The Look: Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Tonight sees MTV's first big premiere of the new year and second of the winter following the pre-Christmas premiere of Season 2 of Ex On The Beach. The channel has been on a roll in the past two years for many reasons too many to mention, and of all the premieres it has planned for the first quarter of 2019, this is the one those who are dressed a little more formally than most at 1515 Broadway are betting their attention on.

Back it was announced in the heat of the summer last July, this was one of those rare instances where the big buzz show that was revealed to everyone to great interest on social media was not a direct reboot of an old show like what we've been used to in the past couple years, but a new original idea. This one involved one of the biggest & most-buzzed about stars in showbiz the past two decades, whose life has been in the public eye ever since for both her outstanding career in film, TV and music, and what's happened to her outside of it.

Of course, it's Lindsay Lohan... and she is the boss lady for the latest in a line of new business ventures she has opened up as she goes from actress & musician to now adding entrepreneur to her broad resume. She has generated buzz for this new venture a couple times: her dance at an outdoor party on the beach became one of last year's big viral sensations, and a rough night of her attempting to lead away the kids of a homeless lady was captured on camera on Instagram Live. And it came after the revealing of a new MTV show bearing her name, as she returns to the public limelight with tonight's premiere of perhaps the winter's biggest buzz show.

But she is hardly the star of all this... there are several others who will share the spotlight with Ms. LiLo, as they have been chosen for their social, business and party skills, and who will help the one with one of last year's most popular dances make her own mark in turning Mykonos into the place to be. It has been described in the media as MTV's own take on the show that brought Faith Stowers to the MTV family in Bravo's Vanderpump Rules, but this show promises to be very much different in every other way, especially with someone with a greater appeal to millennials than a Real Housewife.

It may be January, and except for those in Australia this is that time of year where we're all freezing. But we're a full week into the new year of 2019, and tonight sees America and the world come to a new paradise across the Atlantic: Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club.

Our Look Ahead at Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club back last summer offered a brief look at this show's big name... there's no need to recycle the details of the incredible career and fascinating life Lindsay has lived since she first became a household name starting with 1998's The Parent Trap and full-fledged starting with Mean Girls. But when you consider all she's been through both publicly and personally, this new career for her being a boss lady might be considered a new, fresh start for LiLo.
   Outside of movies, music, TV, a play she was in on Broadway and being an influencer, Lindsay has become invested more time into her career as an entrepreneur, away from the paparazzi who's followed her since she was a teenager. Ten years ago, she began to get her feet wet in the fashion world, first as spokesmodel for a British fashion firm, recreating Marilyn Monroe's last photo shoot in 2008, launching a clothing line, and posing in Playboy. She recently announced plans to develop a new makeup brand that, while it's still in its early development, will sure to make the Lohan brand a bigger one down the road, which also includes her own video game app and a lifestyle website.
   In fall 2016, Lindsay and ex-business partner Dennis Papageorgiou cut the ribbon on her first nightclub, named Lohan Nightclub, opening in Athens, Greece. But it would be two years later that her latest business venture would begin to set sail: last summer she opened two resorts - also in the homeland of the Olympics, bearing the name Lohan Beach House -- one on the large Greek island of Rhodes, while the other one is located in the small island of Mykonos. And it was reported shortly after that Lindsay had signed on to a do a MTV reality series on this new part of her life -- which takes us to now.

Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club will see this quadruple-threat take on the role of watching over her latest latest addition to her growing business empire in Mykonos, one of Greece's top resort destinations. Though being able to see a whole new side of her, Lindsay will have a hands-on approach to making Lohan Beach House Mykonos a place to be for travelers, and through the help of VIP hosts who she got to personally handpick, she will do what she can to make a name for herself in the world of vacation luxury.
   When she dipped her feet into the sand of architecting these new businesses, Lindsay chose friend and Athens native Panos Spentzos to be her business partner and right-hand colleague to turn the brand from dream to reality as creative director for the Lohan Beach House brand. For their second location, they chose Mykonos not just because it has the same Mediterranean climate that she's used to out in California, but also as they wanted to break away from the usual beachside resort and one that, as he says, "something peaceful, an amazing place for people to have fun, relax."
   Panos adds, "The vibe of Lohan Beach House is something different from Mykonos standards. It's a place for people to escape, combining families and parties. We created this sexy/hippie vibe which is, like, very spiritual in a way and very dancey in another way. You also have the whole hospitality experience: you can go to a day bed and relax there, have a message, do whatever you want -- drinks, dance, party. We have the gorgeous cabanas. It also has a big restaurant with the traditional Greek food that everybody eats. The whole thing about this experience is that we make the guests feel like they are the most important people there."
   As the resort's namesake, Lindsay takes herself very seriously in making sure that her opinions matter, that every detail to even its smallest points meets her needs for everything to be just as picture perfect, and to make sure everyone who walks on her property walks away with the best possible experience...all within sight of a majestic setting. And she makes sure to everyone who works for her that they're working for her and to help the brand, and to hope that they don't F- up.

 MEET THE CAST 

Aside from that one person who we got to mention in our pre-post last fall - and provided that you know who that one is, those who have also been asked by Lindsay to serve as ambassadors to her Lohan Beach House brand, and have to also meet her exceptionally high standards to offer world-class service to all of its guests - with only a small margin for error. And given its status as a European party hub, Lindsay and Panos decided to bring those from America to help serve as representatives for her growing brand, with one requirement: be the best of the best who can bring their A-game to this unique opportunity every day, all summer long.
   The many VIP hosts who have been chosen, including the handful who are on the cast of Lohan Beach Club, all have experience as pros in the nightlife industry, from what goes on in the club to what happens in between the walls with PR, merchandising and all else. They will serve as hosts, bartenders and bottle servers doing what they would normally do on Friday and Saturday nights in top clubs across the U.S., but now have the biggest boss yet to report to, along with a totally new crowd to deal with in this European party hub. And like any other MTV Reality cast full of beautiful faces and strong personalities, each of our castmates have unique backstories on the road to Greece.

● ARISTOTLE POLITES: Though he just moved to Los Angeles, it feels like Aristotle is a natural fit for LBH Mykonos as he has Greek roots here despite no knowledge of the native tongue. Being open to whatever comes at him - and still getting used to his new SoCal digs, at heart he still has the feel of a nerd and a geek in filming funny YouTube videos and playing music too. Aristotle currently feels comfortable being straight working as a bartender at a gay bar, and he remembers the time he got the magic call while going to the bathroom: "When I first heard about the opportunity to Mykonos, I just felt like it was a perfect fit. It seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity."

● BILLY ESTEVEZ: At 6'5", Billy is the gentle giant of the Club, and he also enjoys getting people to like him and not just for how handsome he is. This bartender of Dominican descent owes his growth to his parents, who spent their lives helping to raise him and their kids living in America. As this ladies man embarks on a rare trip, Billy knows that the customer comes first - which will come handy once he arrives in Greece: "I think I'm gonna be a great ambassador because, working hospitality, what I've learned is that you need to be attentive to people and know what they like and make 'em feel appreciated for spending their money with you. It's an opportunity you can't pass up."

● BRENT MARKS: As a VIP host in Las Vegas, Chicago native Brent is used to the night lights, handing it with class and working his way from the bottom to become part of the Sin City scene. This aspiring athlete first discovered this industry in college, where he ascended from being a security guard to bartender to manager, to now a host at Wynn LV. Brent says of this opportunity, "I've been invited to be an ambassador not only because of my experience, but I think if they're looking for real and honest people, I'm not afraid to step up and say something because I believe that I'm a leader and someone needs to take initiative, and I'd rather it be me than someone else."

● GABI ANDREWS: Gabi is a VIP waitress who lives with her friends and works in a different kind of party city compared to the rest of the cast: Washington, D.C.  She embraces being different, having an open mind and overcoming every obstacle, including being handicapped to a wheelchair by a genetic disorder as a young girl. Gabi is her club's top employee, and not only tends the drinks and dances on the bar but also works VIP management... a few jobs that will come in handy in Greece. She adds, "I'm vibrant. I'm fun. I bring a certain personality and a certain realness that I find people don't have anymore. I'm someone new and I think I can really help grow the LBH name."

● JONITTA WALLACE: Jonitta is a Syracuse native and a middle child who didn't have an easy childhood and had to work for everything starting early. That hard work - D-II college ball included - ascended her to the nice life in L.A.: a model by day, a VIP hostess by night & weekend. As she prepares for her summer to remember, Jonitta says, "I want to learn as much as I can from Lindsay. I don't know if me just looking pretty and showing up with good vibes is gonna be enough for her. I've been working for everything that I have, I feel like that's made me the woman I am today, and I have so much to bring to the Lohan brand." Don't be surprised if she has more to offers in Greece.

● JULES WILSON: Jules grew up in an affluent Detroit suburb, but she found out early that she didn't want to fit the town's conservative, Christian stereotype. This 6-foot blonde who describes herself as an "airhead" soon began living on her own, and today calls Denver her home as she has done modeling the past few years -- even walking at New York Fashion Week -- and being a VIP hostess who's friendly and a life of the party at 5280'. Jules says of her big summer in Greece ahead, "For me to be chosen to be an ambassador for Lindsay's Beach House, to be able to show my strengths and skills is amazing. I don't know what to expect."

● MAY YASSINE: May came from humble beginnings when at age 8 she & her family moved from their native Morocco to New York, and found themselves not living the American dream. She found traveling to be her respite from this rough life, with a passport bearing stamps from Britain, Thailand, Dubai, Germany, and Mykonos. May is a VIP host at a NYC rooftop lounge who always enjoys the company of guests every night, as she's gotten used to working the vibrant nightlife. And as she returns to Greece, she comes for work rather than make friends and adds, "I will not change who I am. I'll be 100% myself. I'll never be disrespectful to others and I expect the same back."

● MIKE MULDERRIG: Jersey native and bartender Mike can best be described as "the life of the party": one who's loud, dramatic, vibrant, part of a great & supportive Italian family, and is a star on YouTube too. He also happens to be bisexual, a status he & his family are still getting used to as he works at a West Hollywood bar having both attractive guys and hot girls around him every night. Mike is looking forward to serving up the drinks in Greece, while also being mindful of temptations lurking everywhere. He's looking forward to the job he has ahead of him: "There's no situation that I'm gonna sink. If anything, this makes me really want to show Lindsay what I can do."

● SARA TARIQ: She might look like that usual everyday beautiful LA girl, but Pakistan-born Sara has developed a knack for being good at what she does in demonstrating the hustle needed to excel. A Muslim child born to a strict family, she broke out of the mold in college, and yet she still lives with her mom as she plots along with being Miss Independent. As a VIP hostess at leading celeb hotspot Hyde Sunset, Sara is used to big names coming there every night, and she's looking forward to translating that into her job: "Being on Mykonos and working for Lindsay, this is huge. It's a huge opportunity because she's very respectable. So when I heard about this, I was so excited."


Just like Panama City Beach, Seaside Heights and Spring Break hotbed South Padre Island, TX, Mykonos has an official population of just over 10,000... but once summer comes it becomes one of the most populated cities in all of Greece when people from around the world flock to a place whose nickname is "Island of the Winds." Aristole says of Greek party heaven in the South Aegean sea, "Mykonos is the party island... the place people wanna go where people have fun. So I'm just looking forward to being part of that culture. I'm excited about the opportunity to kind of prove myself."
   As Sara embarks on this bold journey, she has her work cut out in transitioning from having ballers in the club to working with new girls in paradise: "I might be intimidating to the other girls that work there 'cause I'm a pretty girl. I feel very secure, and I know what I bring to the table, and I don't have anything to worry about."
   Jonitta says of the chance, "I feel like this is a great opportunity for me to expand and grow my career," while Billy adds, "Ultimately, I just hope to learn from Lindsay." May will relish the chance to work alongside her idol: "When I was a little girl, I used to be like, 'I wanna be like her.' And now I'm working for her." And it seems Mike can speak for all of us: "Lindsay Lohan... are you kidding?"
   They, Billy, Gabi, Brent, Jules and everyone else who has been given this special honor are about to begin the biggest summer of their lives... or perhaps one of the worst experiences they've ever had. Anything can happen in a cutthroat environment like this where any employee can be replaced at any time if something happens... it's working 110% and at all times that will rule the day -- and their replacements are only a phone call & an hours-long plane ride away.

It's one thing to find yourself in the sultry backdrop of this small Greek island, and to work with one of showbiz' biggest names. It's definitely another to have work and paradise mix in with celebrity, romance, friendship and everything that comes with being part of a sexy setting where it will all come together. Tonight, this new chapter begins the doors to Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club opens.

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Tonight, DCNOW @DC408DxNow will live tweet the series premiere of Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club, and will do so every Tuesday. In addition to our key interests here this winter in Ex On The Beach and Floribama Shore on Thursdays, DCNOW will also live tweet the show that comes on after Lindsay's, Season 2 of Siesta Key, and the other new MTV series to debut this winter, Made in Staten Island... DCBLOG will profile the controversial New York-based series on here next week, along with a review of the winter half of Season 1 from Florida afterwards; coverage in some way of Lohan Beach Club will be offered on here during this winter MTV Reality cycle.

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