DC ExtraTime: Inside Scoop with Wendy & Devyn

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

During our ultra-busy 2017 here, for a few times we delved from primetime and the Trifecta, to the land of daytime. There, we looked at when Nelson got his start on national TV on a game show hosted by Jerry Springer, fellow AYTO alum (and now star of Go90's My Dead Ex) Ryan Malaty bringing his famous Aladdin outfit to Let's Make a Deal, and two other members of the extended family of the love fest, Brandon and Jasmine of Season 2, being spotted in the audience of Dr. Phil. Now, we have our first instance this year of an MTV alum going from a reality ecosystem that airs on basic cable to a broader audience on free-to-air TV but whose viewership consisting mainly of housewives, babysitters and those at home.

On Halloween last year, daytime viewers were left with their jaws dropped when, while wearing a Statue of Liberty costume, energetic talk show host Wendy Williams started to slur her words during her TV talk show, which unlike most shows in her genre is broadcast live. The drawback of shows like hers being beamed out straight from the studio and into living rooms every weekday instead of being edited for later on brings about the simple words of Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong," and anything can happen (ask a recent Mercenary who invaded Vendettas a few weeks ago about that). There, Wendy fainted and collapsed to the ground after going silent and stumbling, and after a commercial break she was back on her feet assuring the audience that she overheated in her costume and that it was no joke.
   Because of that bizarre episode that became viral, last month during the heart of the industry's vital February ratings sweeps period, the media icon announced that she would take some extended time off from her show to not only recuperate from that fall on live TV, but also deal with complications from suffering from Graves' disease and hyperthyroidism. This past week after a three-week's hiatus, Wendy returned to our screens offering her show's signature mix of hot topics of tabloid & celeb news, the kind of unfiltered opinions that's made her enemies with some in the entertainment world, and everything else that makes her show one of the icons of daytime TV, continuing a legacy of hot takes she first pioneered on her radio talk show... all part of her media empire.

Ten years ago this summer, Devyn Simone was a KC pageant queen who came to New York to film Real World Brooklyn and to further her budding entertainment career in the biggest city of all. But back then, if you were one of those handful who had her go on a Challenge then those would ask you, "Have had lost your mind?" She joined the many times snake-bitten Sarah Rice, Team MTV's resident ultra-conservative Chet Cannon and dolphin trainer J.D. Ordonez to form Team Brooklyn on Battle of the Seasons II six years ago, and made it all the way to the end... but Devyn's inexperience of being athletic compared to the rest of her team ultimately cost them in the end and finished 3rd.
   Being on one Challenge and making it all the way to the end is one thing and an accomplishment to take pride in, but being on two would've made everyone who found out about the cast feel up in arms. But again as luck would have it, Devyn would also make it to the end on Free Agents two years later and in a field of competitors who had trained so hard and earned their way into the final of a season based around individual gameplay. The most likely scenario in many's minds going into that last act in Argentina would've been that she would either quit or get medically evacuated and miss out on the payday that goes to those who complete the two-day final, which was a mix of individual and paired stages like what we saw last year. But while attention was paid to the favorites of Bananas and Laurel, rookie Johnny Portland who also rode luck to the final as well, new veteran Nany and Zach's in his 2nd final, not much focus was given to Devyn, and most expected her to not complete it.
   While Johnny Bananas and Laurel would come away the worthy and deserved winners of that final, Johnny and Nany pushing them to the end on Day 2 and Zach infamously flaming out in Day 1, as expected Devyn was struggling and was far back of the leaders having to go it all alone. But in that true spirit that epitomized a person who would pass months after this aired, at no point did Devyn decide to give in and give up. Instead, she plowed along in the snow in the trek up the mountaintop, and when she finally finished well after the rest of the finalists, they were there to cheer her on and greet her when she finally finished. She indeed stole the show and won over the respect of everyone... and that joined an iconic moment of her having to grieve over her wig getting destroyed in a mission earlier in the season, and them holding a funeral in the Uruguayan sunset to say farewell.

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Besides her role as matchmaker and dating coach alongside Clinton Kelly on TLC's Love at First Swipe, Devyn has become sought after by daytime talk shows to offer the same dating advice she gives to prospective candidates on First Swipe, including talking to Rachel Ray over a year ago. On Wednesday, she went onto Wendy's show as its entertainment insider for some Inside Scoop, and to discuss the prospects of one of Hollywood's long-lasting couples perhaps being headed for Splitsville: Beverly Hills 90210 alum and TV producer's daughter Tori Spelling and her husband of a dozen years, Dean McDermott.
   And similar to what's been going down in the Winter Break Hunter Mountain cabin in the first few weeks, the cops were called in just as frequently not to do a welfare check as has been the case with Alessandra and her mom and ensuing the beef between her and JBrew, but trouble for Tori & Dean with domestic violence and police cars outside their home in the Hollywood Hills, which may mean the beginning of this marriage possibly bring brought down in flames.

Who knows if Devyn will return to defend a perfect elimination record or perhaps make it to a 3rd final against the odds. But if there's a natural fit for her, it's her and the camera, whether it's helping out those who want to make a greater impression on landing a date, and providing that kind of scoop from the entertainment world with that always energetic personality that we loved about her on her three MTV shows, and now to a broader audience as well. Next stop perhaps, hosting a Challenge reunion? Stay tuned to see if that happens... it guarantees to be Must See TV.

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On Tuesday, DCBLOG will head into the Strategy Room for an look at where the game stands for the current Challenge season of Vendettas as the field readies themselves for a trip to the heart of Europe for the stretch run, including a rookie looking to follow what Devyn did on her first season of making it into the final. But tomorrow, ExtraTime will venture to Spring Break as Team MTV ventures down south for the biggest college party anywhere that will sure warm things up.  See you for that then.

- I AM DC