DC ExtraTime: Tyranny Goes On A "Blind Date"

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

We are a few weeks into Season 4 of the American version of MTV's global dating franchise, Ex On The Beach, and for the first time in any variation of the series, the backdrop is not a sandy beach in a tropical paradise and its stars are not doing tanning beneath the sun in their swimwear. In time for "cuffing season," the New Zealand resort town of Queenstown is the venue for the franchise's first winter-themed season, Peak of Love... and so far, this winter playground has seen familiar MTV faces join some of reality TV's most well-known personalities -- two newbies from Britain -- for a winter break in the snow gone bad - at least for a few of them this early on in the winter.

It was at this time in December 2016 that the cast of Are You The One? Season 5 were anticipating the launch of their season. But while the entire cast (twenty-two in total, more than the usual number of 20) were interacting with us on social media ahead of their season, they also had to make sure to carefully hide the fact of the enigma that they've had to live with since they left the matchup patio in the Dominican Republic: the heartbreak of being AYTO's only cast to lost the game for not aligning the entire house with all the perfect matches that would win them love and money. But as it turns out, with a two-time Challenge finalist in Kam Williams, a baby coming for Taylor Selfridge and many other achievements since then, they've been able to move on past that infamous moment just fine.

The arrival to our shores of Ex On The Beach from the UK and overseas not only brought a new wave of competitors to The Challenge and a spot of premiering after the relaunch of Jersey Shore, it's also represented another chance at love for those who we've enjoyed on MTV. This very fact is most especially true for Taylor's AYTO5 cast with Derrick Henry (now a bonafide dating show star), Alicia Wright and Andre Siemers on the first season, and Shannon Duffy on Season 3 earlier this year.

Tyranny Todd is now the sixth person from her AYTO5 cast to get a second chance at romance on our MTV screens - and who we last saw her get into it with Alicia on the reunion after they lost $800 grand on national TV. But in a year where romantic reality programming has become a buzz word in the TV industry this year, you probably don't know that her trip to Ex On The Beach is actually her third time being on a reality dating show.

In the prelude to her trip up to the Peak, a few weeks before her MTV return Tyranny had a chance to go for love again on a series that actually predates most of the romantic love-fests we've been enjoying this year, and one that began its run when she was a kid growing up in Augusta, GA two decades ago. For the start of this tale, you have to go back to when to when dates among people who've never even met before became more just than a local activity.