2008 Woodie Awards
The Real World's Danny and Melinda celebrate Mardi Gras
Dani Schweigert and Mary Yurgil
Issue date: 2/27/06 Section: Features
When looking back at season 16 of the Real World in Austin, Texas, newly engaged Danny Jamieson, 23, and Melinda Stolp, 22, seem to stand out. The couple appeared to steal the show with their romantic relationship in 2005 and stopped by to celebrate Mardi Gras at The Loft in downtown Bloomington last Thursday.
Regardless of the disorganization of the event, the pair smiled and greeted fans, displaying their love for one another.
"It was so difficult [to have a relationship with Danny during the show] because I had the girls basically being like, 'We don't want you to be in a relationship because I don't want to lose my wing woman'," Stolp said. "And then you had Wes who even told me, 'I don't want you and Danny to be together because I don't want to lose my wing man'."
Before appearing on the Real World, Stolp attended college in Wisconsin, and Jamieson was enrolled at a university in Boston.
Although both knew there would be difficult situations while on the Real World, neither were prepared for the challenges they faced.
"Honestly, every single night there was an argument in the house," Stolp said. "A lot of it had to do with Rachel and Nehemiah, and a lot of it stemmed to Rachel and Wes. That was definitely something that was hard for me because Rachel was my roommate. Hearing her side of the story and then hearing Wes and Nehemiah's side of the story was really hard because I was caught in the middle."
According to Jamieson, there was so much drama during the filming of the Real World Austin, the cast was released two months ahead of schedule.
"To put it mildly, an actual Real World is filmed anywhere from 4- 6 months, but they can keep you for a year under contract if they want to [so they can] get enough film for a show, but we actually only filmed for three months," Jamieson said. "They said we had so much drama that they had enough [footage] for two seasons with us."
Although cameras captured each tension-filled moment, Stolp and Jamieson quickly adapted to the crew constantly following them.
Regardless of the disorganization of the event, the pair smiled and greeted fans, displaying their love for one another.
"It was so difficult [to have a relationship with Danny during the show] because I had the girls basically being like, 'We don't want you to be in a relationship because I don't want to lose my wing woman'," Stolp said. "And then you had Wes who even told me, 'I don't want you and Danny to be together because I don't want to lose my wing man'."
Before appearing on the Real World, Stolp attended college in Wisconsin, and Jamieson was enrolled at a university in Boston.
Although both knew there would be difficult situations while on the Real World, neither were prepared for the challenges they faced.
"Honestly, every single night there was an argument in the house," Stolp said. "A lot of it had to do with Rachel and Nehemiah, and a lot of it stemmed to Rachel and Wes. That was definitely something that was hard for me because Rachel was my roommate. Hearing her side of the story and then hearing Wes and Nehemiah's side of the story was really hard because I was caught in the middle."
According to Jamieson, there was so much drama during the filming of the Real World Austin, the cast was released two months ahead of schedule.
"To put it mildly, an actual Real World is filmed anywhere from 4- 6 months, but they can keep you for a year under contract if they want to [so they can] get enough film for a show, but we actually only filmed for three months," Jamieson said. "They said we had so much drama that they had enough [footage] for two seasons with us."
Although cameras captured each tension-filled moment, Stolp and Jamieson quickly adapted to the crew constantly following them.