Three Southeast students featured on MTV2™s 'Guy Court' in November

It started out with just a simple question on MTV2's website: "Do you know a guy who's broken 'guy code?'"

This question was going to change Southeast Missouri State University students Weston Blankenship, Kayla Derby and Jake Beckman's lives. The posting was for a new reality "court room" show on MTV2 called "Guy Court," which is a spin-off of the show "Guy Code."

"Guy Code" is a reality television show on MTV2 that features various entertainers, comedians and athletes discussing the code of conduct that men share. "Guy Court" is the show that portrays the men who have supposedly violated the code. Originally, Blankenship, a Sigma Nu fraternity member, signed up for the show to "charge" another fraternity brother for breaking "guy code."

"Whenever they first called me back, I was jumping up and down and screaming, 'I'm gonna be on MTV,'" Blankenship said.

However, during the interview process, the casting directors decided to take the idea another direction and made Blankenship the defendant rather than the plaintiff. He said that he wasn't sure about doing the show when the casting directors told him that they wanted to make him the subject.

"I wasn't really mad, I was just nervous," Blankenship said. "But I thought to myself, 'It's not about what you know, it's who you know.' That's why I really wanted to do the show, to make contacts. I've always wanted to be on national TV."

Instead, Blankenship would be "charged" with crying after getting drunk. The show focused on a specific time: Halloween 2012. Blankenship, dressed as Sylvester the Cat from "Looney Toons," went to a party with Derby and Beckman, who is also a Sigma Nu fraternity member. As the night passed, Blankenship said he became "heavily intoxicated" and lost the head to his costume. This, combined with the fact that Derby had left the party to go to the bar Last Call, made Blankenship cry. The producers and casting directors loved the story and decided to fly the trio out to New York City and book them a hotel for three days to film a segment for an episode.

"I was on vacation when [Blankenship] called me, and I thought he was kidding," Derby said. "I was really excited because I got to go to New York. It was a chance for me to come out of my bubble."

The trio boarded a plane to New York the Wednesday before the fall semester began.

When they arrived in New York, they were picked up at the airport by a driver from MTV2. They were told that they had just missed rapper Machine Gun Kelly, who had been in town the day before to film an episode for the show.

Hilarity began to ensue from the moment they walked into the hotel, as they all got stuck in a revolving door. Blankenship said that it was the perfect moment to happen when they first got into the city.

"We stayed in Times Square the whole time," Blankenship said. "We were kind of afraid to venture out. It was all of our first times in New York."

The day they got off the plane, they were free to just hang out and roam around the city. Blankenship said that they went out for dinner and just walked around Times Square. The next day was filming day.

"We had to get up really early, and we walked to the studio," Blankenship said. "Then Jake and I got our close-ups done, and that took a while."

On set the trio met with the "judge," played by comedian Donnell Rawlings, the "bailiff," played by model/actress Melanie Iglesias and "lawyers," played by "Guy Code" comedians Chris DiStefano and Damien Lemon. Then filming began.

The segment told the story of Blankenship's misdeeds as Beckman was "charging" Blankenship with breaking "guy code," using Derby as the "witness." Derby argued in Blankenship's defense, saying that he's normally not an emotional person, except while drinking.

However, Beckman won the case. Blankenship was punished with fake henna tears tattooed on his face, which prompted him to ask the cast if the tattoos would come off "before church on Sunday."

"I was so scared," Blankenship said. "At first, I thought they said I was going to get a real tattoo. The look of fear on my face [in the aired episode] is absolutely real."

Once they finished filming, the three stuck around the studio to watch another show being filmed. After that, they were free to roam again. They had dinner at Southern Hospitality, a restaurant owned by singer Justin Timberlake.

"Their drink specials were $12," Blankenship said. "That's how expensive New York is."

On Friday, the day they left, Beckman and Derby both headed out to the Freedom Tower, the memorial constructed for the September 11 victims.

However, Blankenship went out to meet with a woman who worked for MTV, who also had some ties back in Missouri. Her mother actually worked for STL TV, which happened to be the same place Blankenship had interned during the summer. He said that she gave him helpful advice, which helped fulfill his goal of meeting people "in the business."

They decided to keep the fact that they had been on the show a secret, partly because some aspects were not to be discussed at least until the episode aired. However, the secret slowly began to get out among the group's friends, especially when a teaser for the show aired that featured their segment. Blankenship said he was amazed at how many people saw the teaser and asked him about it.

The episode aired on Nov. 13. Blankenship said that there was a large group that went to Last Call to watch it.

"My favorite part was watching my friends' reactions," Blankenship said. "You have to be able to laugh at yourself. I could be embarrassed, but it's funny. I didn't feel like I was watching myself."

Derby said that during the viewing, she hid her head in her hoodie.

"It was embarrassing but kind of surreal," Derby said. "I never thought in a million years I would have put myself in that situation."