Sean Duffy, Trump’s pick for Transportation secretary, was on ‘The Real World: Boston’

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President-elect Donald Trump’s latest cabinet pick has a surprising connection to Massachusetts — he starred on a reality TV show in Boston.

Trump announced Monday that he would be tapping Sean Duffy, a former congressman and Fox Business host, as Transportation secretary in his new administration.

Duffy was a U.S. representative for Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. He hosted the Fox Business show “The Bottom Line” from January 2023 until Monday, the network confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Before his career in Congress, Duffy was a district attorney in Ashland County, Wisconsin.

In 1997, a then-25-year-old Duffy first gained notoriety when he appeared on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston.”

What to know about Sean Duffy’s time on ‘The Real World: Boston’

Long before a career in Congress and a hosting gig on Fox Business, Sean Duffy was a reality TV star in Boston.

Duffy appeared on the sixth season of MTV’s “The Real World,” which was set in Boston, the only season of the show that took place in New England.

His archived cast bio calls him “a typical Midwestern boy from Hayward, Wisconsin who just happens to be a lumberjack Sports World Champion.”

“At age 25, he has toured all over the U.S. and Canada as well as parts of Europe in various lumberjack exhibitions,” the bio says. “Sean was brought up in a strict Irish-Catholic family, the second youngest of 11 children.”

“The Real World: Boston” followed a group of seven strangers who lived together in the city while working at an after-school program in East Boston, according to an archived summary of the season. The group lived in a converted firehouse on Mt. Vernon St in Beacon Hill.

Duffy went on to appear on two seasons of MTV’s first iteration of what is now “The Challenge,” during which he met his wife, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy.

Who is Sean Duffy?

Sean Duffy is a former congressman who appeared on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston,” “Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Seasons” and “Road Rules: All Stars.” During the latter show, he met his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, a current Fox News host who appeared on “The Real World: San Francisco.”

In his time on MTV, Duffy won his two seasons of what is now known as “The Challenge,” earning $50,000 in prize money.

After his reality TV career, Duffy earned his Juris Doctor degree and became district attorney in Ashland County, Wisconsin, from 2002 to 2010.

He was elected to Congress in 2010, representing Wisconsin’s seventh district. He resigned in 2019 to spend time with his family, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

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