A Sit Down w/ Real World Denver’s Jenn

You’ve seen her drink. You’ve seen her hook up. You’ve seen her argue. And at times you’ve even seen her be a good friend to her fellow roommates. She is Jenn, the Real World Denver beauty who’s been keeping viewers tuned in to MTV’s landmark reality series for this, its 18th, season. This week I caught up with Jenn to discuss how she feels about the way she’s being portrayed on the show, her days as an Oakland Raiders cheerleader, and why you won’t see her as a Real World / Road Rules challenge lifer.

Adam Bernard: First off all congrats on surviving the show. How do you feel about the way you’ve been depicted so far?
Jenn - RW Denver: Watching it now I always have to keep in mind that everything is condensed, so in order to make a great story and make a great television show with the footage we gave them they have to condense it down and make characters. I’m pretty much displayed as the constant drunk that is out of control and is always either partying or hooking up, which isn’t my life and isn’t really who I am but at that time I did do a lot of that stuff. It’s funny to watch sometimes and other days you’re thinking “oh God, what was I thinking,” but for the most part I’m not disappointed. I think it’s pretty humorous to watch yourself and it’s definitely a rude awakening.

Adam Bernard: So later in life is this footage you’re going to hide from your kids?
Jenn - RW Denver: Absolutely not. This is an experience and I grew a lot from this show. Looking back at that point in my life I’ll realize hey, at 22 years old I lived and I lived wild and I had a great time, so when I’m married with children and settled down I won’t have that itch to go out and get crazy.

Adam Bernard: Which aspects of your personality do you feel have been left on the cutting room floor?
Jenn - RW Denver: That I am a genuine person that does care about people and I do put other people before me a lot of time and I think right now on the show I’m being displayed as more of a selfish person, more of a person that is all about me and if I’m mad it’s I’m always right and you’re always wrong and I think that in a way that’s being displayed and I’m really not that way at all.

Adam Bernard: How have you changed since the show completed filming?
Jenn - RW Denver: I’m in a relationship. I have a boyfriend that I love and I’m faithful and I’m not going out and getting drunk and blacking out and binge drinking. I really overcame a drinking period in my life, now I’m focusing on what I want to do next in my life in a productive manner rather than what bar are we going to next weekend. I’ve learned a lot about myself, especially being able to watch myself on television.

Adam Bernard: Do you think the drinking was also facilitated by going away from home and having no responsibilities? It must have been like a long vacation.
Jenn - RW Denver: Yeah, you feel like you should be drunk all day, like we’re here now, we’ve checked in, let’s got to the bar. For some reason it just feels like you’re supposed to be partying, especially in that environment when I’m surrounded with six other people my age, all excited, all fun, and all willing to party all the time, as well. So definitely, I feel you on the whole being away from home.

Adam Bernard: It’s like a huge dorm room without classes involved.
Jenn - RW Denver: (laughs) Yeah, we’re a huge dorm room without any classes. Definitely.

Adam Bernard: Other than, well, that, what made you want to be in the house? I know The Real World is a very involved process.
Jenn - RW Denver: Right. For me it fell into my lap at the right time. I was a Raiderette for four years before I decided to audition for the show. At that point I was kind of in a transition. I was kinda done with being a Raiderette and I didn’t want to go back to school and finish yet, so I said you know, what the heck, I’ll try it out. That was really what my motivation was, I said hey, I’m not ready to get a real job yet and I want to prolong finishing school and this is something I’ll go out for and let’s see what happens.

Adam Bernard: Honestly, did you leave the Raiderettes for the Real World or did you leave because you saw last season coming?
Jenn - RW Denver: (laughs) Oh God, no I left because I was finished, but yeah I’m really glad I think I chose a good time to finish. I did do my four years. I definitely think I picked a good time to cut it off with the Raiders, but I did not quit the team for the show at all, I finished up my fourth season and decided I wanted to move on with something else in my life.

Adam Bernard: You must have started that when you were young if you did that for four years.
Jenn - RW Denver: Yeah, I started my senior year in high school. I was one of the youngest ones to ever enter an NFL team with the Raiders that season. Being 18 I was working with women in their late 20’s, early 30’s, at that time. Some of my best friends were college graduates and married mothers so it was different, but I had a great time.

Adam Bernard: How many of the players hit on you?
Jenn - RW Denver: For the most part, believe it or not, it sounds like yeah right, but the organization that I worked for with the Raiders was so professional I hardly ever saw the players outside of the football games. For the most part they were married and I think I just sent off a vibe that was like hey, I’m 18 and yeah right. They give you the eye, of course, that’s how all men are, but I think they were very respectful.

Adam Bernard: So after the Raiderette gig you looked to The Real World as a way of postponing getting a real job. Does this mean we’re going to see you every year doing some sort of Real World / Road Rules Challenge or are you going to get a real job?
Jenn - RW Denver: You know it’s hard to say. I’m sure it’s hard to turn down a trip to Brazil or the other exotic places they’ve been. I’m interested in doing it, I’d definitely like to do one just for experience, but I am definitely not one of those that wants to become the next Veronica or Rachel or the next person you see on every challenge. I don’t want to be a reality TV star the rest of my life. I’m enjoying being Jenn from Real World Denver and the possibility of a Challenge could be great, I’d love to do one, but I’m definitely going to look into getting a real job because this is a temporary high, we’re not going to be living in the limelight this whole time, next season’s gonna to be coming in sooner than we think.

Adam Bernard: Did you move back home after the show?
Jenn - RW Denver: Yeah I did move back home (to California) from Denver. I’m back home with my mom and my sister and I’m just trying to pursue dance like I’ve always been doing and getting back into my routine of being a dancer and doing that more so than partying and stuff. It’s nice, I get to stack all this money that I’m making traveling and not have to worry about a rent bill.

Adam Bernard: Earlier you mentioned you’re dating someone now. Do you sit down and watch the show together?
Jenn - RW Denver: Some of them are a little difficult for him to watch considering I do have a good time and I was single on the show, but usually Wednesday nights at ten o’clock are make fun of Jenn nights. I don’t know what I’d do if it was an hour show.

Adam Bernard: That might be a little too much to take. So finally, down the road, how do you see your RW experience affecting your life?
Jenn - RW Denver: I think the majority of its effect on my life is going to be current, like right now, in the next few years. I think later on in life eventually, like I said, I kind of want to shake the whole Real World thing later on. It was an experience and it’s not meant to be a lifetime experience, it’s supposed to the experience of a lifetime.

For more on The Real World Denver's Jenn check her out at her official MySpace page: myspace.com/JLG330.