DC ExtraTime: Chillin' with a Challenger, Jersey Shore and Kevin Hart

Following is an excerpt from last week's DCBLOG WRAP for Week 10 of Challenge XXX and Week 1 of AYTO Season 6, reposted in the interest of readers who don't want to scroll down.

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

It was about at this time two years ago that Kailah was one of those finalists for one of those seven spots in the Real World Go Big suite in Downtown Las Vegas' Gold Spike, and the experience of having been on that Road Rules-inspired season has surely helped her in her first two Challenge seasons. And since she first made waves on The Challenge last season on Invasion, she has rapidly become one of the key figures in the house... whether she follows in Ashley's lead and walk away with the crown is still a long way out.
   Two previous times, we have showcased her meeting two who've made a name the past 12 months: her musical idol Halsey before The Chainsmokers came a calling, and perhaps the most jealous of all celebrity meetings we've chronicled here - being invited to Floyd Mayweather's 40th birthday all thanks to her boyfriend Mikey P. being friends with the man who just became 50-0. Now, you can add a few more to those joining Team Jailah to the mix...

Twitter @IamMikeyP

Last month, those in the reality TV world were buzzing about a reunion of the cast of the most successful series in MTV history. Eight years ago, eight people from New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island traveled down to Seaside Heights and things were never the same, as Jersey Shore became a massive cable hit, replaced The Osbournes as the channel's highest-ever rated show and turned its cast members into household names. The show began as just a mere reality series documenting its castmates partying at night, doing "Gym, Tan, Laundry" during the day, hanging out by the beach and everything in between in their iconic timeshare house and the Shore Store. But it was a punch of all things that brought the show short-term outrage but long-term success as Snooki, Mike the Situation, J-Woww, Pauly D, Ronnie, Sammi, Vinny, Angelina and Deena (the ladder two meeting Bruno's skeleton Briah before RW Skeletons) became pop culture icons.
   Last month, there were two reasons for Jersey Shore fans to get nostalgic: first, the entire cast (sans Angelina) filmed a Burger King commercial, and then E! aired a short but sweet regathering of most but not all of the cast who turned the seaside town into heaven for several of the show's six seasons, along with trips to Miami and Italy too. Since Kailah moved to Las Vegas, she has been a beneficiary of Mikey's contact list in getting to meet The Money Man and those in the entertainment world thanks to having done some side work in the Vegas clubs when not busy with promoting his music, for which she has a cameo in his latest music video. And earlier this summer, she got to meet Pauly D, who we first saw in Seaside as that party DJ and was cast on the show not because of his music but his blowout look after receiving a MySpace message. Pauly now has a permanent gig in Sin City along with traveling across the country to do DJ gigs too. And he was also one of the stars who was up for a date on the summer 2012 show The Choice, which we covered here last year, as was the E! show Famously Single where he had a brief relationship with Danity Kane's Aubrey O'Day.

Twitter @IamMikeyP

And on Labor Day weekend at one of the hottest pool parties on earth, the photo to the left describes this in one word from Mikey: "Squad!" Kailah got to meet Pauly's roommate in the Shore house, Ronnie - who we best know for his on-again, off-again relationship with Sammi Sweetheart and was one of the key stories that reverberated throughout the show's six-season run. He didn't make it to the filming of either reunion not because of being around his ex, but because of him following in Pauly's lead and being part of the cast of season 2 of Famously Single which also includes Tiffany "New York" Pollard of VH1 fame and Hayden of AYTO's new famous friend Chad Johnson.
   Also at that pool party is someone who's not only famous but famous on another level: Kevin Hart spent his childhood with a single mom and a dad who spent much of his time in jail on cocaine charges, but who would then find a refuge in stand-up comedy in his hometown of Philadelphia.  It took time and hard work, and even getting run off the stage at local gigs, but eventually Kevin would develop his style inspired by Chris Tucker and delving into his life struggles. Nationwide comedy tours would follow for him, which translated into two of them making it into movie theaters and his own iTunes game. On the movie front, he first made his mark as part of the Scary Movie franchise, then, among others, Soul Plane, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, This Is The End (for which Averey and Joi from Real World Portland did a commercial parody of), Ride Along with Ice Cube, The Wedding Ringer and Get Hard with Will Farrell.
   And then came TV: VH1's Real Husbands of Hollywood, a guys' take on the Real Housewives franchise, along with the 2011 BET Awards, the 2012 VMA's and the 2016 Movie Awards for which Kailah attended along with her Real World cast. We can't forget about his musical alias Chocolate Droppa and his collaborations with Trey Songz, Migos and T.I., not to mention he is about to become a dad later this year.
   It's not only Halsey, Floyd, Pauly, Ronnie and Kevin who are on Team Jailah: they have also crossed paths with (either alone or together): Dolphins QB (and Laguna Beach's Kristin's ex) Jay Cutler, Farrah from Teen Mom, MMA fighters Rampage Johnson and Cris Cyborg, boy band After Romeo, and a girl who we'll be seeing in that Voice chair tonight, Miley Cyrus.

- I AM DC