BY DC CUEVA
Last week saw the last act of an unpredictable Challenge season, the beginning of a special summer attraction full of Champs & Pros, and the last regular mission on AYTO Second Chances. We saw a lot go down on the Invasion Reunion hosted by a true Trifecta icon, an Olympian who's been doubted all her life respond in a big way, and saw how it all ended unfortunately for a budding perfect match.
We'll recap it all for you here before we proceed with Act 2 down in SoCal and the Australian finale tomorrow night, along with a couple specials as well. Then, on the topic of having seen her fellow friend return to our MTV airwaves this past week, we'll catch up with a Challenge stalwart and Road Rules veteran as she now looks forward to a new addition in her life. That's all ahead.
THINGS TO KNOW
● MEET THE PLAYERS: First, Champs vs. Pros, and just off the plane from Thailand with a layover in New York for the reunion are seven champions and three not on Invasion, competing against ten professional athletes with varied backgrounds ranging from the NFL and WWE to Olympic veterans, and all of them playing for charity. Team Champions are represented by multiple champions Johnny Bananas, Wes, CT and Darrell; fellow champions Cara Maria, Camila, Ashley K., Jordan and new addition Ashley M., and returnee Veronica from Road Rules VIII. For Team Pros, they include wrestler CM Punk, NFL player Shawne Merriman, celeb competition veteran Louise Hazel and 2018 Team USA hopefuls Lolo Jones, Lindsey Jacobellis and Gus Kenworthy, among others.
● AGAINST THE ROPES: The season's first challenge, "Against the Ropes," sees Agility being tested and where the teams of 5 a side begin on one platform and have to rely on each other in climbing across the ropes to get to the other platform...this split into two rounds and a point system determines who wins. The Champs take to the platform first with Cara, Camila, Bananas, Wes and Jordan; Ginger falls down while Camila makes it across in the 5 minutes allotted. Louise, Shawn, Gus, surfer Tia Blanco and Candice Wiggins then go for the Pros, and the NFL and WNBA players fall off as the others make it to the end, as Gus has to hang on but does pull himself up to get up there.
With Team Pros up 3-1, Lolo does a little bit of trash talking to the Champs before she, Punk, NFL veteran Kamerion Wimbley, Lindsey and fellow snowboarder Louie Vito take to the platform for Heat 2. The team appears to do well, but only one player manages to reach the end and a 4-1 lead going into the Champions' last run. Ashley M., CT, Darrell, Ashley K. and Veronica are tasked with having to get four in order to take the win, but the ones who just won Invasion fall off and the rest have to get across to salvage a tie and force a tiebreaker. But both of the remaining girls fall as well as the Pros take the win, and captain Louise wins $5,000 for her charity, Save the Children.
● LIMEGATE: For the elimination process on this season, the captain of the team that loses each challenge gets sent in automatically: in this case it's Ashley M, and the Champs will have to pick a girl to face her there. In addition, host Victor Cruz gives the winning Pros a twist: they too also have to vote in someone other than the winning captain in a double elimination. That captain gets to pick the first nominee, and her teammates then have to vote in the opponent. And they have an hour to deliberate their choices.
For the Pros, Candice volunteers herself in as she was the only one to fall. They then decide to write the other names on limes and draw it out of a bucket. The Brit draws a lime which appears to read "Lolo," and not surprisingly she gets ticked off. But we then find out that her name wasn't on the lime and it appears she decided to call Lolo's name... interesting choice there. For the Champs, it's no surprise either that another volunteers: as a relative rookie on a team full of champs, Veronica votes herself in to face Ashley M.
● PULL NO PUNCHES: For the season's first elimination, it's called "Pull No Punches," with two giant walls and bells located at the top of both. Here, both players have to punch walls into the wall climb up it and ring the bell first... the first to reach the top wins and stays and the loser is eliminated with a $1,000 charity donation. For Jordan, this harks back to him deciding to draw himself into a battle on Free Agents against Bananas, and him getting burned by this game.
For the Champs, the battle begins for Ashley who goes up quickly but then falls which leaves an opening for Veronica to try to take the win. But then the Invasion queen climbs back up again and rings the bell to notch a big elimination win. But in a battle of two of the strongest women on the Pros side, that's where we get to see the most impressive performance of the week as Lolo goes up big on Candice and takes the win in emphatic fashion... it was no contest.
♥ PARTIES AND RAIDS: Down in Australia, the past two missions on AYTO Second Chances sees communication, parties, a challenging plunge and teamwork take precedent. In Mission 8, the four couples are tasked with having to go around a beach community in Melbourne to look for supplies and things for a beach party -- testing their mental connection. Surprisingly, Devin & Rashida finally show some struggles, especially in the physical aspect in trying to carry around equipment and the like for the party. The two Season 4 couples also have their struggles, but they have no idea that Adam & Shanley have been playing that game with looking for the same things and they come away with the win. Tori & Morgan finish last, but Dashida recover to finish 2nd.
Then the next week, the same four couples tackle a bit of fear: there as part of a mission to put together an untidy apartment, a member of each couple must rappel themselves down a side of an apartment building to see what it is like, and to really test them in bringing a fear of heights to this game. This tests even those who have the best chemistry, which sees everyone have to move around everything needed to put together their apartment, which if you can ask anyone who moves out to SoCal they can tell you it is a tough task. Here, Tori & Morgan are in last, and Cameron & Mikala are in first but he is not fully focused on the mission for reasons to be explained below; and the Originals are in the same predicament too. But not surprisingly, it's Devin and Rashida who take the win again in now having $120,000 and are clear favorites going into the final.
♥ MIKAMERON: Heading into mission 8, there is some clear disconnect with Cameron and Mikala after what happened at a Choice they were not a part of (Mike & Alicia). The two spend time apart, and both discuss with different matches. After that 8th mission above - and a week after their blow up, the two discuss about their relationship, with her telling him, "The longer we stay here, the more damage it will do to our relationship." And it's not surprising that the two are voted into tThe Choice, but it comes to yet another surprise that the blind choice is being used, but as we find out in this past week's episode, one decides to choose steal rather than share. As it turns out, it's Cameron who reveals in a confessional that he's the one who chose the red option and intended to break things off with her. And in last week's mission, as we saw above, his focus was off which leads to the end result of this past week.
♥ TORGAN: In week 8, Tori and Morgan finished last, and there was some inklings that perhaps either Devin or Rashida, who turn out to be the only couple who have not gone into The Choice, might possibly take all of their $100,000+ in their bank, which turned out to not come to fruition - at least in the regular season. For Torgan, it seems that this game has brought them together again, just after what happened leading into this trip down under, with Bravo (our nickname for him with the perfect hair) having some good optimism. And last week, the two who are in a good place compared to everyone else have a stronger connection in this house, even heading up to the Boom Boom Room.
♥ ORIGINALS: The previous week, both Shanley and Adam - like the other couples - also have had communication problems but do take the chance to try and again resolve their issues, with her thinking she's been leading every challenge while he bites back... clear indication they were at odds. And after a late night chat after that mission, the two get into it again in her calling him a liar, and him calling her his biggest hater. After last week's challenge, Shan talks to some of the housemates where they bring up Adam's struggles and how he treats women, and other matters too. She then takes Devin aside to discuss plans to possibly steal from Adam, and then she feels regret when she talks to him the next day and apologizes knowing how hard this game has been for them. They are then voted into The Choice, and once again they share to secure their spot in the final.
ENDGAME
INVASION REUNION REVEALED
with an Observer
with an Observer
Back to The Challenge... and if you've noticed above, we didn't include a recap of the chaotic reunion for Invasion of the Champions, which leads us to this bit of Endgame.
When DCBLOG began to earn its stripes covering the Trifecta and gain a reputation as a go-to site for both fans and the MTV world, a thing I got to do early on was cover the end-of-season reunions from a unique point of view. That would be of talking to those in the audience and them offering some exclusive tea from three reunions we covered early on for each of the shows we cover, plus after shows for Real World Ex-Plosion. I later decided to not further pursue that in order to focus more on the unique and solid storytelling this site brings you here, but in the case of what we saw on this reunion, in searching for articles on that last chapter I stumbled upon one that was worthy to share with you here.
Last month, the site Observer and its resident MTV insider, Matt Ringler (@DoesntMattR), went to the reunion to see all this madness for himself, which you can read on the site. There, in sitting in a chair right by the aisle where he was actually spotted when the champs walked on set at the show's beginning, he - like those we've talked to in the past as well as fellow insider Brian Cohen - had to endure many hours in the MTV Times Square studio watching last Wednesday's all unfold live in front of his eyes. If you've read our reunion posts, you'll find that taping these reunions can take as many as 5-7 hours to tape from when the cast takes the stage until they say "that's a wrap" after taping those wrap-around teasers before commercials. Yes, they are long days and includes things left on the cutting room floor that we can leave up to the imagination.
Matt wrote of his experience, "...the reunion episode is like the Pro Bowl of the Challenge season--the championship is over, not all the players show up to it, and everybody is there for the free trip." And this was the second big reality TV event Matt has been to the past year: last summer, he went to a premiere party for Season 18 of his summer tradition, Big Brother... so being able to hang out with reality TV well-knowns is a familiar sight to him as someone who, like myself, blogs on his biggest passion though with a broader scope than this guy who focuses solely on MTV matters.
After the reunion finished, Matt got a chance to interview some of the cast in the green room. In the aftermath of the blowup that took place with her and Cara Maria after Nicole's cameo, Laurel told him, "I don't think of myself as a person who's on TV," after she cried on stage. This is a reminder of the people being, as Matt wrote, "...actual people and these storylines are plot points, they're things that happen in their lives." Kailah added to that sentiment in saying, "These are real emotions that actually happen," and Shane put it well in this being "a living soap opera."
This is what makes this MTV world so fascinating to fans like me in having seen these so many of these moments of real-life take place over five shows (Road Rules and Stranded, along with AYTO and the RW/Challenge franchise) over the last 25 years, and also to other shows outside the Trifecta ecosystem too many to mention here.
Above seeing Mike "The Miz" host and the fights with Camila & Amanda and Nelson with Cory and Hunter, the highlight of Matt's reunion experience was meeting CT, who he called "...the only person on television I've ever cared about meeting." It's true that he was the sentimental favorite among the champs this season, just in the way that he has been through so much in his life since we first saw him on Real World Paris fourteen years ago and have seen him on twelve Challenges since then. Obviously, there's his famous relationship with Diem Brown, him dealing with the murder of his brother Vinnie (a story we'll be sharing with you here shortly), and him being a dad in having done this Challenge for his son Chris Jr., who - as I tweeted during the finale - now has his future set by way of his $121,000+ winners' check.
There, CT told Matt the thing Zach and others have tweeted before in being afraid of one day going onto a search engine of looking up on what his dad has done on TV. He added, "I didn't think my fifteen minutes was going to last fifteen years," as Matt wrote that viewers like us has seen his growth on television with, as Brian Cohen and Mike Bloom discussed on the RHAP, the biggest story arc of anyone on TV, reality or scripted. And for someone who a lot of us did not see as someone who could win the whole box of crayons - let alone be on this show after her experience in San Francisco and a field full of great female competitors, something that Matt discovered about Ashley was that she had such a good feeling that she could win that, as he revealed, "She wrote it down in her notebook over and over again 'Ashley Mitchell Challenge Winner.'," in giving credit to the controversial 2006 film The Secret based on the book of the same name.
And along with telling Darrell that he's a proud Queens native & resident and the 4-time champ calling him Coming to America after Eddie Murphy's iconic movie, Matt was left with having to ask the night's most important question to Jenna. It is not of whether she and Bruno hooked up on the plane ride across the Pacific to Asia, or of why certain things will get by the censors when the show is all edited down into a 43-minute circus. The question he asked was, "How is your cousin at the bakery?", in reference to the drama she and Breanna had on Bloodlines which almost saw her leave Turkey. Her response: "She actually got fired by her dad." So, that family drama goes along there... and quite a night for Matt to meet Team MTV at a reunion and watching it all get revealed, a perfect ending to an imperfect season that was also entertaining too.
Again check out Matt's post on the reunion on Observer, plus all of his MTV reality show recaps on that site as well, and follow him on Twitter @DoesntMattR.
Which pro do you think had the best
showing in the Champs/Pros premiere?
● LOLO JONES 40%
● GUS KENWORTHY 20%
● LOUISE HAZEL 40%
For those of you old school fans of this MTV ecosystem, you've no doubt been delighted by the sight of seeing three people from back in the day appearing on our screens: Road Rules veterans Darrell and Shane on Invasion, and just this past week Veronica on Champs vs. Pros. And if things are the way in the long-term forecast, this might be the beginning… which offers the perfect transition to the latest subject "Catching Up with…" as she's about to enter the next phase of her life.
Since we last saw her five years ago, Rachel has followed the lead of fellow Challenge female powerhouses Emily and Cara Maria in translation this lifelong passion for fashion and Challenge experience into a full-fledged career devoted to staying active and fit, and helping others do the same too. She has worked as a personal trainer for nearly a decade now, and is one of the resident trainers in house at Barry's Bootcamp in South Beach. One notable recent visitor to her training sessions there was Irene Marie, South Florida fashion icon and whose self-titled modeling agency was seen on the 2006 MTV show 8th & Ocean.
And that will be that for this week... as we're pressed for time here, we'll have our usual epilogue of links to other webcasts here next week. But do make sure to follow DCNOW @DC408Dxtr for all live episode tweets of the Trifecta (which you can join at #DCChallenge), plus plenty of big events and shows as we kick off the summer this coming Memorial Day weekend. Also - as announced after the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, watch for some big major news regarding something taking place in the coming month, which will be announced across my entire network of social media platforms during the unofficial start of summer this weekend.
Of course, make sure to bookmark DCBLOG for everything MTV Trifecta, taking you beyond the screen for the stories behind the story, social reaction and much more. This includes the upcoming mid-year Reality Debrief with me and Andrew Kirk which we plan to do over two parts in covering this Trifecta cycle and the Survivor season that ends tomorrow night, plus preview Season 19 of Big Brother that debuts after Champs vs. Pros concludes. That means, if you got questions for Cueva & Kirk, tweet them to #AskDCBLOG on Twitter and we may use your question in our season-ending review starting with Part 1 next week and then Part 2 in mid-June.
That's how we look at it this week Inside the MTV Trifecta...thank you for joining us. Talk to you on Twitter, and see you back here this weekend. And until then, be safe and have a good week.
- I AM DC
 |
| Twitter @DoesntMattR |
Matt wrote of his experience, "...the reunion episode is like the Pro Bowl of the Challenge season--the championship is over, not all the players show up to it, and everybody is there for the free trip." And this was the second big reality TV event Matt has been to the past year: last summer, he went to a premiere party for Season 18 of his summer tradition, Big Brother... so being able to hang out with reality TV well-knowns is a familiar sight to him as someone who, like myself, blogs on his biggest passion though with a broader scope than this guy who focuses solely on MTV matters.
After the reunion finished, Matt got a chance to interview some of the cast in the green room. In the aftermath of the blowup that took place with her and Cara Maria after Nicole's cameo, Laurel told him, "I don't think of myself as a person who's on TV," after she cried on stage. This is a reminder of the people being, as Matt wrote, "...actual people and these storylines are plot points, they're things that happen in their lives." Kailah added to that sentiment in saying, "These are real emotions that actually happen," and Shane put it well in this being "a living soap opera."
This is what makes this MTV world so fascinating to fans like me in having seen these so many of these moments of real-life take place over five shows (Road Rules and Stranded, along with AYTO and the RW/Challenge franchise) over the last 25 years, and also to other shows outside the Trifecta ecosystem too many to mention here.
Above seeing Mike "The Miz" host and the fights with Camila & Amanda and Nelson with Cory and Hunter, the highlight of Matt's reunion experience was meeting CT, who he called "...the only person on television I've ever cared about meeting." It's true that he was the sentimental favorite among the champs this season, just in the way that he has been through so much in his life since we first saw him on Real World Paris fourteen years ago and have seen him on twelve Challenges since then. Obviously, there's his famous relationship with Diem Brown, him dealing with the murder of his brother Vinnie (a story we'll be sharing with you here shortly), and him being a dad in having done this Challenge for his son Chris Jr., who - as I tweeted during the finale - now has his future set by way of his $121,000+ winners' check.
There, CT told Matt the thing Zach and others have tweeted before in being afraid of one day going onto a search engine of looking up on what his dad has done on TV. He added, "I didn't think my fifteen minutes was going to last fifteen years," as Matt wrote that viewers like us has seen his growth on television with, as Brian Cohen and Mike Bloom discussed on the RHAP, the biggest story arc of anyone on TV, reality or scripted. And for someone who a lot of us did not see as someone who could win the whole box of crayons - let alone be on this show after her experience in San Francisco and a field full of great female competitors, something that Matt discovered about Ashley was that she had such a good feeling that she could win that, as he revealed, "She wrote it down in her notebook over and over again 'Ashley Mitchell Challenge Winner.'," in giving credit to the controversial 2006 film The Secret based on the book of the same name.
And along with telling Darrell that he's a proud Queens native & resident and the 4-time champ calling him Coming to America after Eddie Murphy's iconic movie, Matt was left with having to ask the night's most important question to Jenna. It is not of whether she and Bruno hooked up on the plane ride across the Pacific to Asia, or of why certain things will get by the censors when the show is all edited down into a 43-minute circus. The question he asked was, "How is your cousin at the bakery?", in reference to the drama she and Breanna had on Bloodlines which almost saw her leave Turkey. Her response: "She actually got fired by her dad." So, that family drama goes along there... and quite a night for Matt to meet Team MTV at a reunion and watching it all get revealed, a perfect ending to an imperfect season that was also entertaining too.
Again check out Matt's post on the reunion on Observer, plus all of his MTV reality show recaps on that site as well, and follow him on Twitter @DoesntMattR.
DC FORUM: POLLS @DC408Dxtr
Which pro do you think had the best
showing in the Champs/Pros premiere?
● LOLO JONES 40%
● GUS KENWORTHY 20%
● LOUISE HAZEL 40%
As the final mission looms on AYTO, who
do you have as the favorite to win it all?
● ADAM & SHANLEY 13%
● DEVIN & RASHIDA 31%
● MORGAN & TORI 56%
OUT OF 96 VOTES
▪ ▪ ▪
#DCExtraTime
.
CATCHING UP WITH...
ROAD RULES' RACHEL ROBINSON
Earlier in this cycle during last fall's Real World, we took a look back at who was the biggest surprise Challenge champion until Ashley on Invasion, Sarah Grayson and her unprecedented and unlikely run to The Gauntlet crown back in 2003, where she won five eliminations...tied with Wes for most wins in the "do or die" chamber in a single season. And on her Road Rules season, the cast got to do everything from a day at the Citadel and diving in a freezing lake to dancing with Outkast to having to handcuff Steven of Real World Las Vegas to the same hot tub as that threesome.
Along with Sarah, Darrell, Shane, Eric, Kendal and Sarah's replacement Raquel was someone who would go on to become a Challenge stalwart. When first saw Rachel Robinson on that RV, she came to us from Miami via New York as a 19 year-old lesbian raised by her free-spirit mom. From the very beginning she showed a knack for competition in gaining a karate black belt at age 9 followed by hoops a few years later when she earned a full-ride scholarship to a private school. And off the court, she was bouncing back and forth between both sides, shall we say, with both a girlfriend and a boyfriend.
On that Road Rules season, Rachel got to do everything above on that trek across America, plus as we wrote in our bit on Sarah, she also voted her off after losing their mission midway through the season. Before the trip started, she and her girlfriend at the time, Amy, took a break from their relationship but realized it was a mistake to do so and awaited her visiting on the season which they did and enjoyed each other's company. Of course, she went on to take the handsome reward at season's end, which then brings us to her Challenge career, which started on Battle of the Sexes and a brief but respectable early run as a rookie.
It was on her next Challenge, The Gauntlet, where Rachel made a strong impact, both on the field and in the house: there, she and the aforementioned Veronica decided to give Abram a rather nice welcome to The Challenge by bringing him into a hot tub full of bubbles and then into a shower and having a memorable threesome. On the field, Rachel was part of a dominant Road Rules side that included V, Darrell, Sarah, Theo Von and Grimm star David Giuntoli, among others, who had a lopsided player advantage over Coral, Mike and Team Real World, and won the final mission easily.
Rachel then went onto the sequels with Battle of the Sexes 2 and Inferno II in notching a finals trip in the ladder. And after an early exit on The Island where she also attracted the attention of Raiderette turned Real World Denver roommate Jenn, Rachel came to The Duel II and went through a tough female field to take the crown - her second - in New Zealand. And we last saw her on Battle of the Exes with Aneesa (yes, the only same-sex couple there), whose fling dated back to that Battle of the Sexes and then had tensions on Duel II, and finished midway through the season.
On that Road Rules season, Rachel got to do everything above on that trek across America, plus as we wrote in our bit on Sarah, she also voted her off after losing their mission midway through the season. Before the trip started, she and her girlfriend at the time, Amy, took a break from their relationship but realized it was a mistake to do so and awaited her visiting on the season which they did and enjoyed each other's company. Of course, she went on to take the handsome reward at season's end, which then brings us to her Challenge career, which started on Battle of the Sexes and a brief but respectable early run as a rookie.
It was on her next Challenge, The Gauntlet, where Rachel made a strong impact, both on the field and in the house: there, she and the aforementioned Veronica decided to give Abram a rather nice welcome to The Challenge by bringing him into a hot tub full of bubbles and then into a shower and having a memorable threesome. On the field, Rachel was part of a dominant Road Rules side that included V, Darrell, Sarah, Theo Von and Grimm star David Giuntoli, among others, who had a lopsided player advantage over Coral, Mike and Team Real World, and won the final mission easily.
Rachel then went onto the sequels with Battle of the Sexes 2 and Inferno II in notching a finals trip in the ladder. And after an early exit on The Island where she also attracted the attention of Raiderette turned Real World Denver roommate Jenn, Rachel came to The Duel II and went through a tough female field to take the crown - her second - in New Zealand. And we last saw her on Battle of the Exes with Aneesa (yes, the only same-sex couple there), whose fling dated back to that Battle of the Sexes and then had tensions on Duel II, and finished midway through the season.
Since we last saw her five years ago, Rachel has followed the lead of fellow Challenge female powerhouses Emily and Cara Maria in translation this lifelong passion for fashion and Challenge experience into a full-fledged career devoted to staying active and fit, and helping others do the same too. She has worked as a personal trainer for nearly a decade now, and is one of the resident trainers in house at Barry's Bootcamp in South Beach. One notable recent visitor to her training sessions there was Irene Marie, South Florida fashion icon and whose self-titled modeling agency was seen on the 2006 MTV show 8th & Ocean.
For many years, Rachel was best friends with another Challenge original who we just saw on Champs vs. Pros, Veronica. After first meeting on Battle of the Sexes in 2003, their threesome with Abe in the Rocky Mountains cemented a life-long friendship that's seen them win that Gauntlet Challenge together and finish 2nd in Inferno II, attend an MTV VMA's in Miami, launch a clothing line called College Dropout, and even get a picture with one of Rachel's biggest icons, Hilary Clinton, while on the campaign trail, while wearing a College Dropout t-shirt too.
And this past week saw another life-changer for Rachel. A few years ago she got married, and after taking a brief social media hiatus she revealed some really big news: she is about to take on the biggest challenge yet - becoming a mom to her first kid. She captioned in the Instagram post below with her current significant other Natalie and then on a blog post on her site Rachel Fitness, "Natalie and I will be welcoming twins in the fall,and we are excited to share the news with you all!" Our heartiest congrats go out to them as they embark on this new journey of parenthood.
On the other side to this, there is also an unfortunate backstory to what should be a time of joy and optimism, which harks us back to a painful story we first told here three years ago.
During Are You The One? Season 2 - and again during Rivals III last year, we told you about Briana from that season revealing publicly and bravely about suffering a miscarriage when she was in high school. Well, there is also someone in the MTV community who has gone through that enduring heartache that still is even hard to comprehend and, as we wrote back then, as painful a story as we can possibly write on here.
A year previously in 2013, Veronica had awaited her moment to finally become a mom after announcing that she had become pregnant a year earlier. But in a cruel twist of fate in April of that year, through an Instagram post on @V_Cakes, she announced the following in its caption beneath a picture of her baby's two footprints:
On an additional note: Combined with Candice Wiggins competing for the legacy of her dad who died of AIDS the same year Magic Johnson revealed he had contracted the HIV virus, Champs vs. Pros might be much more relaxed than your usual Challenge, but at its core there is something for everyone to play for. Unlike what is the case for a traditional season, everyone will leave here with money which will be donated to the charity of their choosing, and behind the star power this season has it's the charities that are the true winners of this season.
As Cohutta tweeted last week, "This #ChampsVsPros for different charities is the coolest thing since Rock N' Jock. Proud of you guys!!!" He referenced to the many annual Rock N' Jock celebrity softball and basketball games MTV put on in the '90s that echoed this Challenge, where proceeds from the event went to foundations to help AIDS research and other causes. Twenty different charities are represented by the twenty competitors on this Challenge and they are the beneficiaries of this all-star season.
And this past week saw another life-changer for Rachel. A few years ago she got married, and after taking a brief social media hiatus she revealed some really big news: she is about to take on the biggest challenge yet - becoming a mom to her first kid. She captioned in the Instagram post below with her current significant other Natalie and then on a blog post on her site Rachel Fitness, "Natalie and I will be welcoming twins in the fall,and we are excited to share the news with you all!" Our heartiest congrats go out to them as they embark on this new journey of parenthood.
Flashback: VERONICA'S MISFORTUNE
During Are You The One? Season 2 - and again during Rivals III last year, we told you about Briana from that season revealing publicly and bravely about suffering a miscarriage when she was in high school. Well, there is also someone in the MTV community who has gone through that enduring heartache that still is even hard to comprehend and, as we wrote back then, as painful a story as we can possibly write on here.
A year previously in 2013, Veronica had awaited her moment to finally become a mom after announcing that she had become pregnant a year earlier. But in a cruel twist of fate in April of that year, through an Instagram post on @V_Cakes, she announced the following in its caption beneath a picture of her baby's two footprints:
"With a broken heart, I want to share that my beautiful baby girl was born sleeping. Never had I ever imagined that our hello would also be our goodbye. I am blessed to have spent 1 day with her in flesh and 7 months getting to know her while she grew inside me. Now I am left with empty arms & a shattered heart. I will love you & miss you every day for the rest of my life, my sweet, beautiful daughter. You will remain my inspiration forever."This was something that wasn't mentioned at all in last week's premiere, but as we wrote last year a miscarriage is one of the most painful and agonizing experiences any woman can go through, and something that another MTV star, Kailyn from Teen Mom, has also had to deal with - albeit publicly. Somewhere down the line, Veronica will become a great mom and the charity she was competing for was Planned Parenthood, an organization that's been in the news as of late.
On an additional note: Combined with Candice Wiggins competing for the legacy of her dad who died of AIDS the same year Magic Johnson revealed he had contracted the HIV virus, Champs vs. Pros might be much more relaxed than your usual Challenge, but at its core there is something for everyone to play for. Unlike what is the case for a traditional season, everyone will leave here with money which will be donated to the charity of their choosing, and behind the star power this season has it's the charities that are the true winners of this season.
As Cohutta tweeted last week, "This #ChampsVsPros for different charities is the coolest thing since Rock N' Jock. Proud of you guys!!!" He referenced to the many annual Rock N' Jock celebrity softball and basketball games MTV put on in the '90s that echoed this Challenge, where proceeds from the event went to foundations to help AIDS research and other causes. Twenty different charities are represented by the twenty competitors on this Challenge and they are the beneficiaries of this all-star season.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
And that will be that for this week... as we're pressed for time here, we'll have our usual epilogue of links to other webcasts here next week. But do make sure to follow DCNOW @DC408Dxtr for all live episode tweets of the Trifecta (which you can join at #DCChallenge), plus plenty of big events and shows as we kick off the summer this coming Memorial Day weekend. Also - as announced after the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, watch for some big major news regarding something taking place in the coming month, which will be announced across my entire network of social media platforms during the unofficial start of summer this weekend.
Of course, make sure to bookmark DCBLOG for everything MTV Trifecta, taking you beyond the screen for the stories behind the story, social reaction and much more. This includes the upcoming mid-year Reality Debrief with me and Andrew Kirk which we plan to do over two parts in covering this Trifecta cycle and the Survivor season that ends tomorrow night, plus preview Season 19 of Big Brother that debuts after Champs vs. Pros concludes. That means, if you got questions for Cueva & Kirk, tweet them to #AskDCBLOG on Twitter and we may use your question in our season-ending review starting with Part 1 next week and then Part 2 in mid-June.
That's how we look at it this week Inside the MTV Trifecta...thank you for joining us. Talk to you on Twitter, and see you back here this weekend. And until then, be safe and have a good week.
- I AM DC
No comments:
Post a Comment
Got something on your mind? Let us know! But please be mindful and do not post spam or negative comments (due to that, all comments are subject to blogger approval... and we reserve the right to disable these sections if things get way out of hand).