The Real World: Philadelphia

Assignment

The cast worked for the Philadelphia Soul, an Arena Football League team formerly partly owned by Jon Bon Jovi. Their duties included planning and building a playground for underprivileged children through the Northern Home for Children program. Participation in the season-long group job was mandatory to remain in the cast, a practice that had been standard since the Back to New York season.

The residence

The cast of The Real World: Philadelphia resided at 249-251 Arch Street in Old City, next to the Betsy Ross House. The 14,494-square-foot, three-story building, originally the Union Bank of Philadelphia Building, was built in 1902 and listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in January 1977. Yaron Properties, Inc. bought it in 2003 for $2.2 million, then spent $3 million on renovations and furnishings, including 42 mounted cameras. Norm Dodge of Norm Dodge & Associates handled the interior design.

In March 2004, after completing two-thirds of the work, producers halted construction due to disputes with local trade unions. Private meetings over two weeks, brokered by Mayor John F. Street, Governor Ed Rendell, Congressman Bob Brady, and other civic leaders, kept production in Philadelphia, though the delay stretched renovations by several weeks. After filming, the building housed an art gallery for The Art Institutes of Philadelphia's F.U.E.L. Collection and later became a Linode office in late 2015.

Police altercation

On November 29, 2005, two Philadelphia police officers, Patrick Cavalieri and David McAndrews, were arrested for aggravated assault, simple assault, criminal conspiracy, and reckless endangerment due to an altercation with a plainclothes officer guarding the Real World house during filming the previous year. The off-duty officers allegedly banged on the door and were stopped by Officer Brian Copeland, who was allegedly assaulted by them. Cavalieri was fired but later reinstated after being found not guilty of one charge; he sued the city and Copeland for violations of his civil and constitutional rights, seeking at least $50,000 in damages. Copeland alleged severe beating and eye damage, while Cavalieri alleged that Copeland was not an officially licensed officer at the time and did not identify himself.

After filming

Seven months after leaving the house, the entire cast reunited for the special Fistful of Philly: The Real World Philadelphia Reunion, which aired on March 15, 2005, with Vanessa Minnillo as host. Shavonda was nominated for "Best Phonecall Gone Bad" at the 2008 The Real World Awards Bash. William Hernandez kept acting, landing roles in Evicted, The Undercover Man, The Narrow Gate, and A Four Letter Word.

Karamo Brown joined the cast of The Next :15 in 2016, hosted Are You the One? Second Chances the following year, and became part of the Fab 5 on the 2018 Queer Eye reboot. In 2019, he competed on Dancing with the Stars season 28, making him the first Real World alum to appear on that show.

Did You Know?

• The first season to have two gay cast members, regardless of sex, was the 2002 Chicago season.
• The 1999 Hawaii season featured a bisexual woman and a gay man.