BY DC CUEVA
It's now July and the second half of 2019, and MTV Reality TV has sure given us plenty of talk about and enjoy. Things are a bit different this time: no Challenge season for us to cover for the first summer in a few years, but it's hardly an offseason in this year-round binge-fest of ours. We're a few weeks into life a decade wiser and older for those we grew up watching in the cast of The Hills and Teen Mom originals Maci, Catelynn and Amber. This week, they've been joined by their counterparts to the East in Jersey Shore as they return amidst one of their own getting hitched before going behind bars. And The Real World is rolling along on Facebook as our current class of seven strangers going through life, love and social issues down in Atlanta as well as in Mexico City and Thailand.
Ex On The Beach came into our lives on this side of the Atlantic a year ago when four other Brits who ignited the international invasion of The Challenge brought with them the show that mixed what a Challenge baby daddy went through the first time he was on MTV with a romantic dating series gone wild. Season 1 saw the start of what's now a Teen Mom OG storyline in Cory Wharton dating fellow single (and a friend of Jake Paul's) Taylor Selfridge, while introducing us to Big Brother turned Challenge star Paulie and a romance that continued to last season. Also during Season 2, we saw a Teen Mom take her talents to the beach, the continuation of an AYTO love triangle, another triangle that crossed the old Viacom street; a Challenge & Bachelor romance, and the LGBT community as well.
With all of these ingredients, we are guaranteed to have plenty of love, drama, craziness, makeups, breakups and heartbreak by the beach. And after the jump, we look ahead at what awaits us in Cali, acquaint those new to the show to what it's all about, and of course introduce the stars of this season as a new season begins tonight. So, welcome back to California, welcome back to love, and welcome back to Ex On The Beach. We're so glad you're with us.
WHAT TO EXPECT...
and Season 2 in Review
and Season 2 in Review
Ex On The Beach originated on MTV UK and its affiliated non-US international channels in spring 2014, premiering at the same time as the first Are You The One season and Cory's original Real World Ex-Plosion season. The original British version has aired nine series (UK lingo for TV "season"), and saw Kayleigh, Bear, Joss, Melissa, Ashley C., Rogan and Zahida go through bloody hell in paradise before taking both their talents to The Challenge and the show's twisted concept to America. Like other reality formats, localized versions have been franchised to thirteen other countries outside the UK and the USA, for which the U.S. version became one of two international MTV formats to be customized for the flagship American channel, along with Just Tattoo of Us/How Far is Tattoo Far.
Once they find out and get shook by the reality that this, in fact, is "Ex On The Beach," the singles will no doubt be walking on eggshells like those in this part of the country were just over a week ago, as they'll have to confront their exes on the beach and in the house. With their ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends returning to their lives, they'll bring into the house plenty of dirty laundry, as well as a puzzle of love, romance, hookups and deceit... and all the couples will have to deal with the past. Like what we see in other reality dating shows, the couples will have to decide if they want to rekindle past flames or just simply move to the next one... all with plenty of the drama we love, too.
The standout moment in this global franchise comes every few days, when the house will watch and see if their face pops up to be one of the handful who gets to walk down to the Beach of Doom, where after they put on some tan and build those bods, they'll be meeting Romeo to find out "Whose Ex Is Next?" They will arrive in single or multiple amounts right from after the singles get settled into the house... and it's just seeing the exes pop up from the water and the reactions of those sitting on the beach chair in watching blasts from the past return before their eyes that make for meme-worthy moments that will set the tone for each episode.
Two other components of the EOTB house are the Tablet of Terror and the Message in a Bottle. When either of them appears, it will send clues to the house of sending singles of getaway dates with fellow singles or with their exes, any Challenge-like twists those from behind the fourth wall would want to throw their way, or the most juicy part of having a mobile device. That would be of leaking visual receipts of anything suspicious from the house or from cast interviews of special interest to the housemates that could send chaos into any relationship... and there have been so many of them.
A number of those jaw-dropping moments where screenshots, photos and video of past wrongdoing being exposed on that tablet has occurred in the Shack of Secrets, which is EOTB's equivalent of the Truth Booth on AYTO, the deliberation room on recent Challenges and the confessional room on Real World. For EOTB U.S., the Shack is where a former couple will have their relationship be put to the test and into greater scrutiny where, like what happened with Angela and her exes, is where the real truth of how and why a relationship got sunk will get uncovered. And often, some special guests may pop up in there too... even a thing called a lie detector.
And the last element comes with a staple of any reality series with a cast of a fuller house: an elimination - though no prizes will be handed out. Cut or Crush will be where the house will be offered the opportunity to vote out anyone in the house... and if one person of this season's cast is familiar with how it all works, he will use it to his advantage just as he's done on The Challenge. There, either the Singles or the Exes will have voting control, sending home a member of the opposition party with an "X" to indicate a Cut, or sparing them a favor with a "Crush" which negates one of the crosses.
Season 2 saw the U.S. iteration on this global franchise come to Malibu with much to live up to after the events of our first trip out to the paradise of love gone wrong. Last season's headliner, Farrah Abraham, went from being kicked out of Teen Mom OG in favor of Cheyenne & Cory and Bristol Palin, to EOTB where she took care of matters with her ex-boyfriend, Simon Siran, and left the house two times: one to meet a judge, and when she was voted off by the exes at midseason all after she ran into some tension with the house.
There were two complicated love triangles that took over Malibu: one of them came from the same AYTO season that will have another romance head over to this season. Nurys Mateo (who recently made out with Cardi B. in her "Press" video), Malcolm Drummer and Diandra Delgado had an entertaining affair that began in New Orleans two years ago and continued to SoCal in the winter, and things got more messy when Nurys' notable ex, Nelson Thomas of AYTO 3 and a few Challenges, also arrived as well... and more complicated when both girls got to hookup with the ex of Bad Girls Club alum Janelle Shanks, Darian.
The other triangle had everyone in CBS affiliate newsrooms keeping an eye on MTV matters: Morgan Willett of Big Brother fame found herself juggling not one, but two other alums of CBS reality shows: Corey Brooks from BB season 18 and Jay Starrett from a past Survivor season, as well as Monte Massongil from Morgan's own Big Brother season - and all before she fell into the prey of Johnny Bananas. Corey's roommate from his season, Jozea Flores, were cuddle buddies in the house as the ladder made his way from doing two Challenge seasons into EOTB, which heralded in the gay & lesbian crowd joining this show including a romance of co-workers of this season's hunks, Murray Swanby and Cory Zwierzynski.
The most notable romance of interest to both MTV fans and those who follow Bachelor Nation came when Challenger Nicole Ramos began to get close to one of the biggest bad boys in all of reality TV, Bachelorette alum Chad Johnson, and they stayed together for a bit before they broke up and a big blow-up at the reunion. But the biggest entrance came later on, when Angela Babicz became the first two-time cast mate of the U.S. series when she emerged onshore as the midseason replacement single. But given what we saw in Season 1, she knew she would have her hands full when her ex, Tor'i Brooks, reemerged much to her displeasure.
MEET THE SINGLES
...AND THE EXES
...AND THE EXES
The Season 3 class of singles who will find themselves in search of love this Tuesday will once again offer something for everyone: familiar faces, new reality stars joining this community, a set of twins and even musicians. If you're a regular MTV viewer, you'll recognize three of the singles moving in from shows of the past few years, and a fourth if you're old enough to have watched a musical talent show that predated Idol and The Voice. If you have a passion for non-MTV reality TV, you'll be served by another alum of a staple of our summer TV slate, as well as a man who appeared on a show that gave us a romance from last season. And if reality is not your cup of tea somehow, two musicians and a pair of twins round out our singles.
♥ DEVIN WALKER – Are You The One? & The Challenge: Four years ago as part of a legendary MTV draft class, Devin was the most notable member of the Are You The One Season 3 cast. He had a key romance with Kiki Cooper (who also dated Maci Bookout's ex Ryan Edwards) and led his cast's narrow escape to $750,000 thanks to those famous red Solo cups. We then saw Devin go onto The Challenge where he rode rookie luck to a final with Cory's baby mama Cheyenne and then become an adversary of Bananas. Now, he follows in Nelson's footsteps to EOTB... who his ex might be, there's no clue - but you can bet Big D will use the Cut or Crush to his advantage yet again.
♥ GELES RODRIGUEZ – Are You The One?: Last season saw a love triangle from the season that bested Devin's cast for biggest comeback ever on AYTO continue that story on Ex with Nurys, Didi & Malcolm. This time, it's Geles' turn to head from the Bayou to Malibu, as this former Houston Texans cheerleader will try to find love once again. Her ex is AYTO6 castmate Anthony Martin, who also has another ex in Shannon Duffy of AYTO5 -- and if what we saw with the former splashing a drink in his face at the Mardi Gras night party that season and a street fight the ladder had with a girl that was caught in tape are indications, things will be tense once again.
♥ KENYA SCOTT – Are You The One?: On last year's AYTO, we saw getaway challenges take 2018 off for the fate button.. and one of those who benefited from heading from the mansion to the suites without really doing much was Kenya. From when they moved into the house, she started getting flirty with heartthrob and party host Tevin Grant, and their relationship was one of the key talking points in the house. #Kevin continued right after they were one of the two late perfect matches that was key in the house winning $1 million, and though there seems to not be as much bad blood as other couples, that will be one to watch here.
♥ AUBREY O'DAY – Danity Kane & Making the Band: Headlining the non-Trifecta class is a lady who, over a decade ago, made her name on the third & fourth iterations of MTV's Making the Band. Aubrey O'Day auditioned in front of P. Diddy and landed a spot on his girl group Danity Kane, and has been much drama with the boss and her group-mates, just as they return this summer with new music and a tour. Aubrey has had quite a career in reality TV and in the public limelight, from being on countless other reality shows, posing to Playboy, headlining Broadway and Vegas shows and even frolicking with our President's son. Now comes the latest chapter in her now 35-year life: returning to where it all began for her as part of a global reality franchise.
♥ MARK JENSEN – Big Brother 19: As Big Brother again takes over this summer and continues its MTV invasion, our latest person to cross the old Viacom street is one who made his debut two years ago on Season 19, which also gave us a War of the Worlds rookie. Mark came to BB19 as a personal trainer in the Buffalo area, as he got to become allies with fellow houseguests Cody and Jessica and instantly found himself with a target on the back.. he even got into it with that Challenge rookie, Josh Martinez. Mark found love in the summer share with Houston radio host Elana Davies, and the showmance known as #Marlena continued until this winter.
♥ BILLY REILICH – "Nick the Gardener" on Ellen and What Happens At The Abbey: For the cast's resident hunk, it's the one who not only has those abs, but also has had the chance to hang with some of Hollywood's best including the queen of kindness. Billy might've grown up in the Midwest but has found SoCal to be his ideal habitat. Where else can you have the opportunity to be come "Nick the Gardener" on The Ellen Degeneres Show, appear in the Magic Mike movies with Channing Tatum, and get to hang with two of last season's exes and two Lohan Beach Club VIP's at The Abbey in West Hollywood? He's done exactly that.
♥ MECHIE HARRIS – 4EY The Future: For the most notable romance among the singles coming in the house, it belongs to a member of D.C. area R&B/pop group 4EY The Future. Mechie was the rebound man of Blac Chyna after her very public breakup with Rob Kardashian, and that romance became public knowledge when Rob outed him in an Instagram video two years ago. Plenty more tea on Mechie So Crazy's fling with Blac will be revealed in tonight's premiere, as this guy with this social media star in the hundreds of thousands of followers is ready for his TV closeup.
♥ LEXIE & ALLIE KAPLAN – Social Influencers: This winter saw Big Brother alums Julia & Liz Nolan grace us only briefly on The Challenge... now another dose of double trouble makes their way to MTV, this time for a longer spell. Lexie & Allie Kaplan are twin sisters who have made a name for themselves as artists who make provocative paintings - often of nude celebrities - that are certainly NSFW. Earlier this year, Netflix took notice of their controversial work by featuring them in a series on famous Instagram influencers... now the Kaplans are taking the next step of going onto cable.
♥ CAMERON ARMSTRONG – ABC's Boy Band and The Rookie: In 2017, ABC asked guys who wanted to be in America's next biggest pop act to become part of Boy Band, just as BTS was about to take off. One of them was South Carolina native Cameron Armstrong, who made it into the live phase as part of group Uplift, before the boys of In Real Life went on to win America's hearts. But for this former star athlete and son for a former Dallas Cowboy turned pastor, Cameron also has some acting cred having played a nurse on ABC cop drama The Rookie and doing a few commercials.
Below is the list of the exes who will ultimately trek to the beach to make these singles' summers a nightmare or perhaps regain love. Some of them you know from their MTV time and others are ordinary exes like you. And while we've given you only a few examples above, for the rest of the cast and for the sake of those not in the know we won't spoil the rest of the combinations. As they say, this will be a fun season.
♥ TEVIN GRANT – Are You The One? Season 7
♥ MARIE RODA – The Challenge and The Real World
♥ ANTHONY MARTIN – Are You The One? Season 6
♥ SHANNON DUFFY – Are You The One? Season 5
♥ ANTHONY BARTOLOTTE – Are You The One? Season 2 & The Challenge
♥ ELENA DAVIES – Big Brother 19
♥ LISA ‘THAI” COFFEY – Celebrity Ex
♥ ARIANA NOVA – Celebrity Ex
♥ ALEXIS McNEAL – Celebrity Ex
♥ CARA COOPER – Celebrity Ex
♥ KELLIE SWEET – Celebrity Ex
♥ EMILY ARRESEIGOR – Celebrity Ex
♥ DANIELLE CLARKE – Celebrity Ex
♥ MAX-DAVIS KURTZMAN – Celebrity Ex
♥ JASON WALSH – Celebrity Ex
♥ TYLER GARRIGUS – Celebrity Ex
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
As one of the reasons for us getting to now expand our MTV coverage in the past year, DCBLOG will again be along as your tour guide through every step of this latest Ex On The Beach journey from the preseason preview you've just gotten to read through, and continues each week through the last Cut or Crush ceremony in the fall. Starting next weekend, we'll have our weekly 'Pulse of the episodes with all the social media reaction to the moments as they happen each Tuesday, along with the build-up to each episode, and the aftermath to it when we do the same for Are You The One? - Come One, Come All which will follow and is currently ongoing.
Another one of our early season traditions will come your way here early next week when we'll be providing our customary introduction to some of this season's newcomers as we'll have the Season 3 installment of "Who Are These Newbies?" We'll get to know Aubrey, the two Marks and the rest of the singles and one of the exes as they will be moving into the same house that hosted Season 2 of this series last year. Enjoy tonight's episode, and see you back here in the coming days.
- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
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