RW: Miami (1996)

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, choclatechip45 said:

It's been rumored that the only thing preventing a Real World Homecoming Miami season is that Melissa won't agree to do it. 

The L.A. Homecoming was missing two cast members, and still got the green light.  I guess because they had the two replacement cast members that season, so they still had seven.  But, still, if there are six instead of seven, that doesn't seem a reason not to do it.  They couldn't have known this going in, but for the NY Homecoming, Eric could only be there via video call and Becky left early; that was still a terrific season with only five people physically interacting for the bulk of it.

[choclatechip45]

19 minutes ago, Bastet said:

The L.A. Homecoming was missing two cast members, and still got the green light.  I guess because they had the two replacement cast members that season, so they still had seven.  But, still, if there are six instead of seven, that doesn't seem a reason not to do it.  They couldn't have known this going in, but for the NY Homecoming, Eric could only be there via video call and Becky left early; that was still a terrific season with only five people physically interacting for the bulk of it.

 Production is weird they were fine doing a Hawaii Homecoming without Matt, it ended up getting scrapped once Colin and Kaia both backed out which is why we ended up with New Orleans (Amaya and Teck confirmed this). Vegas they won't do because Frank won't sign on even though the rest of the cast is on board (Trishelle and Brynn both confirmed this). They won't do Boston without Sean even the rest of the cast will do it (Genesis confirmed this).

So I guess they probably want to revisit some stuff that happened that season that includes Melissa. I guess eventually when they can't get full casts they will have to revisit is it better just to do it without the cast members who won't sign on.

 

 

[Asp Burger]

If there is another Homecoming season for any cast prior to the original Vegas one, I'll watch, but there's gawking at a train wreck and then there’s booking passage on one. Every time a season airs and goes through the publicity cycle, it's going to make more people in middle age (or approaching it) cautious about going through the same thing.

If I were in their position, I would be one of the reluctant ones. It's one thing to be full of yourself and have a “Damn the torpedoes” mentality as a young adult because you can live in luxury for a few months and be on TV, and maybe you think it will open doors. But if I had done this a long time ago and The Real World came knocking again with the opportunity to watch clips and re-litigate conflicts and grudges from decades ago, I wouldn’t do it. It would be like a school reunion where you can’t politely excuse yourself and go talk to someone else after a few minutes. I’ve heard they’re offering cast members six figures, and I’m not surprised, because there’s no other good reason to go through it.

Don’t tell me “To see your housemates again” or “To clear the air and have healing.” If that mattered enough to them, they could do it without the cameras, without the potential of being ripped apart by someone at Vulture with space to fill, without a pile-on from everyone with a Paramount+ subscription and a social-media account. It’s such a different world from the ‘90s and early ‘00s.

So, I’ll be interested to see where it goes now. I know that after New York, reports were that it was renewed for two more seasons.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Asp Burger

[choclatechip45]

37 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

If there is another Homecoming season for any cast prior to the original Vegas one, I'll watch, but there's gawking at a train wreck and then there’s booking passage on one. Every time a season airs and goes through the publicity cycle, it's going to make more people in middle age (or approaching it) cautious about going through the same thing.

If I were in their position, I would be one of the reluctant ones. It's one thing to be full of yourself and have a “Damn the torpedoes” mentality as a young adult because you can live in luxury for a few months and be on TV, and maybe you think it will open doors. But if I had done this a long time ago and The Real World came knocking again with the opportunity to watch clips and re-litigate conflicts and grudges from decades ago, I wouldn’t do it. It would be like a school reunion where you can’t politely excuse yourself and go talk to someone else after a few minutes. I’ve heard they’re offering cast members six figures, and I’m not surprised, because there’s no other good reason to go through it.

Don’t tell me “To see your housemates again” or “To clear the air and have healing.” If that mattered enough to them, they could do it without the cameras, without the potential of being ripped apart by someone at Vulture with space to fill, without a pile-on from everyone with a Paramount+ subscription and a social-media account. It’s such a different world from the ‘90s and early ‘00s.

So, I’ll be interested to see where it goes now. I know that after New York, reports were that it was renewed for two more seasons.

It's been rumored that Tami negotiated the rate to 25k per episode which is what the RW NO cast got (which is why Teck and Amaya were so pissed that Kaia and Colin backed out). Which honestly makes sense why Danny and Melissa would go live with Julie for two weeks and why Kelley would do the show for Danny. I imagine for these cast members who aren't well of that is a lot of money to turn down. 

 

[Black Knight]

8 hours ago, choclatechip45 said:

They won't do Boston without Sean even the rest of the cast will do it (Genesis confirmed this).

It's pretty annoying. He wasn't one of the most memorable or beloved personalities on that season, and they could easily have a great, watchable homecoming with the other six. I'd like to see all the others but wouldn't care about seeing him. With the amount of financial expenses his family must have, I suppose MTV is thinking he'll have to cave eventually and so they should just be patient. But at the same time, it's hard to see how he could go stay in another city for a couple of weeks away from his youngest child. He left a full-time job to take care of her.

[choclatechip45]

8 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

It's pretty annoying. He wasn't one of the most memorable or beloved personalities on that season, and they could easily have a great, watchable homecoming with the other six. I'd like to see all the others but wouldn't care about seeing him. With the amount of financial expenses his family must have, I suppose MTV is thinking he'll have to cave eventually and so they should just be patient. But at the same time, it's hard to see how he could go stay in another city for a couple of weeks away from his youngest child. He left a full-time job to take care of her.

My guess is production thinks some of these holdouts will cave. I don’t think it’s an accident that Cynthia is on All stars, Flora did a podcast interview and was cagey about homecoming (Also did she marry Mitchell? because she mentioned her husband died in an accident a few years ago), Dan has been asking for social media support for a Real world Miami Homecoming.

 

[Faceplant]

20 hours ago, choclatechip45 said:

My guess is production thinks some of these holdouts will cave. I don’t think it’s an accident that Cynthia is on All stars, Flora did a podcast interview and was cagey about homecoming (Also did she marry Mitchell? because she mentioned her husband died in an accident a few years ago), Dan has been asking for social media support for a Real world Miami Homecoming.

 

She said on the podcast that she was briefly married to Mitchell (they ran off to Vegas together), but he's not the one that died. That husband drowned in their swimming pool somehow. Flora mentioned it when she was getting her boobs fixed on Botched a couple years ago. 

 

She did say on the same podcast that she would be willing to do a reunion and made a point of how it wasn't about the money for her because she's set for life. She said she is retired and travels the world with her daughter. She said the reason her cast probably won't have a reunion is because her cast has lives and doesn't have time for challenges and other things. She keeps in touch with Dan and Melissa. 

 

She confirmed (somewhat) that she initiated the protest for more money at the ten year reunion. She seems both bored and defensive throughout the interview, swears a lot, reiterates how much she doesn't care about money or being famous. 

[choclatechip45]

1 hour ago, Faceplant said:

She said on the podcast that she was briefly married to Mitchell (they ran off to Vegas together), but he's not the one that died. That husband drowned in their swimming pool somehow. Flora mentioned it when she was getting her boobs fixed on Botched a couple years ago. 

 

She did say on the same podcast that she would be willing to do a reunion and made a point of how it wasn't about the money for her because she's set for life. She said she is retired and travels the world with her daughter. She said the reason her cast probably won't have a reunion is because her cast has lives and doesn't have time for challenges and other things. She keeps in touch with Dan and Melissa. 

 

She confirmed (somewhat) that she initiated the protest for more money at the ten year reunion. She seems both bored and defensive throughout the interview, swears a lot, reiterates how much she doesn't care about money or being famous. 

Ah okay. One of the articles from Botched mentioned it was Mitchell and I thought that's sad. 

I turned off the interview mid way through because the questions were pretty dull and Flora seemed bored. 

[Faceplant]

58 minutes ago, choclatechip45 said:

Ah okay. One of the articles from Botched mentioned it was Mitchell and I thought that's sad. 

I turned off the interview mid way through because the questions were pretty dull and Flora seemed bored. 

He is seriously a horrible interviewer. He has almost no knowledge of the Real World and comes across so awkward and clueless. His interview with Julie from New Orleans was the worst. He let her ramble nonstop for 90 minutes with no direction. 

 

[choclatechip45]

26 minutes ago, Faceplant said:

He is seriously a horrible interviewer. He has almost no knowledge of the Real World and comes across so awkward and clueless. His interview with Julie from New Orleans was the worst. He let her ramble nonstop for 90 minutes with no direction. 

 

Yeah that was a bad one. He thought a promo featuring Wes for Real World Austin was a national commercial. 

[ljenkins782]

19 hours ago, Faceplant said:

She said on the podcast that she was briefly married to Mitchell (they ran off to Vegas together), but he's not the one that died. That husband drowned in their swimming pool somehow. Flora mentioned it when she was getting her boobs fixed on Botched a couple years ago. 

She did say on the same podcast that she would be willing to do a reunion and made a point of how it wasn't about the money for her because she's set for life. She said she is retired and travels the world with her daughter. She said the reason her cast probably won't have a reunion is because her cast has lives and doesn't have time for challenges and other things. She keeps in touch with Dan and Melissa. 

She confirmed (somewhat) that she initiated the protest for more money at the ten year reunion. She seems both bored and defensive throughout the interview, swears a lot, reiterates how much she doesn't care about money or being famous. 

Sounds like Flora hasn't really changed in the 25+ years since RW Miami, I know nothing of her life post RW, but I have trouble imagining that she worked her butt off and was able to retire early because of her own actions. She seemed like a grifter back then and those people often don't change. And her personality was always abrasive and swear-heavy.

I don't think I have much interest in a reunion of this season. Looking back on it, I don't like too many of the cast members and I can't think of any particular relationship among this group where it had long-term close friendship potential.

[Faceplant]

4 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

Sounds like Flora hasn't really changed in the 25+ years since RW Miami, I know nothing of her life post RW, but I have trouble imagining that she worked her butt off and was able to retire early because of her own actions. She seemed like a grifter back then and those people often don't change. And her personality was always abrasive and swear-heavy.

I don't think I have much interest in a reunion of this season. Looking back on it, I don't like too many of the cast members and I can't think of any particular relationship among this group where it had long-term close friendship potential.

She seems exactly the same. Anyone who is saying they are rich and retired that often makes me wonder. I always remember the time she got mad and took off into the night on her rollerblades on the Real World. Such a nineties moment.

 

She said she regrets nothing that happened on the show and never watched her season. After the show, she said she ran a socialite publishing company with a friend. She also said she started another business after her husband died in 2015 and that she sold it for a lot of money and is happily retired. I can't find any info on that second business. For the socialite magazine, I found this:

Socialite Ru is a Russian Media company, which publishes a bi-monthly publication distributed to an ultra high net-worth audience in New York, South Florida and Moscow (http;//www.socialiteru.com )Lux Liaison, spearheaded by Ekaterina Mironov, is the official concierge and Public Relations arm. Socialite Ru, owned by Flora Garber and Allison Aronov, has an on-line subscriber-based audience of close to 5,000 and another 25,000 subscribers who receive the physical publication. Together with Lux Liaison, they advise and organize itineraries for the niche audience they cater to.

Russian Global Media House Inc was founded in 2008. Russian Global Media House Inc has 5 employees and estimated revenues of $240,000.00.

 

A few pictures from 2018 with a boyfriend

 

 

[ljenkins782]

14 hours ago, Faceplant said:

She seems exactly the same. Anyone who is saying they are rich and retired that often makes me wonder. I always remember the time she got mad and took off into the night on her rollerblades on the Real World. Such a nineties moment.

 

She said she regrets nothing that happened on the show and never watched her season. After the show, she said she ran a socialite publishing company with a friend. She also said she started another business after her husband died in 2015 and that she sold it for a lot of money and is happily retired. I can't find any info on that second business. For the socialite magazine, I found this:

Socialite Ru is a Russian Media company, which publishes a bi-monthly publication distributed to an ultra high net-worth audience in New York, South Florida and Moscow (http;//www.socialiteru.com )Lux Liaison, spearheaded by Ekaterina Mironov, is the official concierge and Public Relations arm. Socialite Ru, owned by Flora Garber and Allison Aronov, has an on-line subscriber-based audience of close to 5,000 and another 25,000 subscribers who receive the physical publication. Together with Lux Liaison, they advise and organize itineraries for the niche audience they cater to.

Russian Global Media House Inc was founded in 2008. Russian Global Media House Inc has 5 employees and estimated revenues of $240,000.00.

I can't be the only one thinking this has a whiff of high-end prostitution, right? In all those words, I still can't discern what this company even was, let alone how it could have been worth so much money. 

[Faceplant]

2 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

I can't be the only one thinking this has a whiff of high-end prostitution, right? In all those words, I still can't discern what this company even was, let alone how it could have been worth so much money. 

Yeah, it seems shady. She said she was a businesswoman so many times that I couldn't help think of Romy and MIchelle.

 

 

[luckyroll3]

On 4/24/2022 at 9:58 PM, Faceplant said:

For the socialite magazine, I found this:

Socialite Ru is a Russian Media company, which publishes a bi-monthly publication distributed to an ultra high net-worth audience in New York, South Florida and Moscow (http;//www.socialiteru.com )Lux Liaison, spearheaded by Ekaterina Mironov, is the official concierge and Public Relations arm. Socialite Ru, owned by Flora Garber and Allison Aronov, has an on-line subscriber-based audience of close to 5,000 and another 25,000 subscribers who receive the physical publication. Together with Lux Liaison, they advise and organize itineraries for the niche audience they cater to.

Russian Global Media House Inc was founded in 2008. Russian Global Media House Inc has 5 employees and estimated revenues of $240,000.00.

 

 

On 4/25/2022 at 12:17 PM, ljenkins782 said:

I can't be the only one thinking this has a whiff of high-end prostitution, right? In all those words, I still can't discern what this company even was, let alone how it could have been worth so much money. 

 

On 4/25/2022 at 3:05 PM, Faceplant said:

Yeah, it seems shady.

I'm from Miami and the Russian mob is pretty big down here, especially in the North Miami Beach/Miami Beach area. So I wouldn't be surprised if it there was some sketchiness around this business....allegedly. 😂

Also, Flora trying to fit herself and her boobs through that window is one of a handful of RW/RR/Challenge memories seared into my brain. I was actually trying to describe this scene to someone the other day and was laughing so hard like the first time it aired. Ah memories! 

That being said, imma need to see a Miami, Boston, Seattle, and Hawaii Homecoming before they move on to anything else after NOLA. 

[choclatechip45]

Mike Lewis interviewed Cynthia and it is by far one of his better interviews. 

 

[Hiyo]

For anyone interested, this channel seems to be uploading episodes of this season (they have the first 4 episodes so far)...

 

[jake211982]

On 12/27/2014 at 6:14 AM, LadyNebula said:

I totally forgot about that. Wasn't that when they caught the Unabomber and Cynthia was like,"I know him!" I think he had been her friend's professor or something.

I actually knew who Sarah was before she was on the show. She was an editor for Image Comics, which I thought was the Best Job Ever (still do, to be honest. Reading comics for a living? Sign me up!). As a female teenaged comic geek, I loved seeing a woman involved in the comic industry who was successful. I wonder whatever happened to her and if she's still working in comics.

I remember this episode and her claiming to know Kaczynski as a professor too (who just died today June 10 2023)

It's weird to remember a time when people could just make up fiction for clout and there was no way to easily prove/disprove.

We now know Cynthia was lying -- Kazynski had left his teaching position at Cal Berkley in 1971 to become a recluse, never to return to society.

This was 2 years before Cynthia was even born, but in the 90s media the only thing that was widely reported was that "Kaczynski was a professor at Cal" and not much else. So it was an easy story to pass off as true for anyone from Northern California like Cynthia.