The MTV Love WRAP: Are You The One? Global - Heaven, Hell, Triangles & a Match

BY DC CUEVA 

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Hello there again... it's the second weekend of February, and you still got some time to make your plans for the abundance of Valentine's Day activities that are on offer in a few days -- from dinner dates at the local restaurant to classroom candy giveaways. We're also in the midst of a juicy time in love TV as we're a few weeks into MTV's Are You The One?, and the Paramount+ Global Season... and if you're in Australia don't even bare to read below though you will have the pleasure of getting to see this debut on the magic day of this Tuesday (Monday for us Americans).

The first two weeks of our first AYTO since 2019 have certainly offered a whole lot: first night hookups, a first-ever first matchup blackout, and as of last time out: awkwardness. Leo's choice to pick CC on his getaway date backfired on the former basketballer and Holey Moley contestant, as the house tried to pick up the pieces from losing $250,000 right out of the gate and trying desperately to perform some damage control as a result of that. But despite that misstep, it appears that the house has righted the ship to finally get on the board with their first two light beams in week two.

If you're a longtime fan of MTV love, then you know that partying is something else in this world -- and it makes those opening night orientations on The Bachelor feel like they're intimate social gatherings.

We can think of the white party that the Season 1 originals had back then, Nelson dressing up as a lobster in the Ex On The Beach villa, or that crazy time in Vegas on Double Shot at Love. And, there is also the matter of what is a no-no in this game... after the break, we have the latest addition to that list of fun after dark and a non-match not separating as Weeks 3 & 4 of Are You The One? Global throw a Love & Lust Party and a dose of good news from the Suites on our Love WRAP.

The MTV Love WRAP: Are You The One? Global - Week 2

BY DC CUEVA 

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It's the first weekend of the second month of 2023... and if you're reading this post while in the mood for some lovin', you now officially have 10 days (and this 2/3/23 Friday) to prepare yourself for the Super Bowl of Love that comes two days after the actual Super Bowl: that would, of course, be Valentine's Day. And in scaring you with trying to figure out how you'll be spending that Tuesday night in a fortnight, we got this edition of the DCBLOG MTV Love WRAP to share with you as we cover Are You The One? Global... and we sure have missed being around the Truth Booth.

The big show known simply as AYTO has returned into our hearts for the first time since September 2019 and before this world lost its collective mind... but it was as if things picked up right where the Come One, Come All season 8 left off. That would be of all the debauchery that takes place whenever you have some hot girls and guys sharing quarters on a reality dating show... and in this case, we had your favorite icebreaker game of Never Have I Ever spark plenty of hookups -- as well as identify candidates for this year's "F-Boy"... none other than the DJ with the blond hair, Brandan. But all the fun that the house had to begin this return engagement did not prepare them for the rude awakening they got.

That would be an unprecedented first in series history of a week 1 blackout -- no lights in the first matchup ceremony in forty months... which cost them $250,000. It has certainly rattled the house the same way that a 4.1 earthquake & a 3.2 aftershock shook Los Angeles just as those who stayed up for the midnight episode release here out west. But as we return to the house, there may be nerves rattled but always plenty of optimism that comes with a fresh start... and after the break & later than billed, the MTV Love WRAP brings you week 2 of AYTO Season 9. And welcome to the weekend, lovebirds...

The MTV Love WRAP: Are You The One? - The Season 9 Premiere (and Return)

BY DC CUEVA 

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Twitter/Instagram @AREUTHE1

Nine years ago this weekend, MTV brought those insomniacs who snuck around after that Teen Mom mama drama something totally different: a new take on the world of reality dating shows that combined what the channel does best in all of that over-the-top drama with a whole lot of love and a great deal of high stakes. In a week that saw a fight on Teen Mom, a triple elimination on The Challenge, the probable series finale of Siesta Key, the debut of West Hollywood's newest squad and yet another reality show appearance for one Asaf Goren, one of the many shows he's been on in this world, MTV's Are You The One?, finally returned to our consciousness and into front page status in this third week of 2023.

If you saw his cameo on RuPaul's Drag Race on Friday, Asaf added to a reality resume that includes him being part of the legacy of eight seasons of MTV's first foray into the modern reality dating phenomenon that spans eight seasons, and which have brought us plenty of that along with a slew of memorable girls, guys, couples and countless hookups. But forty months have passed since we last went into the Truth Booth -- the world as it was the past few years had to do something with it after Season 8 brought a new dimension to the theory that love is more than just guys and girls loving one another... the LGBTQ+ community is also deserving of taking part in it too.

But finally, as the world has opened back up after the pandemic so has the social romantic experiment... and Season 9 is not only taking up residency on Paramount+, it's also inviting those from around the world to join in on the fun. Twenty-two singles have traveled from the United States and six other countries to the Canary Islands, where Catfish host Kamie Crawford awaits them for this latest odyssey in finding love through laser beams, Boom Boom Room trips and matchmaking science. And though it's been three & a third years since we last enjoyed the feeling of watching this guilty pleasure, it's as if it's never left us in the amount of drama and fun for its opening stanza -- that includes a triangle, a game of Never Had I Ever and even something many of you had over the holidays.

After the break, DCBLOG brings you all that went down in the first two hours of the Global edition of Are You The One? on this premiere edition of something brand new on here: the MTV Love WRAP. And at last, welcome back lovers...

Inside MTV Reality: Welcome Back to Are You The One? - Gone Global

BY DC CUEVA 

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It's January... that time of year when we turn the page to new beginnings, fresh starts, and hopes that the future will treat us better than what we had to endure the previous twelve months. It also means, right now especially, returns to things we were used to to begin the year -- from not worrying about hearing 24/7 Christmas music until next November, to getting to travel safely again after all this time being stuck at home... and even this site's byline above has gone a makeover in it now displaying my new LinkTree. And in the case of the subject of this first season preview post of 2023, it's something that we've not been able to say on here since before this world lost its collective mind in so many ways.

When DCBLOG started our MTV coverage ten years ago, it was during the last normal Real World season in Portland (coming this Friday to Netflix), followed by Season 24 of The Challenge - the second Rivals edition and the first of what would be five titles for C.T.  Then in early 2014 came not one, but two shows that would help to foretell the next generation of this world: the first was the twisted Real World in Ex-Plosion, whose theme of exes invading San Francisco not only gave us Cory Wharton but also predated the eventual arrival of Ex On The Beach that spring to the British tellies and where he would ultimately find love when it arrived to our shores four years later.

All Pics: MTV

The other was a totally new show that finally gave this son to two parents who double as fans of The Bachelor franchise a new entry into what has now become a hot commodity these days in the world of this genre: a romantic dating show. The concept was bold, fresh, innovative, and brought an element of high stakes not found in that other world of finding love in those weekly rose ceremonies: money at stake... not to mention the patented brand of reality only found on MTV. The result was Are You The One? -- and Season 1 gave us something rarely found anywhere: the only scientifically-proven perfect match who are still together, and who are also parents to some adorable kids a decade after they met.

Seven seasons followed in the footsteps of Amber, Ethan and The Originals: from memorable characters who later crossed over to The Challenge and other facets of pop culture, and a girl who's enjoying the good life of being a YouTube fighter's girlfriend... to another who's found her perfect match in that MTV king, and the guy who we saw playing a ukulele in New Orleans but who has made some sweet music during the time that his original show has been away from our lives. And the last time we were engaged in the world of AYTO, it was more than just finding love but also finding out about who a group of people really were when you don't have to love someone of the opposite gender.

Four long years ago in 2019 was the most recent AYTO season that gave another definition to the term "Love Wins," and now it's time for the next chapter in this journey to begin. This time, there are a whole bunch of things that are new: a new platform from which this show will be airing in the new way of watching TV. There's also a new host who knows very well this world of romance from having to catch those who are frontin' and who will later find out if the singles' exes are their next. And there is an facet that, during the winter holidays that just past, will bring an element of recent Challenge seasons and the biggest global sports events to this show: the fact that love can be from anywhere on this planet.

It has been a while since we got to say this: after the break, DCBLOG offers you our very first look at the return engagement of MTV's Are You The One?, as Season 9 takes up residency on Paramount+ with our very first Global season of the social love experiment. And at last, welcome back lovebirds...