Maria Thorne

**Maria Anastasia Thorne** is an American television personality. She was a cast member on *The Real World: New York*, the first season of the reality television series *The Real World*.

Afterwards, Thorne competed in *The Challenge: Dynamic Duos*, where she placed third.

## Biography

Thorne was born on 17 September in Los Angeles, California to parents Gregory and Svetlana Thorne. Her father is of German and Austrian descent, while her mother is an immigrant from Ukraine. Gregory works as a business executive, while Svetlana was a housewife. Thorne was raised for the first few years of her life in an affluent family in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. She has a younger sister named Natasha, who is three years younger than her.

When she was nine years old, her father was arrested for insider trading. Her parents subsequently divorced, and Thorne, her mother, and younger sister moved to her mother's hometown of Kiev, Ukraine, where they lived with her mother's parents. They stayed in Ukraine for four years, before returning to Los Angeles and settling in the Encino neighborhood. Her mother subsequently remarried Gerald Karlsen, an architect, and began working as a real estate agent. In Los Angeles, Thorne attended private schooling growing up. She graduated from Brentwood School, and went on to attend the University of California, Los Angeles. At UCLA, Thorne became a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta (ΚΑΘ) sorority, and graduated with a degree in design and media arts.

## Background

*Maria was born in Los Angeles to a wealthy businessman father and his "mail-order-bride" from Ukraine. Her early life was very privileged, but the family lost everything after her father was arrested for insider trading when Maria was nine years old. Her parents divorced, and Maria left with her mother and younger sister to her mother's hometown of Kiev, Ukraine in order to live with her grandparents and find out where to go next. While initially this was a traumatic experience for Maria, she looks back on it fondly as she was able to immerse herself in her Ukrainian culture, speak fluent Russian on a day-to-day basis, and form a close bond with her grandparents prior to their later deaths. The family returned to California four years later, when Maria's mother was able to begin working as a real estate agent and remarry. Maria attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where she earned a degree in design and media arts, and is excited to spend a summer in New York City before getting her fashion career on track.*

## *The Real World*

Thorne became a cast member on *The Real World: New York*, the first season of the reality television series *The Real World*. After arriving in the cast's New York residence, Thorne instantly became the object of affection by the guys of the house. Seen as beautiful, sweet, and exotic (due to her Ukrainian background), both Anthony Pirozzi and Johnny Richmond had attempted to win her over, resulting in fierce competition and rivalry between the two of them. Unable to choose between the two of them, Thorne resorted to prioritize her best friend in the house Daisy Park, who she also formed a close bond with.

After being taken out on a date by Richmond, Thorne realized that he was the one that she wanted to be with, and let him know that she was ready to stop messing around and taking things more seriously. However, the next night, Thorne drunkenly hooked up with Pirozzi, forgetting what she had said to Richmond the previous night. After discovering what happened, a physical altercation breaks out between Richmond and Pirozzi the following morning, which had to be broken up by security.

Distraught over a fight that she caused and not knowing what to do, Thorne first confides in Park and later in her mother, regarding who she should pick and how she should handle the situation. They both admit to her that she made a mistake, and she must make things right with Richmond before doing anything else. Thorne apologizes to him, and admits that she doesn't want to be with anybody but him, adding that she was scared of her emotions after getting hurt in love many times before. He forgives her, and they make their relationship official.

### Reunion

After leaving New York and returning to California, Thorne continued her relationship with Richmond long-distance. Additionally, she has formed an even closer bond with Park due to living so close to each other, and has called Park one of her "best friends." Thorne is in contact with everyone from the show, except for Pirozzi, whom she called a "vile person" and "extremely conceited." In New York, she was able to make good connections with people in the fashion industry, and received a position working at *Vogue*, which will cause her to move to New York permanently within the next few weeks.

### *The Challenge*

#### *Dynamic Duos*

As an alumni of *The Real World: New York*, Thorne took part as one of the alumni in *The Challenge: Dynamic Duos*. She was impressed enough by Peter Munro in the obstacle course for him to be selected by her as her partner for the duration of the show. Munro and Thorne quickly established themselves as one of the most dominant duos in the game after becoming the first power couple and sending Anthony Pirozzi and Jennifer Andrews to the elimination challenge. They continued their competitive streak, and did not compete in an elimination until episode five, when they eliminated Johnny Richmond and Lulu Byrd. Thorne and Byrd had previously gotten into an intense altercation after Byrd drunkenly kissed Richmond, Thorne's boyfriend.

Munro and Thorne advanced to the final challenge, where they held a steady second place behind Pirozzi and Andrews for several hours. However, after struggling in a mental obstacle, they fell behind Kennedy Schultz and Sam Jennings, ultimately finishing in third place, winning $5,000 each.