Coral Smith | |
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Born |
Coral Jeanne Smith January 19, 1979 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Occupation | Reality television personality |
Children | 1 |
Coral Jeanne Smith (born January 19, 1979) is an American reality television personality, known as a cast member on MTV's The Real World: Back to New York, and for her subsequent appearances on various seasons of The Real World's spin-off show, The Challenge. Her most recent Challenge appearance was on Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III, which aired in early 2008. On April 2, 2008, Smith appeared on the first ever Real World Awards Bash, winning the award for "Roommate You Love To Hate." In 2013, Smith returned to television and MTV as host of The Real World: Portland on-air aftershows and the season's reunion show.
Smith was a 21-year-old part-time student and nanny living in San Francisco when she decided on a whim to audition for MTV's long-running reality TV series, The Real World and Road Rules. She and two dozen finalists were housed together for a casting special leading up to the selection. During her stay at the casting house, Smith came into conflict with finalist Ellen Cho. Smith was ultimately selected as a cast member for The Real World, which would be set in New York, the first season of the show since 1992 to be set there.
During Smith's season on The Real World, which aired in 2001, she came into conflict with Mike Mizanin over views he related to Smith from his uncle, who opined that black people were slow and uneducated. Although Mizanin attempted to disown the comments as merely those of his uncle, Smith and their other housemate, Malik Cooper, who are both black, were offended. Coral and the other housemates went on to teach Mizanin about black culture, such as the life of Malcolm X.
Observing that every season of The Real World features cast members in archetypal roles, Smith asserts that she was the "bitch" of her season, though she insists that her use of this label is meant to connote her assertiveness and outspokenness, and not lack of likability.