spotlight
It’s a small world after all!
Derek’s fellow cast member, the lovely-yet-feisty Ayiiia, is a native of San Diego. The Rage Monthly dug a little deeper to
find out what we can expect on the show from this local lady—and maybe some dish into the house drama!
“Um, let’s just say Ayiiia’s not afraid to speak her mind at all,” hinted Derek. “She’s one of those people. You don’t want
to get on her bad side. That was her attitude throughout the whole process. She basically got into it with everybody
except me. I personally think it’s because we’re both Hispanic and she knows I’m not a person to put up with that kind of
attitude. But she is a nice girl with a good personality. I’ll be in San Diego visiting her a lot. But she’s the type of girl who
has to put up a different front because she’s been hurt so many times.”
right before you called!” going to be there, the first thing that comes to mind is sex or drunk fights. To be
From what can be seen in the first episode, Derek seems to have bonded with able to prove people wrong by showing that we actually changed people’s lives,
everyone equally. But was there someone in particular who got on his nerves? that feels good.”
“Almost everybody in that house got under my skin at least once,” said Derek. Prior to the show, Derek had never been any deeper in Mexico than Puerto
“But you’re stuck in a house with seven other people who have loud personalities. Peñasco—where everybody from ASU goes for Spring Break. But he asserts that
Things you do are going to clash.” he’d never been anywhere as beautiful as Cancun. “The very first day when we met
Derek’s bio explains that his “ex-boyfriend baggage” followed him all the way to each other, everybody was scared so we kept ordering drinks. It doesn’t show, but
Cancun! When asked to clarify, all he could say was, “…someone came uninvited we were all wasted when we got to the house! That excitement and everybody’s
for my birthday. You’re just going to have to watch to see what happens!” nervousness when we saw where we were going to live for the next four months
Obviously that “someone” is still an EX-someone, because according to Derek, of our lives, that was my most cherished moment.”
“I’m still on the market! But people don’t come and talk to me! As soon as I got Comparing Derek’s outlook and attitude with those of J.D. from the show’s
back, I went to some gay clubs and no! No one came to talk to me. My friends say, Brooklyn season is like comparing night and day. When asked about the perks of
‘You’re so loud and confident. That intimidates some people!” I was like, ‘Oh, well living in “the house,” J.D. described relatively Spartan living conditions. Logically
that makes me feel better!’ (laughter). I’m not really looking to ‘be with’ somebody. we asked Derek for his interpretation.
I want to test the waters a little bit.” In the midst of the H1-N1 scare, the cast was “Life in the house is awesome,” exclaimed Derek. “Of course it’s something you’re
blissfully unaware and they were finished filming before the craze has reached its not used to because you have cameras in your face 24/7. You have to get mic’d
climax and the flu became serious. “It’s funny, I had never even heard of it until I (microphone) and make sure things are okay before you can go. I’m sorry, my
got back. Apparently Perez Hilton said we stopped filming because we got swine house was nice. What you see on TV is basically what really went on. I don’t know
flu! From what the producers have told me, everybody from the cast and crew are what aspects he was talking about, but the 24 rooms that they knocked down in
o k ay.” out in our hotel, the three ocean views that we had, the amazing furniture and
What a relief. For a moment it seemed as though Perez had actually reported artwork, the shower, the Jacuzzi under the stairs, I’m pretty sure that’s luxurious.
something correctly. For the cast’s team project, three of the roommates found I was lucky to live somewhere like that. To be around the people we worked with,
that their assignment really hit home. “Jonna, Emilee and I were all adopted,” the crew, the producers…everybody—it just made us all grow as a big family!”
Derek explained. “When we were presented with the project we were going to do, With millions of kids fighting to make the cut onto the show, it’s only natural to
it was to help kids who were raped or homeless and didn’t have anywhere to go. ask exactly what it took for Derek to stand out above the rest.
It was kind of a halfway house before they could get adopted. Our job was to raise “Don’t try too hard! The casting directors can read that and you’ll be gone as
money for the place where they lived, called DIF Nacional (Defensa del Menor y soon as you open your mouth! There are so many people trying SO hard to be
la Familia). We threw charities, we got to buy everything they needed from a list different. Just be yourself. And be honest! You’ll get it. I was sick and I sounded
that they gave us and we got to set up some of their toys. Just to see those kids’ like crap during my interview and I made it! My roommate wanted it so bad. She
faces was the best feeling I’ve ever had. I’ve done charity work before, but that got cut the first round. She was really engaging in the political conversations and
was the pinnacle for me. When people hear Cancun and how The Real World is arguments and all I said was, ‘I’m gay so I’m rooting for Obama!’”
54 RAGE monthly | July 2009
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