Stephen Nichols has been a divisive force among viewers of
The Real World: Denver. Known early on for his no-nonsense, outspoken political and social views, Stephen is nothing if not decisive. Now finished filming his season of
The Real World, Stephen is back at Howard University, finishing up his senior year of college. He graciously stopped by and talked with us at BuddyTV last week about his time on
The Real World.
How did you initially get involved with Real World: Denver?
I auditioned like everyone else. They came to my school, I go to Howard University in Washington, DC, and there were auditions here on campus and I was actually urged by a few of my friends just to take a look at, you know, what it was about. I wasn’t a big fan of the show myself, but I went to the interview, had a conversation with the people and just kind of went from there.
You mentioned that you weren’t really a fan of the show, but had you seen it before at all?
Yeah, I’ve seen a few episodes. Believe it or not the first full episode I’d ever seen was Key West, which was the season right before ours. So, I kind of watched it when I started getting serious about the interview process.
How was your experience being on the show? Was it what you expected?
I can say I didn’t really have any expectations on what it was going to be like. Just because, even though I grew up with the show, knowing what the Real World was, like I said, I wasn’t really a fan. So, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was a little surprised, however, just how much attention that was on us, you know, being in the city of Denver. When you go outside and you have these cameras following you around, people were wanting to talk to you. But then when you get back into the house, you know it’s kind of like a little cocoon in there. You’re kind of protected, away from the world. Other than that it was an interesting experience.
Was it hard to be yourself with all the cameras? Was that something you had to get used to?
Oh totally, it’s very tough at first. As a matter of fact, the funny part, I tell people this all the time, it’s like when you’re brushing your teeth it’s the weirdest part. Because, you know, they’re watching you brush your teeth like from the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep. Even while you’re sleeping they’ve got cameras on you. So while you’re brushing your teeth you feel kind of like, “Okay, I’m just brushing my teeth here like everybody else.” So, I think I spent like the first day brushing my teeth for like five minutes just to make sure I didn’t look stupid. I didn’t want people to think that I wasn’t brushing properly or anything like that. You just get kind of self-conscious but after a while you get used to the fact that the cameras are around.
Is the Real World truly real? Did you feel that the show did a good job of portraying the real you?
Well, now that I’ve seen a lot of the show, being that we’re almost mid-way through or a little more than mid-way through the season, I would say that it does do a good job of portraying me. Even though there’s a lot of things that are edited out, because I think that they just can’t get, if this was just like the Stephen show instead of Stephen and six other people, I’m sure there would be more, you know what I mean? I definitely believe it’s definitely real. I don’t think there’s anything fake about the show. It’s just that sometimes it can be a little misleading to people that don’t really understand, you know, the fact that a lot of these events happen not really in chronological order, so to speak. But they do a really good job of making sure that they’re not showing a side of you that didn’t really happen. For example, if you get into a fight. Like, everyone talks to me about the fight I got into with Davis. Yeah, we got into a fight; that’s exactly how it went down, the exchanges were the same. So, I think that they cut out what they need to cut out just for the sake of television. It’s definitely real. As a matter of fact the hard part is that people assume that everything on TV is fake. But in real life, all the things that you go through on the show actually happen in your real life. I think that that’s what makes reality TV a little different than, I think, other television. Because, I mean, the storyline is actually your life, you know?
On the show you’ve been portrayed as the conservative, republican, African-American. Is this something that you went into the show focusing on, that this was how you wanted to be portrayed?
No, not at all. I don’t think that that was a goal of mine at all. I just came in, like I said, with very little expectations on what was going to happen. I didn’t really know that that was going to be my angle, so to speak. But watching myself, that is pretty much me in a nutshell. I’m pretty aggressive on my stances on whatever issue comes up and I’m pretty much, of any of the roommates, I consider myself one of the more direct ones. I don’t really like to be walked over. I don’t really like to have my thoughts or whatever I want to say, you know, misconstrued. So I wouldn’t consider myself pigeon-holed in like a little box, but just the parameters of the show, the fact that they can only show one percent of what is filmed, you know, it does kind of put you in a little angle. So I think that they do make me look a little more conservative than normal, but other than that, I mean, that’s pretty much me. I definitely can say that it’s not like it’s a total opposite from who I am in real life.
Who was the hardest person for you to get along with in the house?
The hardest to get along with…it depends. I’ve switched…it depends on what part of the season we’re in because by the time we left there we were all very close, but when we moved in it wasn’t like that. So getting along with everyone kind of took some time. And you know, you meet people and you become cool right away. For example, I’d say me and Brooke actually became really cool right away. It took some time to get to know Davis. It actually took some time to get to know Alex and Tyrie, but when I say time I mean a few days. It wasn’t until the very end that actually me and Jenn, and me and Colie started to see eye to eye. I guess that would be it.
What was the most challenging thing for you, with your experience being on the show?
Being away. Being away from Howard. I’m very involved in my school and the fact is, is that it just goes on, it’s a year-round thing so being involved in student government and stuff like that, there are people here during the summertime, doing things and getting prepared and I kind of wish that I would have had the opportunity to be here and be up in the mix of everything. I was kind of sad, basically, to leave my home life. I’m not one of those people who came on the show because I was trying to find an escape from my regular life. I actually really like my life. As a matter of fact, the show was really more of an inconvenience than an escape. That was pretty hard. Also, leaving behind a steady relationship, because my girlfriend still lived in DC at the time I was in Denver, so that was hard.
Looking back, do you have any regrets about taking that time out of your life to do the show?
No, not about the time. Sure there are regrets and I can’t get into all of them yet because the show is still going on. I’ll just say this: leaving DC, even though I know I had to make sacrifices, I had to sacrifice a few things, I believe that the show was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I knew that going into it, so I don’t have any regrets as far as me leaving and actually coming on the show. Some things that I did on the show, I kind of wish that I could have reconsidered, if you will. But I’m not upset about the fact that I had to leave.
Being in the house with so many people and so many different backgrounds and beliefs, did that change you at all?
Totally, totally. I’ve said this before, this is pretty much a staple and it’s true: I go to a black school, a predominately black school and it’s actually historically a black college. Basically, my life is its own little social world. So I am with the people that I want to hang out with all the time. So if I don’t want to be hanging out with people, I won’t hang out with them. So the friends in my social group, we get along great because they're friends with my social group. And I’d imagine that that would be the same with anybody, right? But moving into a house like the Real World house, with six different personalities that are way different than your own (and I think they’re put there because they are so different than your own) you’re forced to live with people and you’re forced to get to know them and understand them at their level. Or else, and I’ve tried both of these, it’s either you get to know them and accept them for who they are or you’ll just have a really miserable time for a little while because you’re trying to consistently change people. And you really can’t change people; you have to take people for who they are. So, I think that I have definitely grown, I would say by leaps and bounds, just by living with my roommates and seeing different perspectives and trying to find some common ground somewhere. In between all the drinking and fighting and yelling.
Can you let us in on anything about some upcoming episodes?
Of course, there are things that they can expect, I don’t know if I can really get into them. I can say this: there will be a difference in…I don’t really know how to word this…just stay tuned. There’s going to be some things coming up this season that are probably going to shock most of the people that have been watching the show. Let’s just say that the relationships and the dynamic, social arrangements in the house are going to shift. And some people that you thought were a certain way are going to just not be that way any longer and that’s all I've got to say about that.
So what are you up to now? Are you still at Howard University?
Yeah, it’s tough. As a matter of fact, I’m in school, it’s my last semester and a lot of my roommates get to tour and party and go make all these public appearances and stuff and that’s like a very big rarity for me. Just because I’m taking so many credits and I’m really involved in school. Honestly, I actually missed the show a couple times, like I can’t even watch it when everyone else does sometimes. I have to tape it and watch it the next day or on the weekend, just because school is really tough. I can’t wait until graduation and it’s coming up in May and after graduation I plan on just chilling forever.
What are your future aspirations? Anything in Hollywood?
Not at the moment. I mean, I’m not really that kind of guy. I mean, obviously there is a wide range of opportunities that we can go into and I’ve considered a lot of different things that have been offered to me but I think the luxury of being in school, that’s my excuse right now, I don’t really have to dive into anything. So, right now I’m graduating, after graduation I’ll start taking a lot at what my future career plans are. But, I mean, like a lot of my roommates, I came to school for a reason, to get an education so I can pursue my goals. My goals in life never had Hollywood in them. I’m pretty much going to stay the course. But the one thing is this: I mean, I’m a student that studies history and politics. I’m not going to run for office tomorrow so who knows what I am going to be doing for the next few years.
Stephen implores everyone to look him up on MySpace. He's been blogging and he appreciates all the support he's been receiving.