The notorious villain from an early season of The Real World is back as a TikTok cooking show host, and he hasn't changed much since 1994. The man known as Puck still wears faded jeans, keeps in touch with former MTV cast members, speaks his mind, and eats peanut butter with his fingers.
Those old enough to watch reality TV in the 90s can hardly believe he's returned.
Puck got into cooking and TikTok
Puck, born David Rainey, launched the TikTok account @puckcooks that he bills as a "farm-to-table cooking channel" in late December 2025.
The 57-year-old first gained fame as a cast member on the third season of one of the first reality shows, The Real World, which put a somewhat diverse group of people into a single house in a different city each season and filmed their lives.
The third season was The Real World: San Francisco, and Puck quickly became the villain of the group. He was the second person in the show's history to ever be evicted from the house due to his antagonistic behavior. His conflict with HIV education advocate Pedro Zamora in particular helped turn The Real World into a major hit.
One of the things Zamora complained about was Puck scooping and eating peanut butter straight from the jar with his fingers.
Today, Puck is still looking rough and getting into fights. In one TikTok Q&A, he explained that he lost some of his teeth from an altercation in a homeless shelter. He was at the shelter in Flagstaff, Arizona, "f*ckin' around, thinking I was gonna learn things," but meth was not the cause of his teeth loss as rumored.
"There's a police report if you want to look it up," he said.
He also confirmed that he keeps in touch with former Real World cast member Rachel Campos as well as The Real World: Boston auditioner Sean Duffy, who is currently the United States Secretary of Transportation and the acting administrator of NASA.
Most importantly, he still sticks his fingers in the peanut butter. "It's the best thing in the world, man!" he declared.
"Generation X just did the biggest gasp"
Nobody had Puck as a TikTok cooking guy on their 2026 Bingo card, but here we are. He has over 13,000 followers so far, with his most popular video breaking 400,000 views.
In that gem, he talks about his grandma as he throws potato slices into a pan full of gravy while wearing a cowboy t-shirt and leopard print pants.
Gen X is having a moment.
"Generation X just did the biggest gasp, ever. I haven’t seen Puck since the 90’s," wrote @vero_esta_bienloka in the comments.
"Puck????? As in Puck Puck?????" asked lavishbeauty5.
No longer a villain, many former 90s Real World fans now remember him fondly and appreciate his return.
"This guy has legit always done his own thing and is unapologetic about it, and that’s respectable," said @mdoc793. "He’s raw, real, very entertaining - always! Hope this works out for him and he’s able to sustain it."
"Puck, every time I see a snot rocket, I think of you…30 years later," wrote @mamabearminimum. "This is meant to be heartfelt."
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