Tonya Cooley

About Tonya Cooley

Tonya Cooley (born January 7, 1980 in Visalia, California) was a cast member on MTV's reality television series, The Real World: Chicago, the 11th season of The Real World, which aired in 2002. She has since been a regular on the spin-off Real World/Road Rules Challenge, participating in six challenges as of 2007. She also posed for Playboy as a Cyber Girl of the Week and appeared in an episode of the Cinemax adult series The Erotic Traveler.

Tonya Cooley hails from Walla Walla, Washington. At the time she began filing The Real World: Chicago, she had never interacted with African-Americans and gay people, and had rarely been apart from her boyfriend, Justin. She did not socialize as much as her housemates, who often alienated her because they felt that she could be judgemental and over dramatic at times. She was hospitalized three times during the season because of kidney stones, and even left to go home for about a week. She got into arguments with rommate Theo Gantt III, including one which a glass was thrown, as well as with roommates Aneesa Ferreira and Cara Kahn. Her constant use of the phone when talking with Justin upset her housemates. Her breast implants were also a subject of much conversation as she would often go on about how she was flat broke yet had thousand dollar implants in her breasts.[citation needed]

Though not most notable for her appearance on this season, Tonya competed and was the eighth girl to be voted off. Tonya is most remembered from this season for not going to Puck's wedding. The reason some people consider her a "different Tonya" in this season is because she asked her friend Ruthie to vote her off so the girls wouldn't have to deceive, while in Battle of the Sexes II she had no problem with not stepping up for captain so Ibis Nieves could go home. Another reason is because she would not compete in the Battle of the Opposite Sexes challenge where you would have to remove an item of clothing if you answered a question wrong, while in Battle of the Sexes II she showed her breast by the pool while not competing.