Sarah Becker, a cast member on Season 5 of MTVâs hit reality TV show âThe Real World,â has died. She was 52.
Beckerâs family confirmed the news to TMZ, saying that she died by suicide. She had recently moved from California to Illinois to care for family members and was struggling with her mental health in addition to recovering from a skateboarding accident, they said.
She worked at Wildstorm Comics in La Jolla before joining the reality show in 1996. Becker was known as a tomboy and described herself in a âReal Worldâ promo as âa 19-year-old trapped in a 25-year-oldâs body.â
Beckerâs time on the show was memorable for her side business delivering restaurant supplies, a bitter argument with her roommate, confronting another housemate, taking a trip to the Bahamas and bringing home a puppy named Leroy.
Her former castmates expressed their condolences via social media.
âI am beyond myself and sad to just hear that my [roommate] Sarah died,â Flora Alekseyeun wrote Sunday on Instagram, calling Becker âkind,â âselflessâ and âhelpful.â
âI havenât spoken to her in years and never knew she was troubled. My prayers go out to her family. RIP my [roommate], my friend. May you skate with angels and never feel pain again.â
âRIP roomy. I pray thereâs happiness for you on the other side,â Cynthia Roberts said in her Instagram story alongside a recent photo of Becker.
âSarah and I had not spoken since the end of our show, so I donât know anything about her struggles,â Dan Renzi posted on Instagram. âThe seven of us in that cast went through a bizarre, intense and sometimes traumatic experience together, and that creates a connection between people, even when they choose not to associate with each other. I can only say, itâs very sad.â
Joe Patane memorialized her on Facebook, praising how she âdedicated herself to becoming a life coach and eventually a licensed marriage and family therapist to help others, and perhaps deeper understand her own mental health challenges.â
âSuicide should never be an option, but hopefully she is at peace, and those who knew and loved her will reach out for the care they need, like I must, to mourn, love, LIVE and thrive.â