”The Real World DC” releases first look at new series and Mike, its bisexual / gay / questioning cast member [video]
“I don’t think you’re comfortable just being yourself. You’re not even comfortable with your own sexuality. How are you comfortable being yourself?”
Ashley, the confrontational “Portuguese beauty,” in a discussion with Mike Manning, the “all-around golden child” who has gone gay-ish. Both appear in the first peek at MTV‘s “The Real World DC.” This latest incarnation of the show appears to be the first time that “the granddaddy of all modern reality TV” has been filmed in the DC, Metro region. (MTV)
”The only benefit to conforming is that everyone likes you but yourself…. I was joking, like, that you [Jared Polis] were the person I wanted to be in 10 years.”
Mike, the newest cast member of ”The Real World” with same-sex interests. In the first teaser for the upcoming series, he is shown speaking with and shaking hands with Jared Polis, a gay Congressman from Colorado. The show, which shot on location here in the Dupont Circle of Washington, DC over the summer, lists several references to religion on its website. It also describes his journey as “a young man learns that coming out is not only a personal choice but a political one as well.” The Washington City Paper reported that Mike interned at the Human Rights Campaign Other cast members of interest may be Ty Ruff, who hails from Baltimore and took his shirt off at Cobalt, and Callie, a budding photographer from Texas who spent at least some of her time taking pictures at DC gay bars for the now-defunct Washington Blade. Metro Weekly featured a cover story about the show’s impact on the gay community in September. (MTV)
In high school, Mike was the typical jock…a star athlete, prom king, popular with all the girls…an all around golden child from a Christian family. But that’s where the stereotype ends. Mike realized several years ago that, for him, love knows no gender. He dates guys and girls, and is still questioning whether he’s bi-sexual or gay. Mike comes to DC to be an environmentalist, but unexpectedly finds the inspiration to help advance marriage rights for gay and lesbian Americans. His sexuality has caused some tension back home, and it’s his time in D.C. that will prove to be the turning point for him and his family in terms of accepting him for who he is.
Full biography of Mike Manning, a cast member from ”The Real World DC.” MTV’s newest offering in the long-running reality TV series is set to debut on Decebmer 30, 2009, at 10pm. (MTV)
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