an asshole. So you’ve got to work it. You’ve got to somehow work your way to making something happen when people give you the effort.

And, specific to encountering fans, this is a lovely perspective Tokyo has:

Quote

Because the thing is that the people who will come up to you and say, “Hey, I loved this thing you did,” they know in the back of their minds that they’re intrusive to your day. That’s why the best people who come up are the ones that are apologetic at first, because they know they’re stopping you from doing whatever it is you’re doing. Your responsibility is to realize and understand how much courage it takes to first lead with an apology, because it’s always hard for us to say we’re sorry. It’s hard for us to apologize, but they’re leading with it, because they’re excited to see you. So it’s our responsibility to say “okay, it took a lot of courage for them to get to an I’m sorry, so they can let you know this moment is special to them.” Once you have an understanding that it’s awkward for them as well, then you’re on a level playing field. Now, I’m no longer just this guy from The Real World, and you’re no longer just a person behind the counter of Walgreens. Now, we’re both awkward, so let’s talk and have a moment.

[mandymax]

On 6/19/2022 at 3:04 PM, Bastet said:

Her complete absence makes me feel like Melissa agreed to the interview on that condition, like "I would love to answer some of your questions about the show, but I have said all I need to say about that lady".

I like the way Melissa being a big RW fan before and after being on the show affects her thoughts on participating:

From that Tokyo interview, as a fellow introvert, even though I don't share the specific experience of knowing it's possible I'm going to have someone try to talk with me because they recognize me from TV, I nod along with this so hard my neck is going to hurt later:

And, specific to encountering fans, this is a lovely perspective Tokyo has:

I just have to say one more time how much I really, truly, wholeheartedly enjoyed this season, and how much I got out of it.  Even the whole Julie thing can be appreciated because her shenanigans only served to play up, by their forced interactions with her. how classy and mature all the rest of them have become as adults.

[1011101010001]

For those in the Chicago area who may be interested Jamie is making a public appearance on Sunday.  https://m.bpt.me/event/5461480

[snarts]

Julie (& family) are on tonight's new House Hunters S215 E11:  "Looking for Lake Life in Wisconsin" 

Not sure when it was filmed in relation to the reunion but in it  they'd started the foster child process but were not yet actually fostering.

Julie's again in her LuLaRoe leggings so I guess she doesn't wear real clothes. 

Edited July 7, 2022 by snarts

[Natalie68]

On 7/6/2022 at 7:17 PM, snarts said:

Julie (& family) are on tonight's new House Hunters S215 E11:  "Looking for Lake Life in Wisconsin" 

Not sure when it was filmed in relation to the reunion but in it  they'd started the foster child process but were not yet actually fostering.

Julie's again in her LuLaRoe leggings so I guess she doesn't wear real clothes. 

I love HH but I couldn't watch this one.  She bugs me that much.

[MsJamieDornan]

Quote

Julie (& family) are on tonight's new House Hunters S215 E11:  "Looking for Lake Life in Wisconsin"

https://heavy.com/entertainment/hgtv/real-world-star-on-house-hunters/  I'm not sure I can watch it.