After months of auditions, student was happy MTV show turned her down

When Eliza Dray tagged along with a co-worker to an audition for MTV's "The Real World" last year, she didn't know that 2 1/2 months later, the audition would still be in progress.

Dray, a fine arts sophomore, was one of hundreds of Tucsonans who lined up last year to get the chance to live with six strangers and have their lives taped.

"I actually really didn't have a really big interest in (the show)," she said. "I kind of went along with it because I didn't have class that day."

Despite her nonchalance, Dray made it through several rounds of cuts and outlasted about 30,000 applicants to become one of fewer than 50 semi-finalists for the seven-member show.

After a 2 1/2 month audition process, Dray was cut in one of the final rounds - a decision she said was probably for the best.

"I think it would have been a great experience," she said, "but I think your experience is kind of dictated to you by the motives of the producers."

Dray said the people who are picked to go on the show get temporary luxuries, like a nice house and the chance to be on TV. However, she said, these luxuries "won't last nearly as long as your integrity."

During her audition process, Dray flew to Los Angeles for what would be her last interview with MTV producers.

"Their goal, when I got to L.A., was to make me cry," she said, explaining that the interview focused mainly on dramatic aspects of her life, rather than her interests.

Had Dray been chosen as a cast member, she would have been living in Chicago during the taping of the 11th season of "The Real World," which began airing Tuesday. Dray said that after watching a few minutes of the first episode, she is glad she's not on the show.

"It's not that the people on the show don't have real problems and real issues and real lives, but the show becomes a vehicle for people to act in ways that are not realistic to those lives," she said. "It's not just seven people in a house anymore; it's seven people in a house where they can misbehave.

"I'm happy I had the experience of auditioning," Dray said. "But I think I'm better off having not gotten on the show."