DC ExtraTime: AYTO Meets 98 Degrees

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

It's Friday, and it's the weekend as DCBLOG is about to again take you Inside the MTV Trifecta. Coming up, girls rule on The Challenge: Vendettas with a popoff queen from across the pond getting into battles both in the house and in the elimination chamber. But first on a day that those in Britain have eagerly awaited for many years in a potential reunion of the Spice Girls having social-verse abuzz, this week's sole piece of ExtraTime...
   Last week, we featured two musicians with ties to the year 2001: one-hit wonder Afroman who gave an ode to marijuana with "Because I Got High", and Canada's rock imports Nickelback who emerged on the world stage a few months later. The former got to hang out with the cast of Siesta Key in nearby Sarasota, FL before their most explosive episode yet, while the ladder and frontman Chad Kroeger got to spend some quality time with Johnny Bananas. Now, another musical flashback with members of Team MTV... but this time we shift to pop, and a true flashback to twenty years ago.

When Total Request Live and original host Carson Daly first took over Times Square in 1998, a group who broke through that same year was one who chose the right time to make a name for themselves as pop music began a renaissance that continues two decades later. While attending Kent State, Jeff Timmons decided to forgo college and NFL dreams to pursue a music career out west in L.A. after receiving good feedback at a local performance. There, he met another Ohio college student, Nick Lachey, who decided that they should form a vocal group. Nick called college friend Justin Jeffre, then his younger brother Drew Lachey - a New York EMT at the time, and 98 Degrees was born.
   Jeff, Nick, Justin and Drew took up usual day jobs in security, landscaping and food delivery to help foot the bills, then looked to Boyz II Men and other groups for their inspiration before making rounds in SoCal record labels in the hope they get discovered. Eventually, the legendary Motown Records won the signing battle, and 98 Degrees first made waves when they sneaked backstage at one of Boyz II Men's concerts and caught the eye of local radio who invited them to perform on air. Their debut single, "Invisible Man," went Top 15 in the summer of '97 and landed an opening act spot on Janet Jackson's Velvet Rope Tour. But that was the start of their journey.
   98 Degrees differentiated themselves from 'NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys by emphasizing their original songwriting skills that reflected R&B more than mainstream pop. And while the Orlando pop outfits were exchanging #1 on TRL, 98 Degrees plowed along scoring a cameo alongside Stevie Wonder on Disney's Mulan soundtrack, then released their debut album that scored two Top 5 hits, including breakthrough hit "Because of You" whose video saw them perform on the Golden Gate Bridge. Two more albums followed, and after taking a 10-yr. hiatus when Nick got hitched to Jessica Simpson and later TRL alum Vanessa Minillo, the guys reunited and are still performing.

Brittany, Jeff, Nicole and performer Nicole
Michelle (IG @BrittanyBaldi)

This brings us to this: last week, two Are You The One? alumni -- Brittany from Season 1 and Exes 2, and fellow New Englander Nicole from the most recent Season 6 (and one-half of the only Truth Booth perfect match in New Orleans) -- had the opportunity to welcome Jeff to their Boston home base for a benefit concert, the Generations Gala, where the heartthrob served as event host. Members of The Cars (2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees) and The Joe Perry Project, X Factor USA alum Jillian Jensen, aka Amber Eyes, and social media sensation Wolftyla performed at the Gala, along with emerging acts to benefit causes helping in the effort to battle substance abuse.
   Below & to the right are their embedded photos from backstage, with Brittany captioning to the right, "Amazing time last night at #GenerationsGala ! 😎👏🏼", while Jeff added below, "Great hanging w @brittanybaldi @niicoleamber @nicolemichellesings @generationsgala last night. Thanks #boston @dufresnebilly @royaleboston"

Great hanging w @brittanybaldi @niicoleamber @nicolemichellesings @generationsgala last night. Thanks #boston @dufresnebilly @royaleboston

A post shared by jefftimmons (@jefftimmons) on Jan 28, 2018 at 11:38am PST

And on the topic of the ladies featured here: last fall on Season 6, we saw Oregonian Joe having to deal with his ex, Season 5 alum Taylor, in the New Orleans house during the always spine-tingling visit from the exes during any AYTO season... if word on the vine is right this might not be the last time they get to be in the same house. But Taylor & Joe aren't the only ones among a group who pulled out a Patriots-esque last ditch comeback to win $1 million with ties to a past season.
   Before she went onto last season, Nicole had worked with Brittany on web videos for Boston web site Performer.com, including doing some together. Below is one of their projects - Wicked Bites, which is also a TV show that airs on regional sports network NESN, and of them checking out a sports bar and restaurant located down the street from Fenway Park... all set to the tune of "The Right Stuff" from, of all groups, old school boy band New Kids on the Block.

One might imagine what kind of advice the Season 1 original gave the Season 6 newbie about what to expect in the AYTO house. But Brittany and Nicole represent part of the recent crop of a long line of proud castmates of Are You The One? and The Challenge/Real World franchise who come to us from New England and those who are Boston born and bred. And when you count other shows from outside the Trifecta, the MTV universe will have some New England representation in the upcoming new show Winter Break: Hunter Mountain - which we will cover later this Super Bowl weekend.

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Tomorrow, we'll have the 'Pulse of week 5 of Vendettas. And for a little tease of what to expect, if you love drama and competition... you'll enjoy what's to come. See you then, and have a great Friday.

- I AM DC