The Real World: New Orleans is the ninth 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 first season of The Real World to be filmed in West South Central States region of the United States, specifically in Louisiana. The season featured seven people who lived in a remodeled Civil War-era mansion, called The Belfort, in the Garden District, New Orleans and is the first of two seasons to be filmed in New Orleans. Ten years later, the show made a return in the twenty-fourth season. Filming took place over the course of 124 days between January and late May 2000 in the Belfort Mansion on St. Charles Avenue. The season premiered June 13 of that year and consisted of 23 episodes. Author Anne Rice has a guest appearance this season. The residence The cast lived at the Belfort Mansion, a , two-story 19th Century Greek revival mansion at 2618 St. Charles Avenue in the Garden District of New Orleans. The mansion was originally built for Alexander C. Hutchinson, who lived there with his wife until his death in 1902. It was later divided into apartments, but was in the process of being returned to a single-family residence when producers discovered it. New Orleans-based art director Monroe Kelly and architect Lee Ledbetter restored the mansion's original plan, enabling it to serve as the season's production set. For filming, it was filled with $293,442 worth of art. After filming ended, it took nearly four and a half years to complete the process of returning it to a single residence. The property managed to survive Hurricane Katrina in 2005 without any serious damage. Assignment Almost every season of The Real World, beginning with its fifth season, has included the assignment of a season-long group job or task to the housemates. The New Orleans cast was assigned to work at a New Orleans Public-access television station, with a different cast member acting as the producer of the segment every week. Cast : Age at the time of filming. Episodes Season highlights The New Orleans cast was the first (and to date the only) cast to be featured on the cover of TV Guide, appearing on the June 24, 2000 edition. Discussions on race