MTV Goes From ‘The Real World’ To ‘The Royal World’ With Regal New Reality Series

Royal watchers may soon want their MTV. Viacom-owned MTV International has ordered a new reality series from the U.K. Big Brother producer, Initial, that will follow a group of worldly young royals and aristocrats from as they live together in a mansion.

MTV International has not yet revealed casting, but nine “young royals and aristocrats” with lineage rooted to the UK, Russia, Austria, Nigeria, Ireland, as well as a “royally connected American,” will be featured in the six-episode series titled The Royal World, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

MTV promises “an original format that invites viewers inside the exclusive, unfiltered lives of young royals and aristocrats from around the globe as their worlds collide in a British countryside mansion.”

The Royal World will explore the unfiltered lives of the pedigreed twentysomethings, including an inside look at the cast’s lavish family homes and elite social circles that only a reality show could deliver to commoners.

In a statement about the new show to Variety, creative director Katy Manley said, “The Royal World is a brilliantly entertaining show that invites you into a world which is utterly closed to most of us – the world of young, titled royals and aristocrats. Expect headline-grabbing gossip that’ll leave palaces squirming as we get to know the real people behind the titles.”

MTV Preps ‘The Royal World,’ an Aristocratic Reality Show https://t.co/VjMxKdNRSh

— Variety (@Variety) July 30, 2018

Kerry Taylor, co-head of MTV International, added that The Royal World will introduce viewers to a new type of royal family.

“From shores around the globe to royal mansions, we celebrate great stories everywhere they are. I can’t wait for the world to meet our new ‘royal family,'” Taylor said.

MTV International is cashing in on the interest in all things royal that has followed the recent wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. As far as reality shows go, The Royal World definitely sounds more “real” than I Wanna Marry Harry, Fox’s short-lived 2014 reality dating show that featured a fake Prince Harry (Harry look-alike Matthew Hicks) who tried to convince his dates he was the real son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

In 1992, MTV pioneered the modern day reality genre with The Real World, a series that followed “seven strangers picked to live together in a house and have their lives taped.” The original season of The Real World followed seven twentysomethings who lived in a New York City loft. The Real World has aired for 32 seasons and has put a spotlight on real-world issues including racism, homophobia, abortion, substance abuse, religion, AIDs, and more.

The Royal World will air in 180 countries in late 2018. The U.S. broadcaster for the regal reality series has not yet been announced.