Singer-songwriter Jewel makes her debut as the host of USA Network’s “Nashville Star” Thursday night, but it’s not her first brush with the reality format.

Indeed, Jewel said years ago there was a discussion about her becoming part of MTV’s “The Real World,” a reality show in which seven strangers live together before the cameras.

“”The Real World’ was just starting when I was coming up and they asked me to be on that,” the singer said, “and I didn’t want to be known as the girl from “The Real World.”‘

Exactly when Jewel might have been considered for the show is up for debate.

A spokesman for show producers Bunim-Murray Productions said they could not confirm that Jewel was close to being cast on any of the first seasons of “Real World. Considering her age, the spokesman said, it might have been for seasons two through eight.

“I want to say, it was “The Real World’s’ first year, and I bet I was 18 or 19,” Jewel said. “They were putting word out to the industry. My label was looking for a way to break a folk artist.”

It also didn’t hurt that her back story included living in a car.

“They brought it to me,” she said of her record label. “I wanted to be known (for) my music, and not that girl kind of thing.”

Interestingly, the cast of the first season of the “Real World” (1992) did include Rebecca Blasband, a budding folk singer.

These days, Jewel is focusing on “Nashville Star,” and helping to introduce new country singers on the fifth season of the USA Network’s talent show.

She co-hosts the show with Cowboy Troy, who is back for his second season.

The series is often compared to “American Idol,” which gets under way next week, but the two are different in several ways. “Nashville Star,” for instance, starts with the 10 finalists already in place, while “AI” starts off with an audition phase.

“The show was created before “Idol’ ever made it to air,” said “Nashville Star” executive producer Ben Silverman. “We made a show where talent was first, where the quality was real.”

Nevertheless, perhaps because of the music genre or the late time period – the show airs at 10 p.m. EST, cutting down the potential for family viewing – “Nashville Star” has never garnered the kind of viewer interest or water-cooler buzz “Idol” has.

“I absolutely would love more attention,” Silverman said. “When people discover the show, they get more excited about it.”

And, like “Idol,” “Nashville Star” has launched the careers of several top country acts, such as Miranda Lambert and Buddy Jewell.

As part of her hosting gig, Jewel will serve as a mentor to the contestants. She plans at some point during the show’s run to have them visit her Texas ranch.

“I was really amazed when I watched people perform and read their bios,” Jewel said of the new crop of contestants. “It’s a pretty competitive field … they’re pretty stage savvy.”

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AP-NY-01-08-07 1029EST