with divorced parents in a predominantly white middle-class neighborhood in the suburbs of Cleveland. He found a sense of family within his college fraternity. He is sheltered due to growing up in a conservative part of the country and has never actively interacted with gays and African Americans. He dropped out of college in order to join the cast. While growing up, he says that his father was a racist. MTV describes him as a "fireball of energy" and a "chick magnet [who] is still naive about relationships, and has a deep need to be loved." Early in the season, he finds himself embroiled in debates with castmates Nicole and Coral over race. He exhibits a wrestler alter ego named "The Miz". |- ! scope="row" | Lori Trespicio | 21 | Roseland, New Jersey |- class="expand-child" | colspan="3" align="left" | Lori, the winner of a MTV.com Online Casting contest that earned her a spot in the finalists' casting special pool, is half-Filipino, half-Irish, and the youngest of three daughters. An overachiever who excels at everything, her sisters labeled her early on as a "super star" child, though her passion is singing, and MTV describes her voice as "gorgeous". She was one of the lead vocalists in a Boston College singing group called the Bostonians. She is also a self-described "drama magnet" who gets bored unless she has some type of conflict in life. Lori developed feelings for Kevin, but he did not reciprocate the feelings beyond friendship. She was ranked #72 in ''Stuff Magazines 2002 "102 Sexiest Women In The World". |- ! scope="row" | Malik Cooper | 23 | Berkeley, California |- class="expand-child" | colspan="3" align="left" | Malik is the son of a white mother and black father. He is the first child in his family, and the only one of his friends, to attend college. He intends to graduate from the University of California at Berkeley, and is also a popular Bay Area club/party DJ. In one episode, Coral and Nicole are critical of Malik, who wears a Marcus Garvey t-shirt, but dates white women, which they see as a contradiction, since Garvey was against race mixing. |- |} : Age at the time of filming. Episodes After filming At the 2008 The Real World Awards Bash, Coral won the "Roommate You Love to Hate" award."The Real World Awards Bash: Winners" . MTV.com. 2008. Retrieved January 17, 2008.