By DC Cueva
We are five episodes deep into what's already been a great season so far of The Challenge: Rivals II. From the drama that's taken place inside the house in Thailand to the great competition with both fan favorites & new faces, plus the twists that have made people ponder - including what happened in these last two episodes, and of course a lot in between, I've definitely enjoying what I'm seeing so far. With all due respect to my first go at this, and aside from a couple things, it's definitely so much better than the last Challenge - it blows Battle of the Seasons II right out of the water by a mile. And we've almost at the season's halfway point, there's so much more action & drama still to come and still ahead of us. But for this edition of the DC Blog and as my coverage of this season continues, let's take an opportunity for some reflection and recollection. And as we begin, hope you got that name tag dusted off.
Being the great purveyor of history that I am as a longtime loyal fanatic of The Real World going all the way back to when I was in high school, as well as being a relative newcomer to The Challenge, I have very good memories with each & every single person on Rivals II, and of most not on this season but have interacted with. Much of these memories come from when most of this cast took their first MTV baby steps as one of those strangers picked to live in that RW house, while others come from outside of the one show that I love most. This includes the two relatively recent Challenge seasons I've gotten to watch in their entirety: the one that reintroduced me to this thing - the aforementioned BOTS, and the original Rivals of two years ago which I got to watch for the first time just before this season began. Some of the memories are good, some are bad, but everyone in not only this cast but every person in this 200+ person family who've appeared on Real World, The Challenge and/or the erstwhile Road Rules are remembered for one thing. And of course, this revolutionary, long-standing franchise, now 21 years & counting, has produced indelible moments and amazing people.
If you're a loyal fan like me who's watched this franchise as long & consistently as me, this'll bring back some good memories. And for those new to this world & wanna know more about these people you're seeing for the first time, get ready to jot down some notes. Here we go on a trip down memory lane, and it's gonna be a long one, folks...every single member of this Rivals II cast will be covered here. And we start things off with the man who is, after all, the very heart & soul of The Challenge.
- TJ: In the same manner Diem is bringing those to Rivals II, what perhaps drew even the causal viewer to the first Challenge: Rivals wasn't just because of the curiosity of how enemies were forced to work together to win and an all-star cast that delivered arguably the most exciting Challenge ever, but also to see someone who recovered from a devastating injury to host a TV show only months after suffering that accident. That's exactly what happened when TJ Lavin was able enough to host Rivals only months after a devastating, life-threatening injury he sustained in his very last competition as a BMX rider at the ALLI Dew Tour in his hometown of Las Vegas in October 2010. He hit his head while doing a trick, was rushed to the hospital and suffered an orbital fracture & broken wrist. He then was put in a medically-induced coma for 2 weeks, shortly developing a case of pneumonia. Both the action sports community and the tight-knit RW/Challenge family rushed quickly to show their support for TJ, including a videotaped message by the cast of The Challenge: Cutthroat while it was airing at the time of the accident. More than a month after, after a long & tedious recovery process, TJ returned home over the holidays and made a full & speedy recovery much to everyone's amazement. And he was healthy enough to accept Challenge executive producer Justin Booth's phone offer to travel down to Costa Rica and host Rivals. And when he appeared from the darkness of the jungle to reveal himself as host, all the competitors gave him a prolonged ovation, knowing they couldn't think of anyone else to host that Challenge and the ordeal he went through to get back up & host. The fact he got to do Rivals just after that injury was incredible, and how he got through that entire season, I'll never know.
- Jasmine: My moment of Jazzy happened not in Mexico or on her three other Challenges, but rather recently, just one night just before Rivals II premiered, back on July 9. While I was visiting my cousin who had a short stint at the hospital (something was wrong with him but he was alright & went home a few days later), I was browsing through my twitter feed on my iPhone and I was just responding to one of Jasmine's tweets ahead of the premiere. And all of a sudden, she actually gave me a follow. As is usually the case whenever this happens on social media, I didn't expect to get a follow from a favorite of mine on her Cancun season and these Challenges, but I was really excited (I kept calm by the way in the hallways of the hospital btw). It resonates more to me than her Rasheeda alter ego, the romance & love triangle she & Jonna had with a Canadian DJ, or that moment from Rivals that we'll explain later in this post. And she's the 2nd person from her season to follow me on twitter, the other being CJ.
- Preston: We might still be wondering how Preston got on these Challenges, but the memory that I have of him is of his other rivalry in New Orleans with hairstylist Ryan. Like what we saw a few times with Knight, they got in a number of battles, starting on the roommates' first night out when Ryan made an insensitive comment in front of Preston's face right down on Bourbon Street, and then with a late-night argument back home. Then, their battle continued outside a McDonald's when Ryan made more obnoxious comments about Preston & one of the people he become romantic with, and even uttered a racial slur. And then, it all culminated with Preston using Ryan's toothbrush to scrub a toilet, Ryan destroying Presto's hat, them getting into a shoving match outside the house, Ryan calling the cops, and police walking in the door. This bizarre moment was so big a deal in Real World land, it even caught the eye of world-famous blogger Perez Hilton.
- Trishelle: Yes, she'll be remembered in this Challenge for quitting after getting in a fight with Aneesa and eventually sending Sarah home, and going back to her usual surroundings of browsing the poker tables. But 11 years after the fact, I & most others still remember Trishelle as that Southern belle from Louisiana who was part of one of the most-famous Real World & MTV moments ever in a true standout season that changed the game. It happened in the 2nd episode of all things when, you might say, RW lost its virginity in that 28th floor suite of The Palms in Las Vegas. When you mix some good looking young people, a touch of alcohol, and the exotic locale of their surroundings with the Strip in their sights, anything is possible. It all started when in the first episode Trishelle hooked up with Steven, and in the next episode, she made out with Brynn at the Rain club. And then, in the season's most-memorable moment & the moment that won them sexiest moment at the Awards Bash, all three congregated in a hot tub and made out with one another. And later they would take their talents to the bedroom & wrapped themselves under the cover. Afterwards, Trishelle would then go to the confessional & later to the phone bank to confess one of those seven deadly sins to her family back home, but she had already become a household name. Like many others, I still remember watching that episode and my jaw dropping & staring at the screen as all that took place.
- Frank: Okay, so a lot of people might have him as the least-liked person on both his Real World and on his first Challenge, but the thing that I take away from Frank was that on BOTS, he continued a recent trend on these Challenges going back to Cutthroat. And that would be of taking part in the last elimination, winning a spot in the final and eventually winning the whole thing. Up until the last regular mission in Namibia, he nor Ashley from San Diego, or Jonna & Derek from Cancun, competed in elimination. And last mission winners, Las Vegas' Dustin & Trishelle, made the smart decision to pit these two teams in the Knot So Fast strategy arena, daring them to earn a spot to join them & Brooklyn in the final. And considering that he had prior resentment towards Ashley for how she & Zach isolated themselves from the rest of their castmates in Surf City, both Frank & Ash would put their differences, work together to knot their team's rope in the cage, then untying Cancun's pyramid, and won that last arena, paving the way for SD's win. The others who won the last pre-final elimination and carried that momentum into the winners circle? Tyler on Cutthroat, Johnny & Tyler on Rivals, and Johnny & Camila on Exes. Guess which one of those three he has something in common with.
- Anastasia: In Thailand, Anastasia, along with Jessica, were the latest Challenge rookies to suffer that shortcoming of being let go in the first elimination, but not before becoming flirty with CT & causing drama too. The memory that sticks out to me of Bird was one that she would rather not want to relive all over again. In the ninth episode of RWPDX, her boyfriend of a few years, Mark, flew in from Detroit for a few days' visit, and she was excited. However, after coming home from a night on the town, and him being wasted, Ana got into a late-night argument with him and kicked him out of the house. Then at the hotel where he checked in, the couple's screaming match would only continue into the wee hours of the morning. For someone who's usually composed, she was so overcome with emotion, she even thought about leaving Portland before reconsidering. Later, we would find out that he had suffered from alcohol abuse and while she would break up with him, Mark actually got help & is now sober. It was actually so tough an episode for her to watch that pretty much she couldn't get enough sleep that night; so much so that she politely asked me to not tweet her quotes when I live tweeted the EP, & I respectfully granted that request. And it was so hard for me to tweet it, I really felt for Ana.
- Dunbar: I might not have that many memories of Dunbar since his RW season was six years ago and I only saw him for the first time on a Challenge with Rivals II. But then again, had it not been for something that happened before filming began in Turkey that's not been told yet, it would've been him, Ashli, Kelly-Anne & Isaac representing Team Sydney instead of Team Fresh Meat on BOTSeasons. So, I'll just pick something at random... It's really nice that instead of using these shows to build some sort of ego, Dunbar has used this as a platform to help promote his growing resume as an author in penning a couple books: one providing some political commentary, the other a Spanglish children's picture book teaching the lessons of teamwork, something he didn't have with Tyrie during that first mission & that elimination.
- Jessica: I've had the great pleasure of tweeting & interacting with every one of the castmates of the last two Real World seasons, but out of all fifteen of them, perhaps no one has been as fan friendly & very interactive with their followers as Jessica from the Portland season. I got to follow her & the other PDX people just after filming ended for RWPDX last November just as they were unknowns to most of us. Something I didn't do for St. Thomas (I joined twitter on their premiere night) was that I was able to establish a rapport with her & the cast early during the longer-than-usual lead up to - and then helping building the buzz for - their season. And during those three months between them flying home from Portland & the trailer debuting in mid-February, Jessica gave me a follow, which as always I didn't expect but am very grateful for it. Since then, I've tweeted a lot with her during RWPDX and then during Rivals II, and from keeping count, I've interacted with her perhaps more than any other member of the RW/Challenge family. Her becoming social media friendly with everyone and me becoming one of her nearly 400 followed accounts definitely outweighs her & Paul Bunyan (aka local guy Tyler), going motocrossing with her roommates and the 3X Games Mission as the thing that stands out to me of Ms. Princess Bubblegum.
- Tyrie: By just mere tenths, Tyrie had the unfortunate distinction of being the first eliminated from Rivals II when he & Dunbar lost to Derek & Robb, and it wasn't the kind of final curtain call he wanted to his 6-year MTV run. But my memory of him, as well as the person he shared the spotlight with, came during his first MTV show, Real World Denver. In episode 3, a good night on the town & some booze led to one of his drunken alter egos making an appearance. And after hearing from roommate Stephen about him being called a slur by a bartender & Davis not having his back, Tyrie goes after the blond roommate about all that, and an intoxicated Davis then pushes him wanting him to leave, then Tyrie counters by threatening to beat him up later. A hysterical Davis then leaves the house for the night, then comes back to the house the next day to apologize. It was that fight that earned them a Real World Bash award for Best Fight and a spot on the first Rivals. And both of them called it the best fight ever on RW, but they knew they were gonna step aside the night of Nia vs. Javerey in Portland, they even tweeted that out the night on that fight.
- Theresa: As is the case for a few others in this post, this is my first time watching Theresa on a live Challenge season, but like many, I got to see her for the first time during the pre-season Rivals marathon. And my memory of T.Time is the fight she & Camila had with Jasmine & Jonna in EP2 of that season. In this case, Theresa actually called Jazzy "Jonna" and it led to both teams getting into a shoving match that got those in the Costa Rica house in a frenzy. And in usual Rasheeda fashion, Jazzy got so angry, it led her to punch & shatter a mirror, and leading to them being paired up on Rivals II. The other thing that stands out of Theresa is that she's one of a good number of castmates who've become BFF's with one of my loyal twitter followers from across the way in Croatia, Neya (@NeyaSivera). Theresa is one of Neya's favorite people on these shows and she has been tweeting with her a lot during this season. Neya's also been showing a great deal of twitter support to Nany, Averey & Johnny, Jordan and a few others.
- Zach: The memory that sticks out to me of Zach, and for that matter the one he shared the spotlight with, was undoubtedly that epic arena on Battle of the Seasons, which was my favorite moment from that Challenge. It was the moment Thor changed many people's perception of him, and it was when it mattered most facing elimination (a 2nd straight after finishing last for a 2nd straight week & after winning previous week's arena), facing a fellow football player named CJ. In a physically-intense & closely-fought Hall Brawl affair that lasted not only one round, but a second round as well, due to both teams San Diego and Cancun splitting the girls & boys rounds (Sam def. Jasmine and CJ def. Zach), Zach won the tiebreaker round 2-1 to send Cancun's leader home. Many fans & fellow alumni called it the best elimination battle they've ever seen, and rightfully so. As it was for the rest of the cast that witnessed it live on the sidelines, the battle was so intense, I still remember being on the edge of my seat every time I watched that entire arena, and my palms were also sweating as well. And the timing was just perfect: it aired the same week that me, CJ, Jonna, Trey, Big Easy and Zach's future girlfriend Ashlee from RWNOLA all had their birthdays. After posting a screen cap of that arena on his Instagram & me responding to it, CJ told me, "It was an incredible experience. Zach is a beast and one of the best athletes I know." Obviously, that arena was off the charts, and it paved the way for Zach & Team SD to win last fall's Challenge and CJ gained more exposure & opportunities because of it.
- Naomi: My memory of Naomi has to be from the Real World Back to Vegas finale. In a season where she became flirty with Leroy, became BFF's with Heather & Nany, enemies & Rivals II partners with Cooke and had a pregnancy scare too, her stay in Vegas ended on a high note. During this, she became good & goofy friends with Mike, and after pleading with him for something typical of Sin City--a quickie Las Vegas wedding, Naomi got her man, along with a jumbo engagement ring pop to boot. On the big night, they and the roomies went to the same place where Britney Spears got infamously hitched for 55 hours to a childhood friend and other famous weddings--the Little White Chapel for the ceremony. There, after he flew home to Detroit to deal with a family emergency, the best man Leroy surprises them by making the wedding, then Naomi & MikeMike exchange uniquely hilarious vows and tie the knot, just as they were at the end of their great experience. For what happened on Rivals II, I gained more respect for Naomi in dealing with the family emergency back home with her dad & making the right decision of deciding to leave when it's absolutely necessary and Cooke telling her that family is much more important. So again, much praise.
- Cara Maria: While I got to see Cara Maria for the first time on team Fresh Meat on BOTS, and now watching her on Rivals II as Naomi's replacement, it was just with the Rivals pre-season marathon where I had my memory of everyone's favorite Challenger with the red beads, as well as her teammate Laurel. Their rivalry stemmed from the previous season, Cutthroat, when Laurel had an issue with Cara over whether she was strong enough to make it to the final, which led to Cara being voted into elimination numerous times by Cara & Team Grey and tension being only heightened by Cara becoming romantic with Abram. Being paired up in Rivals, they, like everyone else, had to set aside their bickering in order to win the money. Throughout the season while there was drama involving them and others in South America, Laurel & Cara Maria did very well, including winning a mission. In the end, Team Black, as they were referred to because of their black uniforms, would make it to the final, and as in Prague, they finished 2nd, earning a $50,000 paycheck, adding to the $10K each both cashed as Cutthroat runners up. But they, like Leroy & Mike for the men, certainly won the hearts of everyone watching as the team everyone loved rooting for. Not only did Laurel & Cara Maria go from Rivals to friends, but certainly to the level of BFF's, having just recently vacationed together in the Montana wilderness along with Abe.
- Marlon: Like Jessica, Marlon is also one of the handful of RW people who follow me on twitter, and his clothing line, WAVY Cartel, also follows me too. I really enjoyed watching him on Real World Portland, from him being level-headed in what was a chaotic house throughout the season and that shocking secret he revealed to the roommates of him hooking up with a guy during a period of depression, to a racially-heated fight he had with Jordan that brought them to Thailand and winning last week's mission. And before the season began, I did research on him being a star linebacker at Texas Tech and found he was in the same '05 recruiting class as the Niners' Michael Crabtree. The memory that stands out to me of him was in RWPDX EP-10 (just before that fight), where he was a key storyline and brought into focus how unique & strict he & his family are. In that episode, he hooked up with a couple local girls and then brought one of them home & into his bed, something that causes a conflict of interest considering his dad is a preacher. Then, he had a moment on the balcony with Jess talking about how he was raised the way his family did. And the next day, both head to a local church where he had a touching moment with the priest after he confessed his sins. The episode ended, though, on a high note with he, Jess, Nia and Anastasia heading to a local studio house and him recording his music with contributions from the girls.
- Camila: Since making her MTV debut during a special Spring Break edition of The Challenge in 2010, Camila has become a popular figure on The Challenge, debuting on Cutthroat, then going on Rivals, teaming with Johnny with win Exes and then getting paired with Jemmye on Rivals II by way of a shouting match in Turkey on BOTS, eventually becoming Team Subtitles. And of course, there's her many a meltdown on those four seasons. But like a few others here, my memory of the Brazilian comes not from The Challenge, but by way of YouTube. This year, a sleeper hit emerged from the musical comedy film Pitch Perfect and star Anna Kendrick when she covered Lulu and the Lampshades' "Cups (You're Gonna Miss Me)," which in turn is a rendition of an old folk song. In the case of Camila, she did her own cover for YouTube, and got plenty of favorable reviews for showing off a hidden talent of hers and surprising those who aren't fans of her accent or voice. Check it out: http://youtu.be/IkRDTwMhROI.
- Jonna & Derek: How many people can say they got to know a fellow cast member on a reality show before they got cast? That's what happened with both Jonna & Derek when these two Tempe, AZ natives were casted by the luck of the draw for Real World Cancun. It's only the second time that's happened on RW, first being Virginia Military Institute cadets David & Nathan in Seattle. For Jonna & Derek, they both worked as waiters at a Cadillac Ranch restaurant near the Arizona State campus and, per the RW Dailies producer blog, neither knew the other auditioned for RW when a casting call rolled into town & it was only at the finals that producers knew these two actually knew each other. Jonna says, "I wonder if anyone else knows each other, or if we're the only people that actually know each other. Yeah, it was actually by chance." Derek adds, "I mean I wasn't shocked that we both made it. I really didn't that (we made it)." Now, both are on their third show together, just after missing out on the BOTS final losing the last arena to Ashley & Frank. And it's the 5th show overall for Jonna after being on TruTV's Rehab, documenting the Hard Rock Hotel's Sunday beach club, and much earlier as a 13-year-old winning a season of Discovery Hub's Endurance & earning a trip to the Amazon.
- Robb: In a surprise for him being part of the first RW cast I got to follow on twitter, my Robb memory doesn't come from either his Real World season or his first Challenge, or even from him playing hoops, but rather from YouTube. Those who check out his twitter @RobbMTV might notice that he has a picture of One Direction's Harry Styles as his desktop background. It's a bit strange that for someone who has tattoos of the band A Day to Remember and might listen to more rock & alternative than top 40, he can also confess that he has a fascination with One Direction, he's even taken a few Instagram pics confessing his affection for the British sensations. Best representative of him being a 1D fan is him and his Bensalem buddies, as the group "One Erection," doing one of those viral covers of "One Thing." To be honest, I've actually watched their cover far more than the boy band's actual music video, and I have a chuckle every time I watch it, particularly the creepy first part of it of Robb reciting the song's first lines. Check it out here, you'll likely gonna have a laugh: http://youtu.be/0_DgQBfI9Aw.
- Aneesa: She's been a veteran of several Challenges, but the memory I most remember of Aneesa was one that took place on her 20th birthday, which also took place on that September day in 2001. I vividly remember watching that episode of Real World Chicago 11 years ago and how she & her castmates dealt with what went on that 9/11 day. In that, there was a roommate w/ a friend & relatives who live in New York, and another roommate who she clashed with over using the only phone in the house. They, like everyone else, were glued to watching the tragedy and doing whatever they can to find family & friends and find meaning amidst the darkness & uncertainty of a day none of us have forgotten. In the midst of that day, the bickering with her and Tonya continued over her using that phone to keep in touch with boyfriend back home, but both put aside that afterwards before joining in a prayer for those affected, led by roommate Theo, also a preacher's son like Marlon in PDX. Much like Ludacris and a few others who have birthdays on 9/11, I sympathize with her that every birthday Aneesa has from here on in will also being about memories of what happened during that week.
- Ty: Okay, so in all these challenges he has been on, Ty has a reputation of getting into and instigating fights in the house, but he also managed to tough it out and make it to the Exes final with Emily. Memory that sticks out to me of him isn't any different, and that was during Real World DC when, he & his drunk self was responsible for one of those moments. One night, he got into a fight with Emily in front of another roommate's family and she refused to talk to him, he starts trouble with the other roommates. And one of them was our favorite roomie with the Panda hat, Andrew, who bears the brunt of all this when he gets pushed off the balcony & him lying on the pavement and hurt. This left everyone irritated when Ty makes light of that fall, and when paramedics arrive to take Drewbie to the hospital, everyone goes off on him as they made the decision that he shouldn't drink the rest of the way. In that same episode, he earned an internship with the Washington Capitals, and from watching video of it before the season began, a local news crew caught him slipping on the ice while taking part in one of their skate arounds.
- Jemmye: My memory of Jemmye doesn't come from Real World Back to NOLA or from her two Challenges, or even that one night during Mardi Gras 2011 when they made to TMZ, but rather it comes from right here in the social media world. Besides tweeting when episodes of The Challenge are airing, Jem has earned a very good reputation and some fans for her opinionated and hilarious live tweeting of episodes of other MTV shows, particularly Teen Mom and Catfish. She's become almost as good an expert on these shows as she is with The Real World and The Challenges, and she's even got some people pleading for MTV to give her a role in hosting an after show or reunion for Teen Mom. Other people in the RW/Challenge family who have become Catfish/Teen Mom tweeters include Devyn from Brooklyn, Lacey from Austin, and Jasmine & Emilee from Cancun. She also answered a couple of my questions on Rivals II during a late-night twitter Q&A session with her fans.
- Knight: He's been the one who's gotten everyone to chuckle and the one who might get on the skin of a few, but Knight has also gotten over a bout with painkillers after a shoulder injury killed his NHL dreams and became romantic with a southern belle named Jemmye. Aside from me not having many memories of Knight that might stand out aside from those two, a favorite memory from Back to NOLA was where the cast actually got to be part of the madness of celebrating the Saints' Super Bowl win right down on Bourbon Street. It was the first time a Real World cast got to be part of a local sports team's championship, all thanks to some clever timing of filming starting during the Saints' run to Miami and the surroundings of being near the Superdome. It all led to an extended Mardi Gras celebration and helped rejuvenate that unique Louisiana spirit damaged by Hurricane Katrina, something the cast got to take part in by volunteering in the city's rebirth, more on that in one of my previous posts (link is at the bottom).
- Nany: Nany is probably the prettiest girl on this Rivals II cast, and she was one of the first people from the RW/Challenge family to follow me on social media. Twitter & Challenges aside, my memories of Nany are several from that roller coaster ride she went on three years ago: relationships in Buffalo & Vegas gone bad, her becoming BFF's with Heather & Naomi, and the make out with Heather that had the guys' jaws dropping. My most vivid memory was her search for her biological dad that she never got to meet, inspired from finding his letters in her mom's closet. At a Thanksgiving function the roommates took part in Vegas, she met a homeless teen who had something in common with her in which they spent their childhood without one of their parents. This led her to hire a private investigator to search for him, but after a trip to the East Coast and visiting relatives, he gave her a mix of good & bad news. First the bad news, her dad passed away several years earlier due to failing health; and second the good news, he found a couple siblings that she can connect with. Obviously, she was in tears after finding out about her dad and then her siblings, and at the end of episode 12, cameras followed her & one of her siblings to their dad's grave back on the east coast, and both were overcome with emotion. Obviously, Nany following me on twitter & then on Instagram is something I didn't expect, of course, but I'm lucky since she was one of my favorites from the Vegas XXV season.
- Jordan: Seeing him on both RWPDX and now on Rivals II, he can come off as someone who's abrasive and hotheaded. But it's also refreshing to see someone like Jordan who isn't necessarily the usual Real World stereotype of those who are good looking & single ready to mingle. Jordan was born with no fingers in his left hand, and because of this, he was made fun of by those in school, and whenever taking photos has always made sure to hide that hand. Despite all that, he still became a captain of his football, baseball & wrestling teams, was part of four national title-winning cheerleading teams, and most importantly, being a semi-professional wakeboarder in the Oklahoma City area. Seeing him show his castmates what he's made of when they got to wakeboard during their season, plus seeing his YouTube video of him wakeboarding prior to this season (also seen during the premiere: http://youtu.be/bOnijazQMLg), it really helped put things into perspective of how someone with a disability can still be able to do things as if he was able bodied. He's also received good comments on twitter from those who share that same attribute & can directly relate to him. And considering that he & Marlon won the recent mission, there's no limit on what Jordan can do, despite that deformed hand. It's quite remarkable.
- Diem: While this is my first time watching Diem on a Challenge, I can easily understand why she has more twitter followers of anyone on this cast, even including TJ Lavin. Obviously, it's the battle she has endured over the past 7 years of overcoming ovarian cancer not just once, but twice. Having not watched much of Exes, it took me watching a mini-doc on her YouTube channel to see my first footage of her from a previous Challenge. All this began with her being diagnosed three weeks before Fresh Meat, then keeping it a secret until telling her partner Derrick about it on camera. Then, she went through chemotherapy and the emotionally tough process that went along with it. Later after her cancer went into remission, in the same Duel challenge where she would become partnered with Aneesa on Rivals II, it took her a long while before she reluctantly took off her bandana to compete in a mission, fearing that she would get ridiculed for hiding it from everyone, for which only her family have seen it. And after she was able to compete, everyone praised her for gutting it out. All fellow Fresh Meat alum Evan could say after seeing that was, "It was the most inspiring, beautiful moment that I've ever witnessed in my entire life. It was a straight-up inspiration to everyone." And after watching the end of episode 4 of Rivals II, it was really inspiring to see her enjoy herself on the dance floor. While knowledgeable Challenge fans will obviously go for their favorites this season, undoubtedly Diem has the support of the casual viewer, which includes over 133,000 twitter followers.
- Leroy: It's safe to say Leroy is the most down-to-earth & likable person on both RW XXV and his Challenge casts. And he's close with all his Vegas castmates, even his first Rivals partner Adam; they squashed their bickering shortly after that Challenge where they both won the first mission & before Adam got his 2nd red card. The plus side in Adam leaving was that he got fellow roommate & his good buddy Mike as his replacement. And as the only team who are actually best friends, they went all the way to the final without a trip to the jungle. That's only part of this unlikely of RW bromance's that started in Vegas when Roylee entered the door of the HRH suite & upon seeing MikeMike pop out from behind the couch wondered to himself, "They've got me sharing a penthouse with a 12-year-old? (Laughs)" Heather adds, "Michael & Leroy just couldn't be any more different." During that season, they became really close, bonding especially on EP2 after Mike told him about the rough life he's endured, leaving Leroy to say, "Out of all the roommates, Mike definitely surprised me the most because he seems so clean-cut like he was just coming from a regular, normal family." And in the finale, after flying home to Detroit to deal with a close friend's untimely death and unable to go to his bachelor's party, Leroy surprised Mike & Naomi by making their wedding and being best man in the proceedings. That bromance is the memory I have of not only Leroy, but Mike too; he's now moving to California with his girlfriend, and also be closer to his buddy, now living in Vegas.
- Cooke: While I might not have a standout moment of her yet from her two shows, as I watch Cooke on Rivals II, as well as during Real World Back to Vegas, I can definitely take pride in someone who I can personally & directly relate to. She, like me, is Filipino-American - her mom is of Filipino descent, and she joins Melissa from the original New Orleans season, Lori from the Back to New York season and Ruthie from the Hawaii season as those of Asian/Pacific descent who have been on The Real World (no Asian male has been casted...yet). And she is also a soccer player who played in college at Loyola Marymount University in Maryland & as of late I've become increasingly interested in the beautiful game. Around being part of this Challenge, she has taken her love of soccer and pride in (what my family likes to call the Philippines) the motherland by playing on the Philippine Women's National Soccer Team and taking part in a few tournaments. Last year at the Viking Cup friendly tournament in Los Angeles, she was part of a team that won the competition following a penalty shootout. Then later in the spring, she & her teammates flew to Bangladesh for group qualification in the AFC Women's Asian Cup & scored one goal in an otherwise disappointing tournament for the Malditas, finishing tied for last in their group & missing out on the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. (Here's that penalty shootout from LA: http://youtu.be/31MgeQ6GwyA.)
- Trey: Being on his 3rd MTV show in a span of a year, Trey has had the time of his life and a roller coaster of a year: chosen to go to the Real World 27 house in the Virgin Islands, then going straight with some of his RWSTT cast to Turkey for his first Challenge and now competing in Thailand for Rivals II, winning the first two missions this season & continuing to perform well, at least until the surprise ending from the recent episode. This continues a good wave of fortune for him being a fellow Baltimore native, just months after he got to see his hometown Ravens just edge out my Niners in Super Bowl XLVII. While I was rooting passionately for the red & gold to win like most Bay Areans did that Super Sunday, I knew that this would be a win-win situation for me regardless of who won; I wouldn't be heartbroken if the Niners lose like my fellow Facebook friends and fans over here in the bay. As I would always do in other sports, I would show class & dignity and acknowledge the winners if we lost, and immediately upon the final tackle being made, I tweeted out a pic of me wearing a Ravens cap & sending congratulations to the Ravens, Baltimore and to fans over there like Trey. I was very proud of him the same way as if my team won the title. By the way, here was how he & the Weatherholtz family reacted to the final play: http://youtu.be/NBPQo2jeT3I. And no doubt Trey will use the bad luck of the DQ to motivate him in turning it into something positive on future Challenges.
- Sarah: Rivals II was Sarah's 7th straight challenge, and while she was sent home without going into elimination yet again when Trishelle decided to bail out & continuing this unfortunate string of bad luck on these shows for Ms. Rice, I have good memories watching her & her RW cast in Brooklyn. While the moment that stood out for me was Army vet Ryan being recalled back to Iraq on Veterans Day, the memory I have of Sarah was actually lighthearted. All season, there was tension between the girls & the guys in the Red Hook loft, and at the heart of all this were a number of pranks being pulled by one of the boys on one of the girls and vice versa. In EP7, the roommates find that there are more than eight roommates living in the house, thanks to a bunch of mice that didn't want to leave the house. With that in mind, Chet, Ryan and JD decided to pull a prank on Sarah & Devyn by going to the nearby pet shop and using a live rat to scare them. When Dev was sleeping, the boys sneak in to put the rat in her bed and she got scared as the boys laughed. Not content with Dev's reaction, Ryan then put the rat on Sarah's bed, and at first she didn't notice it, but when she did spot the rat, she runs out of her room screaming and refusing to sleep in her own bed. That moment of her screaming at heart's content after seeing that rat is one I remember most of Sarah, more than being on these Challenges. And I guarantee you, she's gonna win one of these someday.
- Wes: Being still relatively new to The Challenge and with his first MTV season being 8 years ago, I might not have that many recollections of Wes, though of course other fans have their own memories of him on these shows. But a memory that many people have was back before he became a big Challenge name & an entrepreneur in KC, all the way in Austin. During RW16, he and Nehemiah kept a drawer in the kitchen just for those groupies who they got to know, and putting their names & numbers on various post it notes. Nehemiah says, "A groupie drawer is something required while coming here to Texas. Whatever number we draw out of it, that's who we're gonna go out with tonight. That way, I can remember exactly who it is I'm calling and why I'm calling her." And watching that footage of it again during the best bromance moments from a few years back is a bit creepy as they would draw from the drawer the same way someone would reach into a bin to draw the winning postcard in a contest. I always get a laugh watching those funny moments on these shows. And this was the definition of "the note" in the MTV encyclopedia, until five years later when the Jersey Shore cast made that even more famous over there on South Beach.
- Emily: Since her DC season and now already established as a Challenge power player in her third go at this in Thailand, Emily has completely redevoted herself from the lady we saw on RW three years ago to now one who's devoted all her energies to being active & fit. While I have memories of watching her in DC, she's really come into her own on these Challenges, making it to the final mission in both of her previous appearances & seems destined to eventually win one, especially after winning four missions with Paula so far this season. When she is not on a Challenge, she's a personal trainer and takes part in CrossFit, competing at a number of CrossFit events featuring the same upper-body fitness type events we see on TV. She is now part of a list of those people in this RW/Challenge family who, thanks in no small part to taking part in these shows, have taken advantage of their Challenge experience to become more active everyday. This list includes CJ from Cancun, Leroy from Vegas/XXV, Sarah from Brooklyn (now a certified yoga instructor), Robb from St. Thomas and a few others. It's because of watching The Challenge, as well as being a longtime sports fan & having all that athletic gear in my room, that has inspired me to try & become more active everyday, from taking regular walks around the neighborhood to working out & playing sports more.
The final three people in this post are not only the ones I saved for last, but also three of the show's biggest names and the ones who bring the passionate fans of the show and viewers to these Challenges they've been on. I can see why they & other veterans were sorely missed when I got to watch a Challenge for the first time last fall, but they are also those I've been looking forward to seeing for the first time live on these shows since I saw them on their Real World...well, with the exception of the next person, I did see him a long time ago when he made his first appearance doing these shows.
- CT: Over the years, CT has become one of the biggest names on The Challenge, and this is the 10th anniversary of him making his first MTV appearance as that Bostonian on Real World Paris. After all, he's been on a lot of these Challenges going all the way back to his first one many years ago on the first Inferno. This feisty person with that accent been involved in a lot of fights, including one that not only got him but also a long-time nemesis in RW Paris castmate Adam kicked off after perhaps the most-vicious Challenge fight ever before competition in Duel II could ever get off the ground in New Zealand, and an hours-long argument with Wes that, among other things, got them paired on Rivals II. Plus, he was also part of perhaps the biggest Challenge surprise ever that we'll explain at the end of this post. But if it weren't for him, then there would probably not be a whole slew of people that MTV has chosen from that six-state area in the northeast known as New England to be on The Real World, The Challenge or Road Rules. Since then, 10 Real World'ers (PDX's Johnny the latest), plus a few from The Challenge/Road Rules, have followed in the footsteps of not only CT, but also David from Seattle and a few other old school RW'ers in gracing the MTV cameras. Because of CT, New England has become a hotbed in casting people for these shows, all during a time where all of Boston's sports teams have won titles and endured a heavy heart for what happened while this Challenge took place half a world away. Wouldn't it be a great morale boost if CT wins his first Challenge? Stay tuned.
- Paula: While I'm watching Paula for the first time on a live Challenge season here on Rivals II and teaming with Emily to dominate the first four ladies' missions, I did get the opportunity to watch the original Rivals season just two weeks before this season began. She has been a veteran of numerous Challenges going all the way back to when she debuted on The Duel just off the boat from Key West. But, she endured a string of bad luck on these Challenges, being on the losing end of seven of them prior to Rivals & not winning a final, including being eliminated by Emily in the last elimination before the Cutthroat final. So, she came into Costa Rica looking to finally get that breakthrough, and in order to do that, she had to win it with Evelyn, who had tension with her going all the way back to The Island when she & Johnny & Kenny won that season without her, and then on Fresh Meat II when Ev beat Paula in an elimination. After going into elimination in week 1 after performing poorly in the first mission and beating Aneesa & Robin, Paula & Ev would then find their stride and won four missions and they became the favorites for the ladies in the Final. And when both made their way up the Patagonia peak and claim that victory, it obviously became an emotional moment for Paula, knowing that monkey was finally off her back and finally winning the big one. Her fans could finally sleep well that summer night.
- Johnny: We've saved the best for last for perhaps the biggest name & maybe the most-loved/hated man in The Challenge world. And for someone who, like Paula, was part of a beloved Real World cast that endured three hurricanes & then became the dominant force in the spinoff series, the run Johnny Bananas has been on has been stellar, none more so than when being given the inspiration of perhaps his worst moment ever on these shows. On Cutthroat, just when he thought he would be facing fellow Key West castmate Tyler in the Gulag elimination, in perhaps the biggest twist the show has ever seen, TJ brought on CT to face him much to everyone's surprise. Shell shocked by that, it took CT only 17 seconds for him to put Johnny on like a school backpack, win that Gulag and eliminate Bananas, leaving everyone in stunned amazement, including Johnny himself: "I had the carpet pulled out from under me. But if you feed a banana to a gorilla, you shouldn't be that surprised by the results." Going into Costa Rica, he got paired up with Tyler (whose bickering goes back to The Duel & continued into Gauntlet III), and thanks to the usual alliance partnership he has with friends Kenny & Evan, Johnny got through without a hitch. But when it mattered most when he & Tyler got put into the last Jungle in Argentina against CT & Adam, where in a close elimination, team Key West beat team Paris and Johnny got his revenge, and that propelled him & Tyler to win Rivals. And then on Exes, he, too, again won the last elimination and then his 2nd straight title & 4th overall, this time with Camila by his side.
So, another long post, and so many memories & perspectives I have of everyone of this Rivals II cast, starting off with TJ Lavin's remarkable comeback story, ending with Johnny Bananas' tale of redemption and 32 other memories all in between. From seeing them for the first time on The Real World to seeing them compete on the Challenge, talking with them on twitter to even the occasional viral video, I've been lucky to follow their progress & interact with them as well. With another Real World season to start filming soon, and potentially seeing them on future Challenges as well as those we haven't seen in a while, they'll be more memories I will be watching & sharing. But for now, we're in the middle of an amazing season of The Challenge: Rivals II, and there's still a lot left to be decided.
My social media platforms, DC Blog & Twitter @dc408dxtr, will be all over Rivals II as we continue to enjoy the drama & competition from Thailand: from my As DC Sees It live tweets to taking part in cast chats, plus these blogs. Because of my recent Las Vegas trip, my recap posts have been delayed a bit, but I'll be able to post my them when I do get the chance to rewatch episodes at my own leisure: from one-liners to cast tweets, they'll eventually be covered there. Speaking of Vegas, I'll be posting my travelogue of my recent trip & previous trips to Vegas on here soon, plus the visuals from that trip last month, now with a first video at www.youtube.com/user/dc408dxtr and photos soon at Instagram.com/dc408dxtr & www.flickr.com/photos/dccueva.
If you haven't had the chance, check out my previous DC BLOG articles relating to Rivals II:
- SocialPulse of Episode 1 (contains adult language): http://dc408dxtr.blogspot.com/2013/07/rivals-ii-countdown-real-world-nola.html
- Who Are These Newbies?: http://dc408dxtr.blogspot.com/2013/07/rivals-ii-who-are-these-newbies.html
- 11:11, Inspired by Trey: http://dc408dxtr.blogspot.com/2013/07/dc-blog-1111.html
- PDX Reunion Revealed: http://dc408dxtr.blogspot.com/2013/07/real-world-portland-as-they-saw-it.html
Until then, thanks for reading, have fun, and enjoy Rivals II & this last month of summer.
- DC
@DC408dxtr
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