MTV’s Briah Bettencourt

Celebrating its 30th season, making it the longest-running reality show in history, MTV’s “The Real World” will be welcoming strong minded, openly gay and incredibly handsome Briah Bettencourt into the house as his brother Bruno’s (a main cast member) skeleton.

The first gay male cast member in three seasons, Briah will attempt to rekindle his relationship with his estranged brother Bruno after the boys had a terrible argument, which caused them to stop speaking to one another for over three years.

Of Portuguese descent and raised in Rhode Island, Briah migrated to New York City to focus on a career in modeling. I found him to be open, honest and extremely candid about the show, his brother and himself.

So what prompted you to become a member of “The Real World”?
To be honest with you, it kind of fell in my lap. Really—I actually didn’t even wanna do it at first. My older brother was the one that auditioned for the show, and obviously the show went into depth, and they tried to figure out a lot about the person, so they dug deep. We hadn’t spoken for about three years. To make a long story short, they contacted me because of him—the story me and him had. We got into a fight, we didn’t speak for 3 years, and they wanted me to show up.

So you decided to do it.
Yeah. After thinking about it and talking about it, I decided there’s no point in not doing something you’re gonna regret, so I was like, yeah, why not, I’ll try it out.

How do you think that the show might help your modeling career?
I mean, as far as modeling, I’ve worked with agencies before. I’ve done magazines, but it’s never been on a national scale. I want to do the whole traveling thing, and I think it’ll help me by getting more attention on me. Everything now is social media. I’ve known people who have gotten signed for [an] international brand or have gotten a job directly cause of Instagram, Twitter. It’s about having a following. I think it will help if I got a social media presence as a personality. I think it will help my career, because companies are literally giving jobs out to people who have a following.

Now, you are going to debut in February?
The show is airing now. Everything based on me airs in February, but I ended episode two. It ends with my brother speaking of how he has a brother who he hasn’t spoken in 3 years. So they do little flashbacks of me and my brother flipping out.
Have you made up with your brother?
Yeah, I did. I entered the house. I really wanted to do “The Real World” for that. I think it was an opportunity. My brother is really stubborn, and I’m very stubborn, and we have never apologized to each other. I think the situation was kinda weird, but we were thrown in front of each other. I think that would be the only way to deal with the situation. It was like a stepping-stone for me to come out and apologize.

So, I hear you have specific requirements for a partner for a relationship, if you were to have one.
I’m really focused on my career. I moved to New York when I was 21 years old. I’m focused on my career, and when I accomplish my goals, I cross off the things that I want accomplished. In a relationship I’d want someone who would be supportive of the career and understand that it comes first. At the end of the day you want that person to be supportive, but you don’t want to feel smothered. That’s definitely what I don’t wanna feel.

So rumor has it that you are dating Tony from “The Real World’s” brother Shane?
No, we’re not dating. We had a connection in the house. When I first met him I was very stand-offish. It was kind of a weird situation, being put on camera kind of exposing and being yourself, which is no problem for me—I am who I am, so once I realized that… So we did have a connection. We ended up talking to each other on the phone. He actually just left like two weeks ago. I mean, we talk, we definitely talk. We’re not officially dating.

What’s your favorite quality about yourself?
I don’t know how to put it in quality words, but if I believe I can accomplish something, I definitely believe I can, and no one is gonna tell me no. I don’t take no for an answer. I definitely keep trying. I don’t get defeated.

Have you ever been to Fire Island?
I’ve never been to Fire Island, but I have people that are always asking me. I work in a fashion boutique, so people come in the summer to buy swimwear, and they’re always inviting me to go down.

If you could sing one song on “American Idol,” what would it be?
“Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac.

If you were a porn star, what would your name be?
OMG, I’ve never even thought about this. I have no idea.

You’re a superhero. What are your powers?
Being able to move things with my mind. I would just be lazy. I’d lay down and have the remote come to me.

You’re naked in a store window, and you’re holding up a sign. What would the sign say?
“We’re all born naked.”

Where do you see yourself being in 10 years?
That all the goals I had would be accomplished. I would have traveled a lot—probably all over Portugal. I’m from Portugal. Working, making money, paying my bills, doing what I love doing.

Is there anything else you want to tell me about yourself?
My friends always come to me to confide in me. If people wanna come to me and talk about something crazy that they think no one would understand, I’m that person.

What do you do for fun?
I’m not gonna lie, dancing is my favorite thing—dancing and getting intoxicated is my most favorite thing. When you’re dealing with something, you should just go out dancing. I definitely like going out a lot, I love music, ice skating. But I probably would go out and dance.

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