'Real World' Stars: Where Are They Now?

Nov. 27, 2012 — -- intro: The actual real world hasn't been too kind to notorious "Real World" star David "Puck" Rainey. According to TMZ, the 44-year-old MTV star is in a California state prison after being convicted of stalking a woman earlier this year, and court documents say he's got about 300 days of a two-year sentence left.

If you watched "Real World: San Francisco," Puck's fate probably doesn't come as a surprise. He was the cast member everyone loved to hate, the guy who cruelly made fun of AIDS activist Pedro Zamora and prank-called the crib even after the housemates kicked him out.

He's fared worse than a lot of the other folks who've been on "The Real World." Check out what some of the most memorable cast members are doing now:

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quicklist: 1title: Kevin Powelltext: Powell's pretty much the polar opposite of Puck. Besides appearing on the first season of "The Real World," he's written for magazines like Vibe, Rolling Stone, and Esquire, and he's published 10 books. He's also a political activist who's passionate about voting rights, and he ran for Congress three times in New York's 10th District. Though he attracted famous supporters like Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle, Powell never managed to muster enough votes to get into office. media: 17812788

quicklist: 2title: Eric Niestext: Powell's fellow housemate Eric Nies jump-started his career soon after leaving the New York house. He signed on to host MTV's "The Grind," the '90s show that featured audience members dancing (and grinding) to hip-hop and pop. But it was hard to pay attention to the music when Nies' nipples were front and center -- hosting shirtless became his hallmark, and also led to a foray into work out videos and infomercials that ultimately fell flat, like his abs. Nies' last major TV appearance was on the 2009 VH1 special "Confessions of a Teen Idol," in which he confessed that he's still trying to find his groove in the entertainment biz. media: 17812884

quicklist: 3title: Jacinda Barretttext: An aspiring actress, Jacinda Barrett first made her name known by appearing on "Real World: London." It worked out well for her -- after the show was over, Barrett appeared in films such as "The Namesake" and "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason." More recently, she's appeared on "Suits" alongside her husband, Gabriel Macht, who stars in the USA Network legal drama.media: 17812941

quicklist: 4title: Irene McGee text: It really was the slap heard 'round the world. When Irene McGee got slapped in the face on her way out of the "Real World: Seattle" in 1998, she cemented her place in the canon of reality TV history. (According to MTV, she's the first cast member of a production to walk away before filming ended -- and let's not forget the stuffed animal incensed housemate Stephen Williams threw into the river as McGee walked out the door.)

After a few years on the college speaking circuit, McGee went to grad school and launched a podcast called "No One's Listening," where she's chatted up the likes of Noam Chomsky and Wikipedia creator Jimmy Wales. Last year, she told MTV that she still thinks about calling Williams a homosexual and the fateful slap that followed. "It really messed me up," she said. "I had nightmares of him just hitting me over and over again ... Leaving was probably the bravest thing I will have ever done, but also the most misunderstood." media: 17813339

quicklist: 5title: Genesis Mosstext: When "The Real World" descended on Boston, Genesis Moss took the city by storm. The series' first out lesbian spent most of her time partying in gay clubs and hanging with her drag queen best friend, Adam. These days, she's swapped being the life of the party for photographing celebrations. She and her partner shoot weddings together, though she recently told MTV, "My personal passion is landscape and nature photography. I'm hoping in my next life I can be a photographer for National Geographic."

Moss also reflected on being openly gay on national television in the '90s. "The year my show filmed was the same year Ellen DeGeneres came out on her sitcom," she said. "A lot of people made fun of reality TV in the '90s, but that platform and the out cast members from this show helped pave the way for future LGBT figures to do the same. We have a long way to go, but there's been an obvious shift in the right direction." media: 17813409

quicklist: 5title: Trishelle Cannatellatext: Trishelle raised the out of control reality star bar to a new level. Overtly sexual and usually drunk, the perpetual party girl sloshed her way through "Real World: Las Vegas." On her first night in the penthouse, she took part in a three-way, hot tub make-out session with another female housemate, Brynn Smith, and their male housemate Steven Hill. She got extremely intimate with Hill, which lead to a pregnancy scare on the show.

All the partying paid off. Cannatella landed spots on MTV's "Real World" spin-offs, posed for Playboy, and appeared in a GoDaddy.com Super Bowl commercial. Cannatella finished third in the 2010 world poker tour invitational tournament and won $20,000. This year, she filmed "Living the Life," a Canadian competition series in which she and fellow reality star Amanda Kimmel travel the world testing their strengths on and off and poker table. media: 17812975