The Real World: London is the fourth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships. It is the only season of The Real World to be filmed in the United Kingdom.
The season featured seven people and is the first of four seasons of The Real World to be filmed entirely outside of the United States, being followed by The Real World: Paris in 2003, The Real World: Sydney in 2007, The Real World: Cancun in 2009.
The cast moved into the Notting Hill Gate flat in January 1995, and lived there for five months,Fretts. Bruce, (July 21, 1995). "The British Invasion: The Real World returns for fourth season -- The MTV hit invades London" . Entertainment Weekly. Page 1 of 4. moving out in mid-June.Tom Gliatto and Lydia Denworth. "Brave New World: Mtv's Real World Cameras Feast on An International House of Flatmates". People. Vol. 44. No. 2. July 10, 1995 The season premiered on June 28 of that year, and was viewed by 2.7 million people. The season consisted of 23 episodes.The Real World: London: Full Episode Synopses and Recaps. MTV. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
Regarding following the emotional high points provided by the struggles of Pedro Zamora and David "Puck" Rainey the previous season, series co-creator Jon Murray stated, "In terms of big dramatic issues, there's no way we could match that. So this year plays on more of a Moonlighting, romantic-comedy kind of feel." The most notable event of the season occurs when cast member and singer Neil Forrester kisses a male heckler during a performance, who then bites the tip of Forrester's tongue off. This event earned Forrester a place among other reality television personalities who have been injured during filming on MTV's 2008 "E.R. All-Stars". The season also features a guest appearance by Blues Traveler, whose lead singer, John Popper, dedicates a song to cast member Jay Frank, an aspiring playwright and fan of the band.
Season changes This is the first season of The Real World to be set outside the United States. The cast is also the only cast to be predominately made up of non-Americans, with three Americans, two Britons, a German and an Australian.
The residence
The cast lived in a 6,000-square-foot, three-story, four bedroom, renovated townhouse at 18 Powis Terrace in the trendy Notting Hill neighbourhood of London.Fretts. 1995. Page 2 of 4.Powis Terrace Flat. Real World Houses. Retrieved November 27, 2011. The ground floor of the building is leased to ScreenFace, a professional make-up supply company.
Cast Producers considered 25,000 applicants for casting. The seven selected were not well-acquainted with the series. The two American men chosen to help appease the home audience, Jay Frank and Mike Johnson, were not impressed with what little they had seen of it, with Johnson relating that he channel-surfed past it, saying, "This is stupid. I want videos." Entertainment Weekly'''s Bruce Fretts says that this ignorance precluded them from aping the behavior of past seasons' casts.