What Happens to ‘Real World/Road Rules Challenge’ Kids the Rest of the Year?

When I was little, I always thought teachers hibernated in the summer and lived in the teacher’s lounge, because I couldn’t comprehend that they had a world outside of school. And when I watch the biannual Real World/Road Rules Challenge series full of familiar faces, I assume that the contestants from the shows make enough money that they can just keep hanging out on MTV in a sort of perpetual spring break state. But that isn’t the case. Many of the Challenge regulars act so crazy and cutthroat on the show because their lives actually do depend on it – there are too few slots and too little prize money at stake, and it’s almost impossible to hold onto a grownup job when you want to take off two months at a time to go film a reality show in Tijuana.

One Challenge regular, whom we’ll call A, works at a bar in New York City that happens to be quite close to Crushable HQ. She’s the mayor of the venue on Foursquare, but when someone else took over the bar’s mayorship it happened to coincide with when A was filming her most recent Challenge appearance. Sure enough, taping ended and A was back behind the bar – and in control of the mayorship.

Another familiar Challenge face, B, recently worked behind the bar at a party in TriBeCa. The event, which was held in a temporary space, was staffed by a catering company, so it’s pretty safe to assume that B is working for the catering company when he’s not showing his mug on MTV. Even though he was won money from being on Challenges, it must not be enough to maintain his lifestyle offscreen.

As for the others? There’s a rumor that Cameran Eubanks, who originally appeared on The Real World: San Diego, asks to be voted out early on in every Challenge because she has a real job and enjoys letting MTV pay for her to take off two weeks while she drinks and hangs out with her friends. Many MTV alums try to stay on good terms with the network and get more permanent gigs there – Kenny Santucci, who is a staple of Challenges, also hosts the Jersey Shore web aftershow. David Burns, who old people like me will remember from The Real World: Seattle, now works for MTV in the casting department (which is ironic considering that one of his major storylines was that he hooked up with an MTV casting staffer, who got fired for dating a cast member). And Kelley Limp from The Real World: New Orleans also became a TV executive – although not for MTV – and has since married former Party of Five star Scott Wolf. Other cast members have grown up and retreated from the spotlight entirely. Melissa Howard (now Beck), who was on The Real World: New Orleans and also appeared on some Challenges, is now a Long Island wife and mother who has a Tumblr where she writes about everything from her favorite TV shows to her struggles with infertility.

The people who have been the most successful following their stints on The Real World or The Challenge are ones who move on. Yes, Sean Duffy was on a Challenge – which is how he met his wife, fellow alum Rachel Campos – but he did well, had a good experience, and then went on and did something else. Now, he’s a member of the House of Representatives from Wisconsin. Jamie Chung appeared on The Real World: San Diego and on one Challenge, which her team won. Now, she’s a steadily working actress who appears in The Hangover 2. It seems that doing one Challenge is fun and a cool life experience, but the time spent doing the show is inversely proportional to the amount of legitimate success afterward. Will MTV open a retirement home for former Challenge stars who never managed to land a job with health insurance?