Real World/Challenge Stories - Vybe

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

We are halfway through The Challenge: Free Agents, which has been a very good season so far with the new elimination twist creating some unpredictability in addition to the great competition and drama we come to expect from the so-called 5th major sport. And we're still talking about Real World: Ex-Plosion, where we saw more than our good deal of drama & fireworks among our seven strangers & their exes right here in my Bay Area backyard, which is now one of my all-time favorite RW seasons.

   But before tomorrow night's episode, the fact that three of its castmates are on our MTV airwaves again and with two of them are still in the running for the money, for a brief moment let's take a step back to a popular RW season from a few years ago that had its fair share of drama (and was the highest-rated RW season of recent times until this season), and a new invention from a member of that cast that may reverse his negative bad boy reputation.

One of a handful of Real World seasons that really stand out to me as an all-time favorite of mine is Back to Las Vegas from three years ago. There in the world's pleasure capital & my favorite city outside the Bay Area, we saw eight people with varying backgrounds of rough childhoods and the like have the time of their life in the city that never sleeps, calling a rock star suite in the Hard Rock Hotel home.

   We had a scandal involving the one of the roommates and his controversial past that put Louisiana gentleman Dustin on the front page of US Weekly. We also saw romances blossoming among most of the cast, the most unlikely of RW bromances being formed, a Vegas wedding, and of course more than our fair share of sex & booze than your typical Real World; not surprising that the Vegas Strip was just a little walk from home. Plus there was also some real-life stuff that we saw during the season, including a pregnancy scare, one's quest to reconnect with her biological dad, and everyone having dealt with hardship at one time or another.

   Shortly thereafter, I visited the Hard Rock and saw the same places the cast got to hang out in, along with a display case with Dustin's guitar and the confessional, now located in the lobby. Two members of that cast, Dustin & Nany, follow me in the social world, having talked to them & the rest of the cast many times. And they, along with Leroy, are part of this season's Free Agents cast, and are looking to garner Team Vegas' first Challenge win. Being one of the few RW seasons where every member has done at least one Challenge, Vegas XXV has been part of the final in three of the last four seasons, Cooke the most recent on Rivals II.

Another one of their fellow roommates who was part of that great season, and the one who actually had the shortest stay in Sin City for that matter, was Adam. Per his bio, this Maine native was the one who wasn't really good at anything: not an athlete, not good in the classroom, and only a few in his friend clique. But then, he found a refuge in dealing drugs, and his life changed. So much so, that when he was 16, he found himself caught between a rock and a hard place of a drug robbery gone badly and the law. He got handcuffed & spent the rest of his high school years in a juvenile detention center, which was a much needed reality check. He would later petition Maine Governor John Baldacci to take college classes while he was in detention and would eventually get his University of Southern Maine Criminology & Political Science degree.

   In Vegas, Adam had a relatively good time by bad boy standards: rode a bull, got kicked out of the Vanity nightclub several times, hooked up with a few girls (including Fresh Meat II winner & "local girl" Carley), smashed a few bottles too, and drawing the ire of one Leroy. And a storyline that got people buzzing was that of his relationship with Nany, who had come into town with a 6-year relationship with her Buffalo boyfriend, while Adam also had a so-called "girlfriend" back home in Maine too, Jordan. Fans became irate over him juggling those two girls and not telling Nany about it. But the breaking point was when hooked up with her which led to her breakup, then going on a drunken rant of destroying the suite after her search for a guy angered him. Hard Rock Hotel security went inside to find out about it shortly after and when he got back to the suite, Adam was given his eviction notice and left Las Vegas, although he did return one more time for a weekend near the end of the season.

Then a few months later, in his only Challenge to date, Rivals, Adam was paired up with Leroy for a long jump challenge called High Dive where players had to run & jump off a platform suspended above a waterfall and clear as many hash marks as possible, all the while holding their partner's hands. And in a harbinger of what would become a rookie revolution in recent Challenges, they, along with Jasmine & Jonna, shocked the big-name veterans and everyone by surprisingly winning the first mission they ever competed in. But the celebration for Team Vegas would be short lived. The next day after a few celebratory drinks, Adam and RW DC's Ty got into words. And then, when he heard Ty say something Leroy didn't like, Adam threw a punch on him, and also wiped out as well. And of course, he was sent home for the second straight show in a row. While a few others have been kicked off a Challenge two or more times for getting into a physical fight, Adam had the unique but dubious distinction of being kicked off in consecutive shows.

   Since that punch, we've not seen Adam on our airwaves - and in fact he has been banned by MTV. But had Nany made her Challenge debut a season early on Exes, it would've been a Vegas takeover there with him & most of the XXV group being represented. Lost in all this is that while we saw Laurel & Cara Maria become BFF's as a result of Rivals among other things, Adam did squash that bickering with Leroy shortly after that Challenge. And now whenever Adam goes back up to Vegas or Leroy heads down from Sin City, they make sure to hang out, even co-hosting AfterBuzz during RW St. Thomas. And after moving down to Orlando and then to LA, he's even settled down to a nice girlfriend.

But the one thing that might help regain many people's respect for Mr. Royer and reverse that negative perception we saw from him is a product that, along with the Rivals II & RW XXV DVD's, could join that gift wish list for Real World & Challenge fans, especially with graduation now taking place while Free Agents is airing. While Rivals II champion Wes has been doing business as a entrepreneur in KC, Johnny Bananas selling bobble-heads of his likeness and RoyLee & Ex-Plosion roommate Jay selling their own watches, Adam has become an investor in a new technological innovation called Vybe. 

   This product is a smart and stylish wristband that utilizes Bluetooth technology and vibrates when users receive a phone call, a text message or if they leave their phone behind. Compatible with newer iPhones and any Android model supported by Bluetooth 4, the Vybe band vibrates when a user gets a call, receives a text, reminder, tweet or notification, or if they are more than 30 feet away from their smartphone ensuring anti-theft & loss prevention. Similar to Jay's Craze Watches line, the wristband line varies by color, by which the vibrating chip can be installed inside, while an extender for it can even place the band around the ankle as well. And an app that comes with the product can set up all the notifications & reminders to their choosing.

Upon the first details of Vybe being released last fall while Free Agents was taping in Uruguay, a few of Adam's fellow Vegas castmates, as well as Vegas native & Challenge host TJ Lavin and a Teen Mom, all got behind him in showing their support for his new venture. Here are some of their tweets...

- @tjlavin: Hey check out @AdamRoyerr 's  company @WearVybe ... I'm looking forward to seeing you shine player take care!

  - @AdamRoyerr: @tjlavin thanks bro!!

- @NaomiMTV: Hey Everyone Check Out My Bro @AdamRoyerr new fab and stylish Bluetooth bracelet @wearvybe it's dope 😍😍🔥🙌

  - @AdamRoyerr: @NaomiMTV awwww love u!!! Miss u!!!

- @MikeRossMTV: Check out this sweet new bracelet from @WearVybe - it vibrates when you get a text or a call!! #Vybe #nextbigthing https://t.co/w97As7Mero

- @MikeRossMTV: Just found out about @WearVybe! Sickkk! Keep up the great work, and I can't wait to get one!! :-) https://t.co/w97As7Mero

- @MaciBookoutMTV: Yall check this awesome new bracelet @WearVybe that vibrates when u get a call/text or lose ur phone. Preorder here-> http://t.co/QZAmmyntT0

- @ItsGaryTime: Check out these awesome bracelets vibrate when you receive a phone call or text thanks to @AdamRoyerr  http://t.co/dzwwCO4ow8

And although distribution of the product and its release date has been delayed from February to May due to shipment problems in China, there have been nonetheless over 2,000 preorders. And the project was funded well in advance to the point where it is now at over 250% funded, with over $100,000 in proceeds helping fund the production process.

   And considering that I typically have earphones on when I'm out & about and sometimes wouldn't feel the vibration or hear my ringtone on my iPhone go off, I might as well need it for the next big trip I might take (perhaps to Vegas again later this year). And I can thank Adam for giving me a great idea of a product that can let me know of a call from my friends or family if I'm busy, or if the noise is too loud for me to notice that I had a missed call from someone trying to check where I am at at all times.

While some people might still have some resentment over his behavior in Vegas and in Costa Rica, and if it does very well, I believe this product should help to reverse Adam's bad boy reputation and give him some positive credibility, much in the same manner that he was able to turn his life around after the tough drug-ridden life he had in high school. Now that he has mellowed out from the Adam we saw three years ago, Vybe might be the one that will change everyone's perception of Adam Royer.

   To place your preorder for your wristband or more info on Vybe, visit its website at http://www.WearVybe.com and follow it on twitter @WearVybe.

Make sure to bookmark DCBLOG for everything Challenge as Free Agents takes place in Uruguay. After every episode, we'll have our DC SocialPulse diaries of how the cast & fans see the episodes on twitter, whether you want to relive all the interaction again or if you're a West Coast fan catching up on the tweets for the first time; plus my own episode wraps. For Challenge fans, our site is a complement to the power rankings and cast interviews of other sites as we offer a unique perspective on the season, the show & the people, such as the one we've presented here. DCBLOG also covers other reality TV including Real World and Are You The One?, plus pop culture, sports & beyond.

   Don't forget to follow DCNOW, my devoted live tweeting hub @DC408DxNow, where I live tweet Free Agents every Thursday (PT) as well as other MTV shows, sports and entertainment events. In addition to tomorrow's episode and potential closeout NBA Playoff games on the same night, tonight I'll be live tweeting an all-new episode of a show that's also grabbed my attention, Catfish, for which I'll be writing about it on here soon. And on Sunday, I'll be live tweeting the first full awards show on DCNOW as the Billboard Music Awards take place in Las Vegas.

   And of course, follow my primary account @DC408Dxtr for my usual tweets, conversations with fans & followers and Team MTV, and alerts to MTV-related show material & DCBLOG posts. So until I join you on DCNOW for Catfish and blog again later, thanks for reading, have fun, and see you then.

- DC