Ashli Robson didn’t have it easy when she joined the cast of The Real World: Sydney. She became a midseason replacement after Shauvon Torres decided to leave the show in order to work on her relationship with her boyfriend. She walked in the middle of a storm brewing between housemates Trisha Cummings and Parisa Montazaran. No sooner did Ashli step in the door when Trisha pushed Parisa to the ground. The move got Trisha removed from the house and sent home for violating the rules of the show. Ashli brought her own drama to the show, tempting Dunbar to cheat on his girlfriend one second and getting into screaming matches with him the next. She doesn’t feel she was portrayed accurately on the show but talked to BuddyTV today to give us a little insight into the real Ashli.
Below, you will find the complete transcript and mp3 of the interview.
Hey everybody. This is Gina from BuddyTV, and today I’m talking to Ashli from The Real World: Sydney.
Hi Gina. How are you?
Hi, I’m good, Ashli. How are you?
Good.
Well, can you talk a little bit about your experience getting cast on The Real World, to go from being rejected to being a castmember midseason on the show?
Well, when I got the call to go to Australia, it was actually very, very out of nowhere. I was actually getting ready for work and I didn’t know what to expect and then, it was one of the casting agents and he was like, “How are you? What are the odds of you being able to Australia because there’s a possibility that we’re going to need you, but we’re not sure.” Shauvon was actually…this was the process where she wasn’t sure if she needed to leave or she was going to leave or not, so they called me just in case. So I actually waited for about a week and a half before I got the actual invite, the official invite to come to Australia. It was very, very nerve-wracking.
Yeah, I was going to ask you if it was nerve-wracking to go into a situation with people who have already had experiences together.
That was my biggest fear going into the house. I wasn’t worried about the cameras or what I was going to do. I was worried about not fitting in, I think, I guess I can say. Because they do have that initial bond. You know, they’ve established something with each other before I was there. And I was afraid that they weren’t going to be open to letting me be part of that group, basically.
Did you have any idea what you were getting into? ‘Cause you really walked into drama city, especially between Tricia and Parisa.
I had no idea what I was getting into. The minute I walked into the house, and I shook Cohutta’s hand, they don’t show him standing up, but he was like, “You have no idea what you just got yourself into.” And I really had no idea. I had no idea what to expect, but I think we all handled it the best as we could.
Leaving the house, which roommate do you feel like you had the best relationship with?
The day I left the house, I actually had the best relationship with Parisa, and they don’t really show our friendship growing because it doesn’t have a story arc, but we were really, really close at the end, and it was the hardest person to walk away from, definitely.
How would you describe your relationship with Dunbar, because it was very on again/off again from the minute you got there?
I think we both had a lot of guilt with the relationships that we had kind of let ourselves get into. And so, during the day, it’s true, when we were sober, we were really mad at each other because made the wrong decision. And then we would drink, and our inhibitions were so down, and from there, we made bad decisions over and over again. And then, in the end, there was really a lot of hate on my part towards Dunbar, so it was really—I just really did not like him at all as a person
During the reunion, what was the like for you, because Shauvon was there, and Tricia came back, and you and Dunbar in the same room. How was it for you?
The reunion was actually very refreshing. Shauvon and I actually get along really well. We have a lot of the same background as far as our life, so we really hit it off immediately. And then Tricia and I hang out all the time because we live in L.A. And the only person I hadn’t seen since the show was Dunbar. We had cameras around, we had a lot of time to cool down, so it was very friendly. It was awkward, it was really awkward, but at the same time, it was like we were so past that point, you know what I mean? It was a long time ago, and so seeing him wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.
Now, when you watch the show back, do you feel like you were accurately portrayed on the show?
Absolutely not. [laughter] I think that all of us are, well, pissed, basically, about how we were portrayed because I think they showed the worst parts of me, but they don’t give me a brain, they don’t give me a chance to…they don’t show how close all of us got. I mean, Kelly Anne and I were really close, Parisa and I got really close. They only show me getting mad and yelling. And that’s what makes good TV, but when people that know me watch, they’re like, “What are they doing? That’s not even you that I’m watching.” I went into it kind of expecting that, so I’m not surprised.
Now, during your time on the show, you won a trip to Europe. Will you actually go on the trip with Parisa and Isaac?
Yes. We won the trip to Europe and we were told that we shouldn’t take that trip until the very end of the season because they didn’t want anyone to know who won. So, I don’t know if Isaac is planning on coming with us, but Parisa and I are definitely planning on taking the trip together. And we’re actually going to start planning pretty soon because I took a semester off to take the trip.
The season finale of The Real World: Syndey airs this Wednesday. We can’t wait to see it. Thanks so much, Ashli.
Thank you so much.
– Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of MTV)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
