''Real World'' goes to Hawaii

THE QUITTER
Following in the antisocial footsteps of Seattle's Lyme-disease-addled Irene, one Hawaii Worlder doesn't last the entire season. With about a month to go, Justin, a 21-year-old bottle-blond gay activist and Harvard Law School student, jumps out of the fishbowl, citing illnesses in his family and leaving his roommates perplexed about his abrupt departure. "To tell you the truth," says Colin, 19, a frat-boy type who's also a student at Berkeley, "I just woke up one day and Justin wasn't there." Surprisingly, the producers didn't raise a stink. "If they want to leave at any time, they're free to leave," says Bunim. "The only thing we ask is that they explain it clearly on camera."

THE NUDISTS
Blame it on the let-it-all-hang-out Hawaii vibe, but from day one, three of the roommates swiftly turn The Real World into a veritable Harvey Keitel movie: Within minutes of arriving at the RW abode, Ruthie and Teck — an aspiring filmmaker with Dennis Rodman's hair and Chris Tucker's voice — go skinny-dipping in the pool; moments later, Kaia loses her shirt and pretty much keeps it off for the rest of the season. How have the producers dealt with all the skin? "It's going to be like the Alanis Morissette 'Thank U' video," jokes Kunitz, who resorted to fuzzing out the naughty bits and even created a special necklace microphone for Kaia. She claims proudly that "you can still see some stuff," but cocreator Jon Murray says, "those are shadows, not nipples. The standards-and-practices person kicked that back. We actually had to sit there and slow-frame it."

Meanwhile, Teck, the post-shower prowler, relishes every opportunity to strip for his unsuspecting roommates. "I'm proud of my [manhood]," he says. Retorts Amaya, 21, a UCLA grad and the cast's only female shrinking violet: "He shouldn't be that proud."

THE LOVEBIRDS
Even in Real World land, there are laws governing etiquette. Take, for instance, the decree the camera crew calls the Kiss Rule. "If we see two people kissing," explains Kunitz, "we will respect you and realize it's time to step out." Chimes in Murray: "We're not making soft porn here."

But according to Matt, 22, a writer and UCLA grad, the Kiss Rule was worse than a cold shower during one make-out session. "We could hear [the crew] saying 'We just need a kiss,'" he recalls. "The woman I was with kept saying 'All they need is a kiss and then they'll leave.' I was like, 'We're not having sex, and I don't want an establishing shot that says we're having sex.' You can get a little bit paranoid."

Imagine the toll that policy must have taken on Colin and Amaya, who become The Real World's first ever full-fledged intra-cast couple. Neither one will say if they're still together, but it doesn't take a genius to read between the lines. "I have one piece of advice for anyone out there in the world," Colin says. "Don't ever date a roommate." Shrugs Amaya: "The whole thing would have been different if we were just regular people in the regular world." The regular world? How boring.