Sarah Becker, ‘The Real World’ reality show cast member, dead at 52

Sarah Becker, who appeared in the MTV reality series “The Real World” in 1996, died earlier this week in Illinois, her family said. She was 52.

Becker appeared in 22 episodes during the fifth season of the reality television series set in Miami, Deadline reported.

TMZ was the first outlet to report Becker’s death. According to the celebrity news website, an unnamed family member confirmed that Becker died of suicide. She returned to Illinois “to take care of family last year” and had “struggled with mental health in recent months,” according to TMZ.

“Sarah Becker was made of pure sunshine … Full of energy and positivity, you couldn’t help but feel her warmth standing in her presence,” Becker’s friend, Daniel Norton, posted on Facebook. “I am grateful for our adventures and laughs. Big hugs to all the Wildstorm fam!”

Becker was 25 when she joined “The Real World,” Us Weekly reported. On the show, she described herself as a “19-year-old trapped in a 25-year-old body.”

A resident of La Jolla, California, at the time of the series, Becker was working in the comic book industry and was employed by Wildstorm Productions (or WildStorm), a comic book imprint, according to the magazine.

Her costars during season five of “The Real World” included Dan Renzi, Melissa Padrón, Joe Patane, Cynthia Roberts, Flora Alekseyeva and Mike Lambert, Us Weekly reported.

“I just found out that one (of) the nicest people that have ever been put in my life, especially during my impressionable ages in my life has passed away,” Joel Benjamin wrote in a Facebook post. “Every time I thought of her I would always see her smile, and bubbly personality. You were loved and will be missed.”

Renzi posted to Instagram on Sunday after hearing about the death of “one of my roommates in ‘The Real World,’ adding that “Sarah and I had not spoken since the end of our show, so I don’t know anything about her struggles.”

“The 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,” Renzi wrote. “I can only say, it’s very sad.”

Alekseyeva wrote in an Instagram post that she was “beyond myself and sad” to hear about Becker’s death.

“I can’t believe this,” she wrote.

Note: If you or someone you know is thinking of harming themselves, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides free support via the Lifeline by dialing 988. For more about risk factors and warning signs, visit the organization’s official website.

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