DC ExtraTime: Real World/The Challenge Meets The Rookie

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

On last summer's third installment of Ex On The Beach, for us MTV fans most of our attention was on a slew of alumni from The Challenge, Real World and Are You The One (the "Trifecta" as we call it here), as well as the #Melena showmance from Big Brother and the queen of Making The Band, Aubrey O'Day. But much of the focus in that Malibu mansion was on someone else.

The cast of The Rookie. (Credit: ABC)

Multi-talented entertainer Cameron Armstrong, who first made waves on the 2017 music competition series Boy Band, found himself juggling exes Alexis and Ariana, and his complicated relationships with the both of them was a talking point in last year's summer of love. When he was the first one eliminated on the show that eventually produced the group In Real Life (who have since disbanded as its members are now pursuing solo careers), Cameron turned his attention to acting. And on the same network that aired his debut on national television, he played a small role of a nurse at a local hospital on the ABC police drama The Rookie, which centers around 45-year-old John Nolan (played by Nathan Fillion) in his first year serving in a cop in the Los Angeles Police Department, a far cry from being a former contractor in Pennsylvania.

In its second season and accompanying the very first timeslot occupied by Grey's Anatomy (10PM on Sunday nights on ABC), The Rookie has had some notable guest stars, including Shark Tank master Mark Cuban, Ali Larter, members of the L.A. Rams, Seth Green and Jeremy Davies. And earlier this month, Wild N' Out & Guy Code alum and Ariana Grande's ex Pete Davidson played the role of Nathan's half-brother who he met after the death of their dad, just after the release of his first comedy special for Netflix and the movie Big Time Adolescence on Hulu.

Someone else who's familiar to at least some in the MTV community has also made an appearance on Season 2 of The Rookie, and for this one you have to go all the way back a decade to find someone who almost pulled out one of the most impossible feats you can ever possibly do on The Challenge, as we await the new season of Total Madness to take shape in five days from now.