DC ExtraTime: T.O., Fabio and The Replacement Roadie

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

Next month, DCBLOG will turn five years old, and our site's most visited post is our portrait from 2016 on one of the baddest men in the history of MTV reality TV, Abram Boise. Those who have seen him on the eleven seasons he has appeared on, spanning several Challenges -- most recently popping up on Bloodlines two years ago -- know that he is a true wild card, with two Challenge titles to his credit among nine starts he's made on that show and many memorable memories.
   As those who have followed his entire journey know, he got his start on Road Rules South Pacific in 2003, the season that also gave the world David Giuntoli who went on to play the role of detective Nick Burnhardt on NBC's Grimm... not to mention Cara Zavaleta posing in Playboy. For Abe, he was sent home after getting into a fight with big man Donell in the same New Zealand observation tower where Halsey was at this past week... one of a few instances where his violent side got the best of him and cost him his spot, including on Viewers' Revenge in 2007.
   In later Road Rules seasons, the show took a cue from Survivor and Big Brother when, at any time the RV crew failed to complete their mission, they were put on the spot of whether or not to vote out a member of their own cast... and it's because of that twist that we were introduced to Challenge legend Katie Doyle, among others. On that season in the South Pacific, there were not one, but three residents of the RV that were sent home by this twist: future Challenge bad girl and part of the first Mercenaries twist on Cutthroat Tina Barta, future church pastor Chris Greabe, and our subject...
   Jeremy Blossom came in as the last of the three replacements to that season from Parma Heights, OH -- the same Cleveland suburb as that town's most famous Mike "The Miz."  He came in late in the season when the cast lost their second mission and helped to steer the ship a bit for the RV-mates once he arrived. In the end, Jeremy was in that final six who got to bask in the glory of the handsome reward, and he went on to do two Challenges. If you remember that moment of Julie and Veronica going at it in that skyscraper on Inferno, you'll notice him yelling at the ladies to stop it from becoming quite literally Celebrity Deathmatch.

IG @JeremyBlossom

Why are we featuring him in our first Pulse of this spring? In the past month or so in his post-MTV job as the owner and CEO of his very own business in the O.C., he ran into two notable figures -- one from football, the other from fashion, and one of them was featured the last time the celebs and the vets crashed helmets. And going into that second installment of the spinoff last year, the one who was expected to make a huge splash for the Stars as the team's most prominent figure was Terrell Owens.
   We all know what happened in week 2 of Champs vs. Stars when he and CT famously butted heads in that season's second nomination proceedings, leading to a Twitter tirade with Johnny Bananas and some ill will being vented by T.O. towards production after the fact. But it's his NFL career that is much more remembered than that two-episode stint on CVS last year, and on Super Bowl weekend he was announced as part of a loaded 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction class along with Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher, Randy Moss, Brian Dawkins and Packers legend Jerry Kramer, among others.
   That class will be be inducted in Canton, OH in August, but earlier this month Jeremy met up with T.O. while on a business trip in Atlanta, GA, which will host the next Super Bowl just after the NFL schedule was released this week ahead of next week's NFL Draft in Dallas. He posted a picture on his Instagram @JeremyBlossom, "Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you to the 6x Pro Bowl Champ and NFL Hall of Famer @terrellowens #touchdowncelebration"

IG @JeremyBlossom

And with the sight of seeing someone who resembles him in Joe on Are You The One? Season 6 and who is slated to invade Ex On The Beach at some point this season -- and who actually let his hair down at one of last season's matchups, it brings to mind someone who, for a moment, actually looked like the other person who we're featuring here...
   It's likely that your mom or sister have, at one time or another, adored the Italian-American actor, model and spokesman they simply call by simply his first name. Fabio Lanzoni, best known as simply Fabio, first made a name for himself by posing on the covers of numerous romantic novels in the '80s and '90s, as well as even posing as a hero on the cover of a Nintendo video game (yes, that's almost 30 years ago if you are old enough to remember those days). He appeared in a few movies in minor roles before landing his first big-name role as Claudio on USA Network's Acapulco H.E.A.T., and even popped up on the original series of Roseanne and daytime soap The Bold and the Beautiful.
   Those who watched Ashton Kutcher's Dude Where's My Car? remember Fabio appearing as himself as well as in Ben Stiller's Zoolander, in a TV movie with Nickelodeon boy band Big Time Rush. He even made two trips into Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, as well as one trip to that great showcase of fashion, America's Next Top Model... not to mention hosting Mr. Romance. And just last year, he appeared in the fifth installment of SyFy Channel's Sharknado playing the role of, who else?, a Pope.
   When one walks through Beverly Hills, chances are they will encounter someone famous and become instantly starstruck, especially when you're at a restaurant bearing the name of chef to the stars Wolfgang Puck, and at Wolfgang's Steakhouse along Santa Monica Blvd. over the weekend, Jeremy and Fabio crossed paths. He captioned on Instagram, "He smells even better than he looks. #fabio", while the aforementioned Abe commented, "Hahahahahah!!!! Yeahhhhh!"

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