Stepping into the unknown can be powerful, and the latest cast of MTV’s The Surreal Life: Villa of Secrets is the proof.
For West Coast rapper OT Genasis, stepping out of his comfort zone was rewarding. When he joined the hit series’ eighth season, he wanted to do something he’d never done before, and from the first exercise to the last, the “CoCo” MC says it was quite an educational experience.
“The most important lesson I’ve learned is to be comfortable with being uncomfortable,” he told Blavity’s Shadow and Act. “These experiences have been so incredible, especially with seven amazing people, and everyone has been so different. It’s like jumping off a cliff and hoping to land on your feet. The most important thing is knowing that it’s OK to talk about your problems. If there’s a problem, I’m a man. Where I come from, I’m programmed to always be tough and to solve my problems alone. I don’t want to talk to anyone about it. And that’s not really healthy. Being on that show and experiencing different things, like doing breathing exercises for the first time in my life, was crazy, but it was awesome. I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and I just felt fresh; I felt clean.”
For his roommate, the legendary Macy Gray, who comes to the house along with other actors to The surreal life was an adjustment. Even though her experience with the breathing exercise was unusual, it was still a great learning experience.
“I just never managed it, even that day I couldn’t really… everyone was so excited, OT was crying so much, but I don’t know, it just doesn’t work for me. I don’t know why, but it was a very emotional time for everyone else,” she recalled.
This also taught her that she can share a living unit with another person, something she says she hasn’t done in a long time.
“I haven’t done that in ages, I’m talking decades,” Gray said. “When they pitched the show to me, that was honestly my biggest horror. That was my first question: Do I have to share a bathroom? That’s just one of those things; we all have our little thing, so that was cool. We all surprised ourselves; I adapted and it was cool. OT and I had to get used to how we would dress and go to the bathroom in front of each other. I think I learned a lot about myself, I don’t know, consciously, but I know I evolved and did things I didn’t think I could do before.”
OT Genasis said the most surreal moment for him was when he was in Colombia and experienced a place he had never been before, together with people who had much more in common than they initially thought.
“Everyone is different,” he said. “There are so many different personalities in the room, but everyone got along; everyone wanted to get to know each other to be comfortable, so that part was pretty easy for me. I’ve always wanted to be on a show like this, but it does make you a little nervous because you have a reputation, but at the same time, I feel like a lot of people, some people, know my personality. So when I say I’m real, I have to be 100% real and show people that, because all that other stuff is really just about nothing, so I have to show people the real me first.”
He added: “So you know the real OT: I’ve released songs, but I’ve never released an album in my life. I’ve released one hit after another; I’ve never told my story, and since I haven’t told it on an album or anywhere else, I felt like I could share it here.”
Together with Macy Gray and OT Genasis, the The surreal life The cast includes Chet Hanks, one of the sons of legendary actor Tom Hanks, Fifth Harmony group member Ally Brooke, former The Real Housewives of Atlanta Personality Kim Zolciak, former figure skater and two-time Olympian Johnny Weir, daughter of baseball legend José Canseco, Josie Canseco and Actor Tyler Posey.
New episodes of The Surreal Life: Villa of MysteryS airs Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET on MTV.
