SPECIAL EXPANDED EDITION
BY DC CUEVA
BY DC CUEVA
■ @DC408Dxtr @ TW / IG / YT
Before or shortly after any of these Challenge seasons begin, it's always been our philosophy that we at this site want to ensure that you never meet a new or returning competitor for the first time on the premiere, and to give them the proper respect & recognition they rightfully deserve rather than get tossed to the side in favor of the fan favorite veterans. This allows us to go in-depth and provide more background & context on those who take their first steps on the fifth major pro sport, part on our distinctive, storytelling-oriented approach to covering this MTV world.
This serves a purpose for those hardcore fans to get to know the newcomers to this season, and new viewers of this show to learn more about the veterans returning to this game. It represents a key part of our Challenge coverage having profiled each & every new competitor since we began covering this show with Rivals II back in 2013. For those new to this show or just need a refresher, check out our posts from Seasons 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30. And for this season, it's in its own dedicated post after we've let you soak in the entire cast with some of your favorites earlier in our preview.
As for this season, more than a third of this cast of Vendettas will be stepping foot inside the fifth major pro sport for the first time, as ten new competitors will be making their debuts... none of them coming from a past Real World season. For half of them, this will mark their very first time on American television as they look to conquer the final frontier of the entertainment world's most coveted & lucrative market, while two are making a monumental crossover from a staple of summer TV into a longtime one on cable. And they are also being joined by a Challenge icon who made his MTV debut 14 years ago this month, and who returns to this game, also 14 years after competing in his first Challenge back when it was just a step-cousin to Real World and Road Rules.
From a trio who experienced the ultimate heartbreak in the history of their original show and got themselves into a love triangle, to those who share a common feeling with the Trifecta's newest baby daddy of having to live with exes, to something that happened in your favorite summer guilty pleasure on a network that was once MTV's corporate sibling, there are past issues that have given reason for them to don that Challenge shirt for the first time. And for that veteran? It is a Twitter beef, of all things, that has seen him return to this world for the first time since he became a champion eight years ago, and whose first time on MTV came when many of this season's Challengers were still going to elementary school or had to rely on flip phones for their mobile communication.
Back in early October, we devoted an entire post to what we called "Another Invasion of The Challenge?" when filming of Season 31 was just starting overseas and after rumors had surfaced of those from Big Brother and MTV's UK castmates are joining the Trifecta family. It was something that surprised most everyone but didn't come as one to this blogger's close friend and fellow reality TV superfan, Andrew Kirk. But now that the big moment is some 24+ hours away, as the new year begins we at DCBLOG will get the answer the one question you Challenge fans love to ask this time of year before it all begins: "Who Are These Newbies?"
After the jump on this special, expanded edition of our traditional preseason introduction to the latest newcomers and returning star of the fifth major pro sport, we'll meet this season's rookie class including, for the first time, clips from their original shows. We hope you join us there.
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💔 ARE YOU THE ONE?
First, we begin with Are You The One?, where a year ago this month that the cast of Season 5 got their chance at love and money. Unfortunately and very infamously, what happened at the very end of that season was one of the more shocking moments we've seen in recent MTV history when they became the first to not win the money. But after we saw Derrick H. have further bad luck on Second Chances and Dirty 30 (including letting a gorgeous girl in Tori Deal get away) and two girls from that season, Carolina & Shannon, score Keith & Anthony from Season 6 who did win the money very miraculously, three people from Season 5 now have a second chance to not only join Hayden in the money club, but also encounter what happened at the midway point of that season where a betrayal that took place there has brought them overseas to settle things.
♥ ALICIA: First, there's Alicia from New Jersey, who came to the D.R. bearing strong responsibility having been a babysitter to her siblings, and working at both a vet hospital and to become a dentist. There, her ability of deal and control people enabled her of being headstrong that the guys she dated became too much for them to handle. She was supposed to debut last season on Dirty 30, and the Redemption House even had a photo of her on the Pop Art mural, but she had a burst appendix before they left and had to drop out... we offered her response to that earlier this year where she went all in on her haters in showing an Instagram video of the damage that was done on her. On AYTO, she found herself in the drama aplenty with an argument with Hannah that is embedded below, but then on Second Chances she redeemed herself quite a bit after what happened there and also flirted with another one who knows what it's like to not be well liked: Giovanni from Season 4.
♥ KAM: Then, there's Kam - a Jamaican native who lives outside Philly and was a flight attendant when we met her a year ago. As we wrote in our bio on her in our AYTO preview, that occupation meant she wasn't in one place for too long, which is very much the case in the love field. There, she kept a lot of guys in her options which saw her earn a player's reputation but saw her fear getting hurt and loved to break hearts instead of the other way around... and when a relationship began to get serious she decided to say enough. On last season, Kam made quite a mark in fitting the outspoken persona we loved about AYTO original Simone, Kaylen and fellow Season 5 mate Tyranny - she even did a couple YouTube videos with Kay earlier this year like the one below. And she's also known for pleading for people's help on GoFundMe to move out west after their loss last year -- she then realized that was a mistake.
♥ EDDIE: And the man who found himself in the middle of that love triangle was Eddie, who entered the house also from outside Philly and enjoying a career as a model. He came to the Dominican Republic with a clear idea of what his future awaited him in a good work ethic and a good charm. Like any other ladies' man, Eddie is flirtatious, carries himself with what those girls would see as that of a player, and trust became a big deal for him but didn't stop him from stepping out of that comfort zone. Compared to other high profile romances that were part of the first AYTO season to ever go home empty-handed (Gianna/Hayden/Carolina, Tyler & Shannon and Taylor & Andre, etc.), Eddie wasn't featured as much on that season, though he left with good friendships with fellow members of #TeamChocolate in Derrick H. and Jaylen. And that leads us to...
AYTO's VENDETTA MOMENT
Twitter @IamKamIam_ |
Later that night when everyone was fast asleep, Alicia and Eddie decide to go on an after dark visit to get some water in the bathroom. But when Kam and her close friend Tyranny went around to look for them around the house, they couldn't find them there as if they were a couple kids who went off to the treehouse looking to escape getting some important homework done. And in a house where cameras are all over the place, the infrared lens catch Alicia and Eddie kissing inside the Boom Boom Room with her telling him that when the news finally gets to her Kam will lose it. Indeed, when the two girls discuss what took place, Kam indeed told Alicia that she crossed the line and won't accept her apology while Eddie says that he wanted to enjoy those last hours before they went to the Honeymoon Suite. And after they got to go around the islands, the events of what happened in the house gave reason to Tyranny to pop off on Alicia on the reunion... clips related to all of them are embedded below.
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🏠 BIG BROTHER
Once upon a time, MTV and CBS were corporate siblings under the Viacom umbrella... one of the first mega-conglomerates in the media world before the companies went their separate ways in 2007. Last year saw a partial reunion of sorts for the two companies when America's Next Top Model crossed the old Viacom way from its longtime home on CBS' younger-skewing sister network The CW to MTV's older sibling VH1. Now comes another crossover between the most-famous eye in television and a pioneer in a thing called cable TV... and with all due respect to Tyra Banks, this one takes on a greater profile among those in the reality TV world.
Except for one who prefers MTV and sports during those dog days of the calendar from Memorial Day to mid-September, it's likely that avid reality TV fans like you spend your summer watching Big Brother. Everyone except yours truly knows what that show is all about: 16 house guests enter the house after the summer solstice, spend 100 days being fully isolated from the outside world and have just each other to rely on, while those who watch either on CBS or the live feeds watch over them as if they're fish in a fishbowl. Of course, $500,000 goes to the one who becomes victorious in the end, and no wonder why all of you in that big fan base who live for that show love flooding my Twitter feeds with all of your commentary while I was just busy doing my blog work on the MTV world.
As for those who are making perhaps the biggest crossover into The Challenge than what the AYTO kids did going to Exes 2 or Magic Mike making his jump from the love fest to Real World last year, they have something in common: like those we have seen on any MTV reality series BB fans got to see them get into a relationship for the camera that's best known as a showmance, then saw the usual manipulative gameplay we see all the time there make its way between them. Below is an example of both of our representatives being part of one of those Head of Household competitions - in essence, a daily challenge - that determine control of the house.
Season 18 in 2016 featured twelve new houseguests including the two who will join The Challenge family tomorrow night, and four former castmates who were so popular that they were given another summer of living in that pad. Also among the newbies were two siblings of former houseguests: BB16 runner-up Cody Calafiore's brother Paule (and rumored to be part of Ex on the Beach U.S.) and a sister of BB17 member and poker player Vanessa Rousso, Tiffany.
BB18 saw a number of big twists, starting with a Cutthroat-like draft and four teams of four when they moved in, followed by a Road Kill competition that added to an additional roommate to the eviction list. Similar to the Dirty 30 Redemption House, a Battle Back competition gave evicted houseguests a chance to return to the game and those who survived a bowling-style step-ladder bracket won their way back to the house. A Round Trip Ticket gave a housemate exclusive access to a secret room in the house, and a Care Package was given to one of the players as determined by the power of the public votes. Nicole Ann Franzel, a mid-Michigan nurse who was a previous houseguest on Season 16 two years earlier, eventually won the $500,000 when the jury voted 5-4 for her over L.A. clothing designer Paul Abrahamian in the final vote.
👁️ NATALIE: We first met Natalie Negrotti as a Venezuelan who calls the Trenton, NJ area home and works as an event coordinator planning parties in the Jersey state capital. She described herself in her BB18 bio as "altruistic, athletic and beautiful," something that's necessary for The Challenge. Natalie is a jack of all trades in having all sorts of favorite activities and being a makeup enthusiast who loves the color pink, but her most notable job was of spending her fall Sundays in the Meadowlands wearing green, as a NY Jets cheerleader. BB18 was the first time she had to share quarters with men and her strategy was, "I'll act very innocent, stay low key... then I will start showing I'm a powerful force not to be messed with. I'm very kind, very tough and have street smarts because I was raised by a single mother. I've had to work my whole life and helped my mom pay her own bills when I was in high school. People won't expect how much adversity I faced and how tough I am because I'm so pretty."
During Natalie's stay which saw her place sixth just out of the final month, she found a way to not get into sight of her houseguests, did very well in the challenges and showed her ability to flip alliances when needed, including being a co-HoH with fellow guest Michelle and winning that Care Package. She's also known for a romance she had with Asian and two-time BB guest James Huling, where they created a couple that no one expected would be together and they dated for some time after they left the house until Natalie realized that he wasn't the cool guy fans watched in the house. Below is her preseason interview and her romance and fight with James.
👁️ VICTOR: The other BB crossover is Victor Arroyo, who hails from just north of New Orleans in Slidell, LA near America's longest bridge in along Lake Pontchartrain. Like Natalie, he's very athletic as a gym manager, but also smart and sexy too... he loves women and always has his eye on looking for a lady to talk to and is always left with wanting more in not being satisfied with what's just there for him. The challenge of being totally isolated from everyone else and the world around him was something Vic had to get used to in that house last year, and coming into the house he didn't have a clear strategy going in other than for trying to win over the ladies. But as he wrote in his BB bio, "I want to be part of two alliances, but be loyal to one. That way, I don’t put all my eggs in one basket. I won’t change my personality though. I'll still be the funny guy that I am and do my best to stay on everyone’s good side, while slowly stabbing people in the back." He also happens to have a stuffed toy since he was a kid that he brings to every house... think, Alexis' AYTO companion Bridget.
In the house, Victor gained prominence for being very competitive and steadfast, won multiple competitions that saw him gain house control and immunity, especially the physical challenges where he dominated. He was first evicted on Day 23 as the third one to leave, but like what happened to Jordan on Dirty 30, he won his way back to the house in winning that Battle Back competition, then he did it again in Week 10 echoing what Aneesa did in Colombia. Vic was Head of Household three times before being re-evicted on Day 90 in 5th place just shy of the final week, becoming the first to be evicted three times in a Big Brother season. Below is both that moment of him winning the Battle Back and his return to the house.
BB's VENDETTA MOMENT
While this blogger was busy watching Rivals III, Tori's AYTO season and the Rio Olympics last year (and who actually watched way more of Siesta Key than all of Season 19 last summer - don't hate), the moment that would ultimately see Natalie and Victor make this historic crossover came when they were part of the same team, Unicorn, at season's beginning. The two were allies when the house gave a unanimous vote to send home the aforementioned Paulie, and when Natalie was HoH she decided to turn her back on Victor by blindsiding him and voting him in which eventually sent him back to the Redemption House, where a jury vote saw him return yet again. He and Paul then formed an alliance with Nicole and Corey Brooks, and they returned the favor by sending home Natalie after they took out her close ally Michelle Meyer.Along with their Challenge intro video, below is the showmance and attraction Victor and Natalie had earlier in their summer, along with him nitpicking her later on.
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🇬🇧 THE BRITISH INVASION
IG @ChallengeMTV, photo enhanced |
Earlier this summer, a standout of the Pros side on Champs vs. Pros was Olympian and celebrity competition vet Louise Hazel, who made her mark by choosing a lime with Lolo Jones' name on it and initiated the American's stellar season. While you were busy watching Dirty 30 and AYTO Season 6, some of your MTV faves spent an early holiday vacation filming a new U.S. version of the U.K. series Ex on the Beach, which we discussed about here in November, for which you can it describe as a cross between AYTO and Cory's Real World Ex-Plosion season, and where a few of the EOTB-US cast hung out in New York to ring in 2018 last night. And the Shore franchise made its return this winter with Floribama Shore ahead of the original Jersey Shore cast returning for a vacation miniseries later this year.
All of these events offer the backdrop to our last group of newbies, and this latest British invasion: four members of Ex on the Beach from two seasons (or series as UK TV fans refer to them) of that show will join with a member of Geordie Shore to make their American television debuts. Below is their introductions to their Stateside cousins, and some of the videos below contain adult language.
🇬🇧 JOSS: Joss is by day a fitness instructor, and by night and weekend is a model in Manchester, England. This nice charmer first appeared on the first series of Ex on the Beach in 2014 and who came to the house with golden blonde hair in being linked to three exes -- one of which, Emma, he still had feelings for after that relationship ended. The "heart chart" of hookups and connections that took place there links Joss and his exes to Geordie Shore's Vicky Pattison and her fiance Ricci Guarnaccio, and when he appeared on Series 5 - "All Stars", that extended to 2016 Celebrity Big Brother winner Stephen Bear, which in turn links him to Kayleigh. And like what we have seen with AYTO/Real World alum Magic Mike, Joss likes to take pictures of him being shirtless, and he is also a fitness guy, who also makes him close friends with another of his British friends who've made the trip here to Spain, Rogan, along with his ex...
🇬🇧 KAYLEIGH: Kayleigh is a clothing manager in the Swansea area of Wales and like Joss appeared on two series of EOTB. As Allan Aguirre wrote in his Medium preview, she channels what we saw with Jenna when we saw her on Exes 2: "She is more or less known for being a smoke show. In all of her shows, her boobs become a character in the edit and she showcases them. Kayleigh using her body will be a key to the season as getting in good with the veteran guys can get you far in the game." Kay will sure stir some drama in Spain the same way she did on EOTB All-Stars where she called castmate Jemma "a used condom" in reference to a famous ex of hers and led to a fight between them; Kay also was the ex of EOTB staple Stephen Bear. And in a sneak peek of what U.S. fans should expect this winter, she also made her way to the U.K. Big Brother Season 18 house and got into it with a houseguest, which led to her being sent home for aggressive behavior, a'la Tony & Camila on Rivals III.
🇬🇧 KYLE: Kyle comes from where Geordie Shore originated: the Northwest of England and the town of Newcastle most series of the show have taken place in Tyneside. He first appeared on Series 8 in 2014 as a laid-back club promoter who joined the cast through the help of series regular and local friend Marnie Simpson, and who eventually scored a relationship with housemate Holly Hagan, who also helped to spur the vendetta he brings with him to southern Europe. Always the one who love to laugh and smile amidst all the madness, Kyle's castmates share that their favorite memories of him is of taking his hair and looks very seriously... so seriously that he got paid to get hair transplants, even getting his beard an overhaul. He took a break from the Shore to tend to his dying grandpa and broke things off with Holly but tried once more, and if you got to see both the trailers and that Chicago charity event, he might find himself in love with a Challenger... stay tuned to see who that might be.
🇬🇧 MELISSA: Liverpool native Melissa is a former pageant queen turned international professional DJ where while she has been gifted with a passion to entertain and perhaps follow Pauly D. to DJ stardom, drama has seemed to have followed her in her MTV stints. She has been on two seasons of EOTB where she came to Series 2 as the ex of Geordie Shore's Gary/"Gaz" Beadle, who also dated fellow GS castmate and Celeb Big Brother winner Charlotte Crosby. There, Mel has eased into the role a lot of reality TV fans love: that perfect villain who will make fans either love or hate her, much like what we've seen recently with Cara Maria. In her video bio below, she's sexually open and has no care in the world for what the ramifications might be and cares about just herself. Because of that, others have consistently fallen into Mel's trap and have been burned in the process... including a Kam/Alicia-like violation of Girl Code that happened on not only Series 2 but also the All Stars series with the other girl who's made the trip here. More on that shortly...
🇬🇧 ROGAN: If Floribama Shore has Gus & Jeremiah, then Vendettas and Ex on the Beach has Joss and the last of the Brit invasion in Rogan, a native of the Stratford district of East London where the 2012 Olympics were mainly based. As one of EOTB's first big stars, he first made waves on Series 2 as an ex to three ladies of that season and in its first episode he became quite the ladies man when multiple girls sat in his lap (on different occasions, of course). It's his charm that wins them over, and when a guy got into his face he would stand tall and not overreact while also getting to flex his muscles... plenty of them, in fact. Rogan also made his way to the very next series, the third one, where came in as an ex to Jemma - the same one who later got into Kayleigh's face on EOTB All-Stars. He also has something in common of sorts with Magic Mike: he toured the UK as part of a male stripping show, and has been romantically linked to the daughter of England footballing legend Paul Gascoigne, Bianca.
TEAM GB's VENDETTA MOMENTS
There are not one, but three Vendettas moments for Team GB encompassing all three forms in a frenemies rivalry, a Twitter beef and an exes affair. And all three of them are worthy of being covered in that always scandalous way by the "red top" British tabloids and that renowned paparazzi...● First, the ladies: On their season of EOTB 2 and mirroring what Kam and Alicia had, both Kay and Mel became close friends when they moved into the house. Then, Mel's former flame and Geordie's "Gaz" arrived, followed shortly by another of Rogan's exes Emily in former footballer Ashley Cain. There, Ashley immediately hit it off with Kay which left her smitten... but the next day he turned his attention to Mel and the girls scrapped over them having mutual feelings for Ashley... suddenly, this friendship turned into a feud. And when Mel arrived late in Series 5, her and Kay's row (British slang for argument) once again heated up in the summer sun when the former decided to get her revenge by stealing and kissing Ashley and leaving Kay in waterworks. If you thought that Cara & Kailah's feud was something, wait until you see how Kayleigh & Melissa's rivalry might possibly get in their third time in the same house, or see if they have to put aside their reputation of being the Amanda of EOTB (that is, the resident popoff girls) for game's sake.
● Kay's beef with Mel isn't the only item on her mind as she enters this Challenge: while her Mel feud had no resolution, she also had to deal with one more thing on that All-Stars season. Outside the show, Kay dated Joss, and he was the last ex to arrive in Thailand as not only Kay's ex but also the ex of another Series 5 castmate, Olivia. The story with Kay & Joss is that she once told her ex that she killed his cat after going on a holiday (British for vacation) and didn't call her back. And she also slept with Stephen as revenge on Vicky after she got under the sheets with Joss. Obviously, this is a twisted story, and below is when Kay, Mel and Joss were last in the same house.
● And the gentlemen also have a Vendetta moment too: Earlier this year after Kyle once again split from Holly Hegan, Rogan was spotted with her at a charity event in London and then took to Twitter to ask Rogan about that night. Kyle wrote, "Wow hang on, let's get serious for a second......... what number bus is it?", and Rogan replied "Number 69" with an emoji of a winking face. Kyle then asked him a question which Rogan responded a bit on his night with Holly. All of this came after Holly was photographed planting a kiss on Rogan on their ride home from the bash where Geordie's Vicky Patterson was in the same room as was Rogan's ex, Bianca Gascoigne, after she had gone out on dates with him shortly after her CBB eviction. Kyle and Holly also did MTV UK's Just Tattoo of Us earlier this year and... you guessed it -- she had his photo emblazoned in ink which was then removed after they broke up again.
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🏆 THE VETERAN RETURNEE
Finally, earlier during the Dirty 30 season, we spotlighted a meeting of the past, present and future of The Challenge that took place on a hot summer's night in Tampa, FL, the hometown of Nicole R. as well as AYTO comedian JJ from Season 1. There, a party she and Cara co-hosted also brought down from Chicago a Challenge veteran who had added DJ duties to the responsibilities of being a dad. That's where we find our last subject, and the returning star of this season...►BRAD CHAMP : Brad first made his MTV debut on Real World San Diego in 2004 on a cross-country motorcycle ride from his hometown of Chicago to Cali and where he instantly fell in love with future Southern Charm castmate Cameran Eubanks. That stay in Surf City is best remembered for what happened when he was drunk: a bad night on the town and street rants in front of locals and the local cops led him to be arrested... and in a strange coincidence, another San Diego roomie and a future Challenger herself, Robin, was also cuffed on the same night. Brad went on to do eight Challenges, starting on Battle of the Sexes 2 and played his way into four finals during his career including both Duels and the infamous Gauntlet III final. It would've been five shots at the money if not for a fight that took place late in The Ruins between him and another veteran who returned from a long hiatus this year, Darrell, that sent the both of them home before the final. During Gauntlet III, he met pageant queen Tori Hall and their relationship blossomed to where they got engaged after Duel II. It led to them winning Cutthroat together after tying the knot in 2010, shared a victory kiss in Prague and led to great things afterwards when she gave birth to two kids. However, it was revealed last year that the two had separated though they continue to co-parent their children.
BRAD'S VENDETTA MOMENT
And what led Brad to return to The Challenge world? It was, of all things, a Twitter beef he had with fellow Challenge dad Tony... let him explain below.So, there you go: ten rookies from two U.S. shows and two U.K. shows, and a champion from San Diego who returns for another shot this time as a single. As we've wrote here last year before Invasion, we hope we've given you a pretty good idea of who these newbies and the returnee really are and where they come from, both to the avid fans who've been rolling with this for a long time and the newcomers who have been brought here thanks to Natalie and Victor. If you're a die-hard, we hope you'll give them, Alicia, Kam, Eddie, Joss, Kay, Kyle, Mel and Rogan a warm welcome in the same manner you're embracing Brad once again. Let's see how this new generation stacks up to the big names and who knows, this could be the beginning of a bold new era of The Challenge.
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Tomorrow sees the premiere of The Challenge Vendettas and the last regular mission on Champs vs. Stars, and as always DCBLOG will be all over those with extensive weekly blog coverage each week. After we give those who don't watch tomorrow's Challenge Double Shot live all the time to catch up, our weekly posts commence over the weekend featuring not only traditional episode recaps but also our exclusive SocialPulse play-by-play from social media and our unique stories on the people of the shows you love after the episode coverage on ExtraTime.
Make sure to bookmark this site for all of that, and when you can please do this site a big favor and share our links on your favorite social media platforms so you can spread our message to more of your fellow fans, allowing them to sample our acclaimed, outstanding content, and become new fans of our unique window on the MTV world that we know they and you will enjoy. And in the interest of our mobile first users, our bits on AYTO, BB and the U.K. challengers will shortly be reposted as separate posts on here to cut down on length.
For now, enjoy the premiere, and we'll look forward to having you be with us over the weekend. And Happy New Year and New Challenge Season everyone.
- I AM DC
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