BY DC CUEVA
Welcome back one and all to DCBLOG's ongoing trek through the wild and always entertaining world of the MTV Trifecta. We started this latest ride back late last summer with the countdown to a most eventful Are You The One? Season 3, then this winter we saw an unpredictable 27th renewal of The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines. Both of them produced the expected - longtime veteran Cara Maria winning her first Challenge, and the unexpected - as in fellow New Englander Devin using his mad genius to singlehandedly win his AYTO cast the money in Hawaii.
And now, after a month-long break to catch our breath after that finale in Berlin, and with five of its alums now becoming proud parents as well, we turn the attention to TV's most-iconic reality series and 3rd jewel of the Trifecta - The Real World. It will be entering its record 31st season - unprecedented in the cable universe, and will be visiting for the third time in its nearly 25 years on MTV the town that's synonymous with love, money, madness and fun: Las Vegas, Nevada.
And it's very fitting that Sin City is the appropriate setting for the latest twist to wreck havoc on the roommates as it'll once again tweak its old-school formula of seven strangers living together and watching what happens. Yes, we'll still have the unique attributes it's had forever of the deep storytelling and relatable people we've been accustomed to since that first season in 1992, and of course the big time drama we all know and love. But this time, it's brought an element of a show that formed the original part of the Trifecta a long time ago and will bring that same kind of unpredictability that we've experienced the past six months to this reality TV original.
St. Patrick's Day, Thursday, March 17, is now more than a week from now, as it will be the premiere night of Real World: Go Big or Go Home. And as the first love of this triple crown, this lifelong fan will again be watching and following this new season, and covering it right here - again wire to wire from the preseason buzz until the last act at spring's end. Just as it was in San Francisco with Ex-Plosion and in Chicago last year with Skeletons, it's a totally new Real World that promises to add more allure to the magic that happens when this great show touches down in America's greatest playground.
Of course, we can expect the unexpected with big time drama, a new group of seven strangers and twists as twisted as an up & down day in the casinos. And ahead, we'll be previewing what you can expect on this season and how it compares to its erstwhile sister show, a look at the seven strangers and other things too. This includes two up-and-coming singers, a Mormon-turned-hippie and a former Vegas resident with a couple good celeb ties too.
So, Join In after the jump as DCBLOG commences our coverage of Season 31 of Real World: Go Big or Go Home, from Las Vegas.
MEET THE ROOMIES...
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| L-R: Sabrina, Chris, Kailah, Dean, Jenna, Ceejay & Dione. |
● DEAN - Studio City, CA: Dean is a charming hunk who's now exploring the life of a bachelor after going through a divorce. This trip to Sin City is a return engagement for him as he spent his first five years in Ghana before moving with his dad to Las Vegas. Dean attended the University of Nevada up the way in Reno where his charm, humor and vibes of being that pretty guy brought in the sorority girls on the Wolverine campus. That is, until he met the one, but that relationship was a toxic one, and Dean is more than looking ready for a fresh start in familiar quarters. And how about this fact: from pics he posted on Instagram he got to work with that great comedic icon Charlie Sheen, and is friends with (for now) Niners QB Colin Kaepernick (proof of that during an ExtraTime soon).
● KAILAH - West Palm Beach, FL: From Florida's Treasure Coast, Kailah is a Puerto Rican beauty with nice eyebrows, an impressive booty and of course a loud personality. It's with her sexual prowess in mind that she's not afraid of casually hooking up and makes it clear to the guys that they can't fall in love with her (an AYTO castoff, perhaps?). She was a mean girl back then in high school, where she was a cheerleader and was named "Gossip Queen" in her yearbook. Though admired by her peers, Kailah confesses that her strong personality has led her to not have as many friends and even now still has difficulty maintaining the kind of strong support system around her. As she arrives in Vegas, her goal is to grow beyond being a drama queen and work on being patient.
● SABRINA - Topsfield, MA: The latest MTV Trifecta castmate from New England, Sabrina is your typical Bostonian: one who's not afraid to speak her mind and has an aggressive persona. Give her whip cream and she'll take advantage of it, as well as being able to sexualize any scenario too. But Sabrina has a sensitive side too as an aspiring singer/songwriter who, as we told you during Bloodlines, interned at KISS 108 FM and has her eyes on making it big in music - her new single drops this month in fact. She also has some skeletons too: she was adopted as a baby, and her biggest fear is to find & meet her biological mom, with rumors of her living out west. Sabrina's goal is meet the mom she's never known but is worried about what she could find should she go down the route Nany went through here in Vegas.
● KAILAH - West Palm Beach, FL: From Florida's Treasure Coast, Kailah is a Puerto Rican beauty with nice eyebrows, an impressive booty and of course a loud personality. It's with her sexual prowess in mind that she's not afraid of casually hooking up and makes it clear to the guys that they can't fall in love with her (an AYTO castoff, perhaps?). She was a mean girl back then in high school, where she was a cheerleader and was named "Gossip Queen" in her yearbook. Though admired by her peers, Kailah confesses that her strong personality has led her to not have as many friends and even now still has difficulty maintaining the kind of strong support system around her. As she arrives in Vegas, her goal is to grow beyond being a drama queen and work on being patient.
● SABRINA - Topsfield, MA: The latest MTV Trifecta castmate from New England, Sabrina is your typical Bostonian: one who's not afraid to speak her mind and has an aggressive persona. Give her whip cream and she'll take advantage of it, as well as being able to sexualize any scenario too. But Sabrina has a sensitive side too as an aspiring singer/songwriter who, as we told you during Bloodlines, interned at KISS 108 FM and has her eyes on making it big in music - her new single drops this month in fact. She also has some skeletons too: she was adopted as a baby, and her biggest fear is to find & meet her biological mom, with rumors of her living out west. Sabrina's goal is meet the mom she's never known but is worried about what she could find should she go down the route Nany went through here in Vegas.
● CEEJAI - Powder Springs, GA: An East St. Louis native now living in the Atlanta area, Ceejai has faced many a hurdle in her life, similar to the backstories of the first two Vegas casts. Gun violence has cast a dark shadow on her and her family, with some of her friends having their lives cut short too soon and who lost her mom to domestic violence. She's turning tragedy into a reason to take action in bringing awareness to her community about gun violence and domestic abuse, and hopes to become an attorney to fight for stricter gun laws and bring hope to the place where she grew up. For now as she comes to Las Vegas, a newly single Ceejai is eager to take advantage of the adrenaline junky part of this season while hoping this experience will open this world up to her.
● JENNA - Easley, SC: Last fall, we met Rashida on AYTO...now Jenna makes her way from South Carolina - the Upstate part of the state to be exact - to the Real World house. Don't be fooled by her looks...this Southern bombshell is a tomboy who loves to shoot guns and arrows in her bikini - she'll easily be the fave of our Buckwild friends. She also takes pride in her upbringing in her beliefs and traditions, and Jenna has something in common with Chelsea from Teen Mom: it shouldn't be long before her pet pig becomes BFF's with Pete the Pig. Jenna was raised by her Mormon dad which may lead to some conflict on the part of one of the cast here, until she moved in with her mom in high school. With this move to Vegas, she looks to break out of her shell outside of her hometown.
● JENNA - Easley, SC: Last fall, we met Rashida on AYTO...now Jenna makes her way from South Carolina - the Upstate part of the state to be exact - to the Real World house. Don't be fooled by her looks...this Southern bombshell is a tomboy who loves to shoot guns and arrows in her bikini - she'll easily be the fave of our Buckwild friends. She also takes pride in her upbringing in her beliefs and traditions, and Jenna has something in common with Chelsea from Teen Mom: it shouldn't be long before her pet pig becomes BFF's with Pete the Pig. Jenna was raised by her Mormon dad which may lead to some conflict on the part of one of the cast here, until she moved in with her mom in high school. With this move to Vegas, she looks to break out of her shell outside of her hometown.
● CHRIS - New York City: In Brooklyn 7 years ago, we met Chet, the Mormon frat guy and hardcore Republican from Utah...we may have met his polar opposite in Christopher. He is a former Mormon boy from Salt Lake City who's transformed himself into a hipster in the Big Apple. Him cutting ties with the LDS Church and recently accepting his "pan sexuality" have driven his fight against religious discrimination and has made him an LGBT advocate. Not surprisingly, this has put him in the hot seat among his conservative family, much like what we saw with Julie on RW NOLA 16 years ago. Chris is on a journey to figure out who the true Chris is and enter a new phase in his life where he can say yes to everything. Las Vegas seems all the perfect place to put that into play.
● DIONE - Dennisport, MA: The nature of this Road Rules-inspired Real World season no doubt best suits the guy from the Cape Cod area south of Boston nicknamed "Jungle Boy." Dione is an enthusiast of adrenaline-flowing adventures and living life on the edge without taking on the burden of responsibility. He's embraced the lifestyle of Peter Pan in never growing up, but he has a big fear of having a job either a full day one or a part-time gig. Dione also prefers to find girls who will fall for his charm and youthful personality rather than getting into serious manner like those old-school jobs. We're sure the women in the GS suite will fall for Jungle Boy, but how long will they handle the high energy antics of this crazy guy? Only time will tell, of course.
WHAT TO EXPECT... AND THE TWIST
Now, a look at what to look for. If you're a follower of all three (and if you count the erstwhile show below, four) shows of the MTV Trifecta, then you probably know about the twists that come about on all of them. Coming off of an unpredictable Challenge season in Bloodlines, we've seen many a twist being thrown at the competitors by TJ Lavin, such as being forced to work with a rival or having CT come in to knock out Johnny Bananas on Cutthroat. After its celebrated season 1 cast took the $1 million very easily, the casts of succeeding seasons of AYTO have seen them deal with 11th Girl Christina and the $250,000 blackout penalty. And of course, we saw the RW roommates' exes move into the Season 29 house in the Bay Area, and people from the roomies' past spend time in Chicago.
If you know your MTV history well, then you know about Road Rules. It started in 1995 as a Real World spin-off in becoming the first reality show to mix elements of competition to the RW docu-soap formula, predating Survivor and The Amazing Race, among others. It was here where we first saw, among others, Challenge vets Mark Long, Susie Meister & Derrick Kosinski, and of course Bloodlines' Abram Boise as they and others roamed the U.S. and overseas in that RV. They got to do just about everything both simple & crazy: from Mark, Access Hollywood host Kit Hoover and the season 1 cast working for Van Halen, to Abe bungee-jumping in New Zealand, and beyond. And when it integrated the Survivor method for kicking off castmates for not completing missions, that was where we also met longtime Challenge staple Katie Doyle on The Quest, season 10.
That more than provides the context for this season's twist. Our strangers will come to Vegas for a season that'll offer more wildness and antics to get your adrenaline flowing than your usual Real World. From the very moment they meet for the first time, they'll be thrown into a series of Road Rules-style missions, billed as "over the top" and "daring" in that old school style of the day. As it was back then, some challenges will be for the whole group, while others will be specially designed for each person. But unlike RR and in the same manner as the event that also begins on St. Patrick's Day in March Madness, it's one & done: the simple condition is if one roommate doesn't complete the task at hand, they'll be sent home and be replaced by another new roomie... no benefit of a safety net.
As the trailer for this season tells us, the wild stuff they'll be doing is very fitting for a town that knows how to do it big, such as jumping out of a hot air balloon in the Vegas desert, going for a ride with the local Air Force unit, having fun in the desert that also happens to be TJ Lavin's hometown, or performing on stage at a local strip club - obviously no Vegas season would be complete without that. And if you think all of this is all fun, there's also a slice of that old school RW lying in Sabrina potentially up meeting the birth mom who placed her up for adoption, similar to what we saw last year with Jason meeting his dad for the first time.
The setting for this Real World sees a relatively new locale in a familiar town. The previous two Vegas seasons have seen the cast call two hotels off the Vegas Strip home: the Palms Resort & Casino to the west of LV Boulevard on season 12, and the Hard Rock Hotel to its east five years ago. For this 3rd Vegas trip, the cast will live in a tricked out penthouse suite located in the top floor of the Gold Spike Hotel in downtown. The GS also targets the young crowd with an entire first floor being reimagined with social games and live music around a bar and lounge. Likewise, the suite has been outfitted with everything we expect in a RW crib: pool table, confessional, awesome rooms and beyond.
And as for playground, Downtown Vegas represents the city's origins and central business district, and is actually located inside city limits (the Vegas Strip, most hotels in the area, McCarran International Airport and other landmarks are located in unincorporated towns but it doesn't matter anyway since they're all branded Las Vegas for tourism reasons). DTLV has been revitalized in recent years with a new performing arts center and museums opening up. And if you saw Leroy, Mike and Cooke going zip lining at night, it was above the Fremont Street Experience, a pedestrian mall with LED lights that light up at night and rejuvenated tourism to this part of town.
Obviously, the roomies will all have to confront their hopes, fears and anxieties, accomplishing things we all dream of doing but also dealing emotionally with their own skeletons. For the very first time on this franchise, the roommates will have something that those on the other two shows of the Trifecta are used to: they must learn together not knowing what the next day or next hour will bring, and if something bad happens then they will be headed home. So, the premise here is, just as it is in the casinos: go big and risk it all, or if you don't, it's all over.
WELCOME TO TEAM MTV
Finally, a word to the cast and if we haven't talked yet in social world, then "Welcome to Team MTV" and to the Real World family. You all got to film this season last fall in our nation's great playground -- and in fact I was in Las Vegas during the first weekend of filming -- and have enjoyed ample R&R time after you got home in time for the holidays. But as we approach St. Patrick's Day, you all are ready to get this going, and before you know it it'll be March 17th. As I told previous casts, this feeling of anticipation you all have is the same as being kids counting down to opening those presents on Christmas morning, and for me there's nothing like the countdown to a new season of an MTV show.
I'm sure the anticipation you have for RW Go Big or Go Home is reaching the kind of feeling you've never experienced in your lives, and all the month's worth of hype, talk and buzz will culminate on not just premiere night but also on the luckiest holiday all year of St. Patrick's Day. And now the real show begins: the promos now airing, the episodes being fine-tuned for air (you saw them at the After Show tapings last week), the promotion & publicity departments bringing this thing to life, and most importantly the opportunity for fans like me to talk to you. I've grown a solid rapport with the MTV family during my time on Twitter, and I look forward to talking to all of you in social world as the season goes along. And if history proves itself again in having interacted with every new cast since I joined Twitter on St. Thomas premiere night four years ago, we're well on our way to have an awesome time in the next few months.
But though I'm one of the Trifecta's biggest fans and one who now devotes energies to covering it here, I'm not the only one in the large network of fans who supports this show; you'll be interacting with many of them also during this countdown and the season itself. And although there's so many people too many to mention, there's one to single out: my twitter colleague Andrew Kirk has covered this MTV world at the same time as I, and he and other webcast hosts look forward to having you on his shows during the season, and discussing your every move on there too as the both of us watch and cover this new Real World season.
But though I'm one of the Trifecta's biggest fans and one who now devotes energies to covering it here, I'm not the only one in the large network of fans who supports this show; you'll be interacting with many of them also during this countdown and the season itself. And although there's so many people too many to mention, there's one to single out: my twitter colleague Andrew Kirk has covered this MTV world at the same time as I, and he and other webcast hosts look forward to having you on his shows during the season, and discussing your every move on there too as the both of us watch and cover this new Real World season.
The family of those who've been on The Real World, as well as its related cousins in The Challenge and Road Rules, and now AYTO, is among the most prestigious alumni communities anywhere, and now you'll be joining this elite company with so many great people along with the broader MTV family - for which a few of you got to mingle with a few weeks back. You'll have the opportunity to meet these alums of what I call the Trifecta, both at the various appearances you'll make, and of course when you do future Challenges as well. I'm sure they'll welcome you with open arms come next week here socially.
To Dean, Kailah, Sabrina, Ceejai, Jenna, Chris and Dione: welcome to the Real World family, and Team MTV. I've been a longtime Real World fan and really looking forward to seeing what you all got for us this season, especially with this fun new twist, all the big time drama this show is known for and this season taking place in a city I enjoy going to all the time. Good luck and look forward to having your company this spring. And most of all, savor this last week of being relative unknowns to everybody outside of your inner circles...your lives are gonna change forever come next week when this ride begins for real.
To Dean, Kailah, Sabrina, Ceejai, Jenna, Chris and Dione: welcome to the Real World family, and Team MTV. I've been a longtime Real World fan and really looking forward to seeing what you all got for us this season, especially with this fun new twist, all the big time drama this show is known for and this season taking place in a city I enjoy going to all the time. Good luck and look forward to having your company this spring. And most of all, savor this last week of being relative unknowns to everybody outside of your inner circles...your lives are gonna change forever come next week when this ride begins for real.
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As this post concludes, once again DCBLOG and my social platforms will be all over Real World: Go Big or Go Home.
● DCBLOG will again offer wall-to-wall coverage of this Real World season. DC SocialPulse will again offer exclusive play-by-play diaries of all the moments from the episodes as they happen on social media and the cast's spontaneous interactions to what they're seeing on TV. DC WRAP will offer the Things to Know recap of the episodes' key moments, Winners of the Night and ExtraTime insight & reflection on anything relating to the episodes & the Trifecta. And DC FORUM will return with some of my fellow insiders discussing the episodes during the season as well.
● My other Twitter hub dedicated solely to event coverage, DCNOW at @DC408DxNow will again be the place to be to experience the action as it happens with live & curated real-time episode tweets (PT viewers only), using the HT #DCRealWorld. In addition to Real World, you'll enjoy the biggest events in sports and entertainment, plus new seasons of Survivor and Catfish.
● In an effort to further expand the audience and exposure for this site, my DC Instagram hub (IG @DC408Dxtr) as well as my primary Twitter handle (also @DC408Dxtr) will plan to post quote pics each weekend of the best episode tweets from the cast. You can always follow me there as I'm ready to talk this show and what else you have on your mind. I'm also on Tumblr at dc408dxtr.tumblr.com, Snapchat @DC408DXTR1 and other platforms too.
● Plus, be sure to follow the group of insiders including Andrew Kirk (@CSUGradAKirk), Brian Cohen (@BusDriversRoute) and Ali Lasher (@LashTweets). Andrew has his 13th season of webcasts on Google+, while Brian & Ali have their entertaining podcasts on RobHasAWebsite.com & the BDR blog. Be sure to follow me @DC408Dxtr or look to the epilogue of DC WRAP posts for alerts to all webcasts.
And this is just the first of a few posts to be presented here as part of premiere week. I plan to have a DC FORUM Bloodlines Debrief as Andrew and I will recap the recent Challenge season and preview Real World. I'm also planning a special ExtraTime post on the original Real World Las Vegas season, and also a post on NCAA March Madness. Watch for them coming up here, and after the March 17th premiere watch for the 'Pulse diary and WRAP post of the Premiere coming your way here.
Once again, DCBLOG is anxiously looking forward to bringing you our coverage of Real World: Go Big or Go Home, all part of the most-unique MTV show coverage in the blogosphere. Thanks for reading this preview and see you on St. Patrick's Day.
- I AM DC
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