Beyond the Gates star Mike Manning just revealed a fact that he’s been keeping close to the vest for 15 years, thanks to an Easter Egg on the CBS soap.
Key Takeaways
- Mike Manning was on The Real World.
- A scene between Martin and Smitty prompted his confession.
- Manning gives props to BTG writers for the Easter Egg.
From Reality TV Star To Soap Star
Taking to X, Manning (Smitty) posted a video that kicked off with a scene between Smitty and Martin (Brandon Claybon) after they just caught Samantha (Najah Jackson) hooking up with Nathan (Brennen Suttle).
During the conversation, Smitty says to Martin, “We can’t pretend that sex wasn’t in every song that we listened to growing up or on every season of The Real World.”
A flip of the camera shows Manning laughing before he explains why that line had him cracking up.
“Whoever at Beyond the Gates is responsible for this line making it into the show. That is hilarious. So back in 2010, I followed one of my best friends to a random audition for MTV’s The Real World. I ended up getting on the show, Real World: DC, and it changed the trajectory of my entire life,” he expressed.
Manning revealed that when he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, his agent told him never to mention being on The Real World, or he wouldn’t be taken seriously as an actor.
“And so I didn’t. I just never talked about it, and now here we are, all these years later, and on Beyond the Gates, whichever writer decided to incorporate that line into my character’s dialogue, it’s so funny. Well played,” Manning stated.
The actor clearly got a chuckle out of someone finding out his little secret. It was a great line, and our hats are off to that writer, too.
Did you know Manning was on The Real World?
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