Get out your tissue boxes, Real World fans! There’s a LOT of nostalgia headed your way.
The Real World Homecoming: New York series premiered Thursday on Paramount+ and YouTube, but the reunion wasn’t what we’d all hoped for after thirty years! While Becky Blasband, Andre Comeau, Heather B. Gardner, Julie Gentry, Norman Korpi, and Kevin Powell all arrived to the original loft where they filmed The Real World: New York as young adults in the early ‘90s, Eric Nies was nowhere to be found until he surprised the group on video. Teary-eyed and clearly incredibly disappointed, he announced he’d contracted coronavirus while in isolation prior to filming. The 49-year-old reassured the group:
“I’m OK. I can feel something in my body, like, moving in my body. I don’t have a temperature. My vitals are stable.”
Having only tested positive the Sunday before the group reunited in person, the model was in a nearby hotel and remained on screen while cast members reminisced. His diagnoses had even cancelled a group interview that was supposed to take place days prior, but many cast members assumed that had been because of a crew member. While processing the news later on, Heather acknowledged:
“We keep saying, ‘We gotta do this again. We gotta do this again.’ And we don’t ever do it. We let five years go by, seven years go by, ten years go by. And I don’t mean to be like a downer, but if we keep letting years go by, we might legit call somebody’s phone one day and…”
Kevin finished, remorsefully:
“They’re not here anymore.”
Eric’s absence clearly had a profound affect on the entire group! Especially considering the many precautions the production took to create a safe bubble for the castmates to interact in. 48-year-old Gentry detailed the time leading up to filming in a confessional, sharing:
“Before we could all really gather and be together, we had to be tested and make sure that everyone was safe. We had to quarantine separately in our own rooms in different hotels to make sure that we created this environment that we could all take masks off and enjoy one another.”
The first nearly 50-minute episode (below) was mostly a trip down memory lane as flashbacks of the original series reminded us all how Real World changed television as we know it. It was also confirmed the entire reunion was captured in a six day timeframe, including during the Capital riots on January 6! The cast reacted to that devastating moment in US history in real time, with Nies telling Us Weekly last month:
“We just happened to be it all together when things went down. That’s why I keep saying it — Heather, Becky, there’s something coming. I can feel it. I can intuitively see it. We talk about this a lot. It’s about the same conversations … Nothing is going to change until that happens. So I’m hoping that this, in some way, or whatever’s coming in the future, intuitively, that we can talk about solutions to these issues of separation and division.”
Gardener agreed, saying viewers will likely enjoy the candidness:
“Nobody gets to see that in a very natural, unscripted way. So I was kind of glad that we were there for the impeachment, for the insurrection, because it gave us the opportunity to talk about it. Otherwise, even for a Black Trans Lives Matter movement, something happened in New York City while we were filming. We’ve been a part of some really interesting times in the world… I’m glad we were able to have these conversations together as a family, and it’s been great and I’m glad they were able to document it all.”
What an interesting time to bring this dynamic group back together! We’re sure in for a ride judging from the intense trailer that dropped just days ago. While it’s super sad that Eric couldn’t join in person, fans are still sure to enjoy the first episode! Tune in (below)!
Thoughts, readers?? Bummed Eric was on video chat or do you think the group made it work despite the less than ideal circumstances?
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