Remembering 4 Real World cast members who died too young

Publish date: 2024-05-20

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For a show that celebrates youth culture likes MTV’s “The Real World,” it’s shocking to think that the show has been haunted by the specter of death.

Here are four “Real World” cast members who have passed away since appearing on the trail-blazing series, which premiered in 1992.

Pedro Zamora

Zamora, the Cuban-American AIDS activist, appeared on the 1994 season of “The Real World,” which took place in San Francisco. His fellow cast mates knew that one of their housemates had HIV, and Zamora was honest with them. His natural charisma greatly aided him in his work as an educator on the disease, and he even entered into a commitment ceremony with a young man named Sean Sasser, which was filmed for the show. Zamora died in November 1994 at the age of 22.

Joey Kovar

Kovar appeared on the show’s Hollywood residency, in 2008, and was asked to leave the series because of his problems with drug and alcohol abuse — seguing immediately into the VH1 series “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew.” He died of opiate intoxication in 2012 at the age of 29.

Diem Brown

Danielle Michelle Brown debuted on “The Real Word/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat” in 2006. Shortly afterward, Brown, a former entertainment reporter for the Associated Press — among other outlets — was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She created the Web site MedGift, a patient gift registry, to help patients obtain help from family and friends while in treatment. She died last month at the age of 34.

Ryan Knight

The most recent “Real World” casualty was Ryan Knight, 29, who appeared on the show’s New Orleans season in 2010. He died on Nov. 27, after a night of partying — perhaps choking on his own vomit.