DC ExtraTime: Someone You Should Know - The Biggest MTV Fan of All

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

All the way back in summer 1999 when I watched The Real World Hawaii, it marked the first season of an MTV series that I watched with the kind of vested interest I do for other series now. It has been quite a past two decades of getting to follow on a regular basis television's most-talked about reality programming and those who have graced our screens either for a brief time or for as long as a handful of those who've been at this as long as I have followed this world. And in the decade of the 2010's, the relationship I've had with this section of the genre has only gotten stronger as I've only gotten up there in age.
   On a summer's night in June of 2012, I signed on Twitter on the night of a most relaxed season ever of Real World debuting down in the Virgin Islands, which gave me the opportunity to directly interact with the same people who I get to watch each week. Less than a year later, I started up this very site and ultimately made this passion of MTV Reality my principal beat - which has since become the standard bearer in the written part in covering the shows you love to watch and discuss, with all the social reaction to the big moments, compelling original storytelling and everything else we offer.

It was eight years ago that I began befriending just about every single castmate who's been on our screens on the dozens of shows that's emerged onto the scene, starting with that RW St. Thomas season, followed by the first of the modern-day seasons of The Challenge that I've watched live. And in a way, these cast members feel like they're the high school friends you never had but wish you gotten to know, and we've gotten to know them very well. But I've also been able to get to know new people who share this passion of watching not just those two shows, but also Are You The One, Ex On The Beach, the Shore franchise, Siesta Key and many others along the way.
   They are those who I have never met personally, but thanks to this world have become good friends of mine through this thing call social media and who share a passion for the shows that get us talking - too many of which to mention. And occasionally, we've showcased those who are not cast members or those from pop culture who we've featured regularly, but who are those who are touched by the people and shows they get to worship now on a daily basis in this social media age. There's the several posts we've done on the MTV-inspired Caucus Challenge on YouTube, or the young cancer survivor & soccer goalkeeper who got to meet her favorite Challenger in a now 7-time champ.

But there is no fan who is more devoted to this part of cable entertainment than one who, if the Guinness Book of World Records decided to add the title of "Meeting the Most MTV Personalities" to their large library of incredible feats, the subject of this post would not only be the first person to achieve that title but will likely keep that mark for a very long time. And in this installment of Someone You Should Know, we'd like you to meet the Biggest MTV Fan of All.

DC ExtraTime: A Team MTV Mother's Day 2020

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Every second Sunday of May, we all get to enjoy that one day of the year where we get to honor the most important lady in our lives. But this year, Mother's Day took place under unusual circumstances than what we are used to here in this springtime: most restaurants in this country remain under order to just provide takeout options as we're in month #3 of the COVID quarantine, and that meant just having that customary Sunday lunch and brunch at home.

But this did not deter much from the annual tradition of all of us getting to celebrate our moms... and in the case of yours truly, me, my mom & our family spent the weekend at our sister's out of town, herself a mommy to two kids. But of course, it's likely you scrolled through your social media feed last Sunday to find endless pictures of your family, friends and those celebrities & athletes you worship sharing their moments with their moms... and Team MTV isn't alone in this category.

Mother's Day 2020 marked the first ones for those like Taylor, Amanda and Faith, as well as a Sunday of celebration for other fellow moms too many to mention who've been on The Challenge, The Real World, Are You The One, Ex On The Beach and elsewhere. And of course, we can't forget about the stars of the Teen Mom universe in the dozens who are part of that franchise, for which Taylor is now part of in the universe surrounding Cheyenne and Cory in the OG iteration.

In short order, these ladies will welcome new members to their sorority when Melissa Reeves of The Challenge & EOTB UK and Alex's Siesta Key girlfriend Alyssa welcome their new kids. And on Mother's Day last Sunday, one other Challenger had the chance to hold something a special version of something's that now a tradition on the road to motherhood... and three others from the love side of MTV Reality chose this day to announce their entry into this big challenge that awaits them.

DC ExtraTime: Three Challengers, Three Babies

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

There has been an influx of news in the MTV Reality community lately with some of your favorite Challengers, and the King of Siesta Key, announcing their entries into parenthood, headlined by Taylor Selfridge welcoming her first kid and Cory Wharton becoming daddy to two girls in addition to Ryder with Cheyenne Floyd. The year of 2020 will sure see us make many congratulatory words to new parents in Team MTV in the coming year, and the first of those came last Friday, adding to a month that's certainly worth a million in the minds of the resident pop-off queen...

Last month, Are You The One? Season 3 alum and six-time Challenger Amanda Garcia held a baby shower for her new kid that also doubled as an engagement party when her boyfriend popped the question and the ring. And last Friday, they welcomed a 6 lbs, 13 oz. baby boy named Av Anthony Reinhardt, for which he captioned on Instagram, "Our family has grown by two feet 👣💙 He’s sooo perfect, thank you babe for giving me the best gift EVER!! #blessed #priceless #familyfirst." And the new baby mom wrote, "✨l o v e a t f i r s t s i g h t ✨."

Amanda's fellow MTV'ers got to send their congrats to the third member of the renowned AYTO3 Ohana to become a parent, with Hunter writing, "So beautiful!!!!!!! Congrats!", while her partner on War of the Worlds, Josh saying, "God bless 🙏🏽❤️". Stacey from AYTO 3 wrote, "I’m so obsessed with him already 😭❤️❤️❤️❤️. You were made to be a mommy !!! So proud of you," while fellow mom Cheyenne added, "Omg I’m obsessed 😍 😍 SO PROUD OF YOU SISTER!!"  And another one wrote, "Ah he is sooo adorable ! You did it sister!! Sending you soo much love and light on this special day!" -- and speaking of that one...

DC ExtraTime: Someone You Should Know - JoJo

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

On the post-Christmas Thursday last year, those of us who identify themselves as part of Challenge Nation were treated to a night to remember: two of those who've competed on past seasons of the fifth major pro sport took their talents to two different MTV shows in the aftermath of the two seasons of War of the Worlds. In the first hour, WOTW1 competitor Gus Symrios was joined in his Floribama Shore house by a fellow rookie from this past spring, Mattie Lynn Breaux, as the house picked up the pieces after his blowup with one-time bromance partner Jeremiah Buoni.
   And in the second half, the fourth American season of Ex On The Beach, and its winter-themed Peak of Love, provided us with a belated Christmas gift. Challenge alums Nicole Zanatta and Marlon Williams were called to join host Romeo Miller to see "Whose Ex is Next?" In came an ex of his from a few years earlier, Jemmye Carroll from The Real World: Back to New Orleans and a veteran of seven seasons of the fifth major pro sport. They had to face the music of going into the Sauna of Secrets to find out about the night he ghosted her - the reason for them being exes.

This winter of 2020 marks ten years since Jem packed up her clothes & heels, and traveled (via train, or all things) from her childhood home of Starkville, MS to New Orleans to film Season 24 in the Big Easy - the first of what is now nine seasons of MTV Reality programming that she has done. And it was exactly a decade ago tonight (as this post publishes on Friday, February 7th) that she and her castmates were on Bourbon Street to celebrate the Saints' stirring Super Bowl win, five years after the heart-wrenching experience that was Hurricane Katrina.
   It was also there in New Orleans that she met her longtime boyfriend, the late Ryan Knight, and it was only four years later on Thanksgiving that she and her MTV family were heartbroken by his untimely passing. It came only 13 days after the death of Challenge legend Diem Brown, before she and him competed on their last seasons of The Challenge on Battle of the Exes 2, for which he and Jem were partners more than two years after they broke up, and who also competed together on Rivals II and their first Challenge, Battle of the Seasons 2.

We'll be saving telling the story of Jemmye & Knight for another day... but instead, we'd like to focus the spotlight on someone well known who she's gotten to cross paths for this installment of Someone You Should Know. And it was sixteen years ago that the person who she met up with not long ago was one of the biggest pop stars on earth... and a few weeks ago, she had a night she has never had before in her musical career, as JoJo had her finest hour in the musical spotlight as she returned to the fore to pick up the most coveted piece of gold in the American music industry.

DC ExtraTime 'Gram Scan: An MVP, Lovers, and A Connection

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

When it comes to the original aspect of our DCBLOG MTV coverage, there are varying lengths to the unique part of our wide-ranging palette of content known as ExtraTime. It can be a well-told story involving memorable moments from the shows you love, or offering a look at the fascinating people who are the stars of it all. And there's the fun part: people from around the world, from pop culture and newsmakers who get to meet these people.

For this latest 'Gram scan: several items of note worthy enough to have its own post -- two of them involve something that took place over the weekend down in Miami at American sports' biggest bash, and a possible next future Challenge alliance all formed by the feeling that love knows no boundaries.

  MEET THE MVP  

On Sunday night, Super Bowl LIV pitted the Kansas City Chiefs against the San Francisco 49ers in what was billed as a matchup between a star quarterback on the rise and a franchise that hasn't been to the final game of the NFL season in 50 years, against a complete team who overcame a tough period of mediocrity to become a power again. And for the first three quarters, it was a performance by the NFC champions, QB Jimmy Garoppolo and its defense, who looked poised to become the third team to win six Lombardi Trophies.

But in the 4th quarter with the Niners holding a 20-10 lead, it was a whole different story: Texas Tech alum Patrick Mahomes, who had a stellar first season in the starting job the previous season (5,000+ passing yards and 50 TD's in 2018) and won the league MVP award, and his Chiefs turned it on when it mattered most: being behind by double digits in the postseason as it was in their two AFC playoff games at home in Arrowhead Stadium. With nine minutes left, Mahomes led two lengthy drives with key long completions to Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins, and touchdown passes to Travis Kelce and Damien Williams to put KC ahead and ultimately win, 31-20 after 21 unanswered points.

His 26-for-42, 286 yard night, which also included a rushing touchdown in the first half, was enough for Mahomes to be named the youngest player to ever win Super Bowl MVP at 24 years & 138 days. Before this season, he appeared on the cover of the Madden NFL 20 video game... usually a sign of bad things to come, but after a small knee injury he became the first to win a Super Bowl after that preseason designation in extinguishing the Madden Cover Curse, as KC became the first to come back from 10 down three times in January & February to hoist football's biggest prize.

IG @TalkToMeToya

Despite the obvious fact by my social media avatars of this blogger & my family rooting for the Niners, we brought up Patrick up on this site for the mere fact that someone from The Challenge got to meet up with the NFL's new king. LaToya Jackson first appeared on Real World St. Thomas in 2012, and then appeared on three Challenge seasons: Free Agents, Invasion of the Champions, and on XXX: Dirty 30. And she's one of the most recent members of the MTV Reality community to become a new parent, as the new mommy welcomed her first kid back in December.

'Toya posted a picture on Instagram of her and Patrick posing for the camera when they met up in Orlando at the 2019 Pro Bowl, a consolation prize after his Chiefs fell short to Tom Brady and the Patriots in the 2018 AFC Championship at home in OT. She captioned, "It was just last year that we had no idea you would be a SuperBowl Champ this year🏆🏈 💪🏽👏🏽 #patrickmahomes #kansascity #superbowlchamps." And Vegas oddsmakers have the Chiefs as morning line favorites to repeat, which is good news to Challenge king Wes and the rest who are part of the Kingdom.

And along with this, Twitter posts were discovered of something the new king of the NFL had in mind: for decades it's always been a tradition for those who win the Super Bowl to appear in a commercial by Disney Parks that would ask, "You've just won the Super Bowl. What are you gonna do next?" Patrick envisioned a trip to Disney World after the Ravens' SB XLVII victory (also over the 49ers) just seven years ago, and he rode a float yesterday up the way in Orlando realizing that dream he had in 140 characters or less, just as National Anthem performer Demi Lovato had of one day doing the Star Spangled Banner before the Super Bowl.

I bet it feels amazing to be the quarterback who says "I'm going to Disney World" after winning the Super Bowl #Qbs

— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) February 6, 2013

DC ExtraTime: Taylor & Cory - Baby Gender Reveal Time!

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Pic Credit: MTV/Us Weekly

As we enter the fourth decade of this wonderful MTV Reality story and the jaw-dropping moments it continues to provide us with, we often lose sight of the fact that the stars of the shows you love and who give us the greatest shows on TV are also human. Thanks to social media, we're given a daily pass into who they are when the cameras are not rolling, and to prove for a bit that they are regular people like us. And two of the things that gives proof to this truth are two signs that we are getting old: parenthood and settling down with that significant other.

Every four to six years or so, there seems to be a transition of sorts when it comes to The Challenge: unless you're a big-name veteran who will get invited to do these shows just as long as the show is still airing, those who we've enjoyed watching during the most recent seasons decide that it's time to step away for kids and rings. Are You The One alum and 6-time Challenger Amanda Garcia is preparing to welcome her first kid next month, and earlier this month her Denver barber boyfriend successfully proposed to her at their baby shower. And during this past long holiday weekend came another MTV-related baby event: this time with someone who the Popoff Queen competed alongside with on five Challenge seasons.

At this time six years ago, Cory Wharton was plowing along with his first month in The Real World house with no idea that his ex would come for a visit to him and the seven strangers in the Bay Area, who also brought up a subject that he would eventually have to deal with not once, but twice. He had no idea that it would also be the start to an eventful MTV career: one that not only has brought him to six Challenges, but also to a most unlikely destination of parenthood and a spot on MTV's most tabloid-friendly franchise. And it was Cory being part of the first U.S. class of its most globally traveled show that where he met his current girlfriend Taylor Selfridge, and who now are awaiting their latest chapter of where his previous MTV girlfriend Cheyenne Floyd went to: baby life. And this past weekend, they got to reveal the gender of what will now be his second kid.

DC ExtraTime: Another One for Mr. MTV Baby Daddy

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Megan Thompson/MTV for Us Weekly

On the pre-Christmas weekend in December 2017 -- in between the first $1 million season of The Challenge and the start of the ensuing invasion by the British and beyond, a tremor jolted the MTV landscape from, fittingly enough, earthquake country in Los Angeles. There on a winter's Saturday night - and while some of his fellow Challengers were partying in Chicago prior to the debut of Vendettas, Cory Wharton returned from a few months' hiatus from social media of filming that Challenge and Season 1 of Ex On The Beach back to back to announce something that happened to him while he was away on his extended fall sojourn.

There, Cory announced in a picture posted on Twitter, Instagram and similarly with someone he met on a past series, that he was the father of the baby of Are You The One? Season 3 alum and Rivals III finalist Cheyenne Floyd, Ryder K., who was six months old when the news was made public for the first time. For someone who started his MTV career on The Real World in 2014, competed on 5 Challenge seasons, appeared on the first EOTB USA season, and for her on what is the most successful alumni class of her original series, they were chosen to replace Farrah Abraham on Teen Mom OG nearly a year after that revelation... in part bringing the rest of the MTV fandom to a new frontier, and also to bring light to a health condition Ryder was diagnosed with upon his birth.

Of everything that went down on his first six MTV shows, Cory becoming a dad became his biggest moment yet - much bigger than being part of the next generation of Challengers and a twist that rocked the Bay Area. But perhaps, no one was expecting the news that emerged last week of the same thing happening once again: Cory meeting a girl on an MTV series and them getting knocked up... though this scenario of him getting a girl pregnant has become old hat - not just with what he's had with Cheyenne, but past instances before and during his time in San Francisco on Ex-Plosion.

For what he has this time around, the girl is not just an AYTO alum: it's the one Cory met on that maiden Ex On The Beach voyage last year: Taylor Selfridge. And now, the man who was minted with a tattoo that Cheyenne dubbed him "Mr. MTV" is about to become a daddy to two kids.

DC ExtraTime: AYTO Falls In Love with Cardi B

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Often times, there are moments in the MTV spectrum that are so amazing, so startling and incredible that it even being left on the cutting room floor would leave us dazed & confused. Remember those two fights Are You The One’s original firecracker Simone Kelly had on The Challenge that never got aired in an actual episode? Or the incident involving Amanda and the boys during War of the Worlds that brought the show negative publicity & fueled more viewers to come along and watch? Or so many other moments that got us talking?

Last month, the 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards had one of THOSE moments, and it had shades of what happened with Kanye West crashing Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the Video Music Awards a decade earlier. A person who was mad that his show didn't win an award they were nominated for supposedly jumped on stage and did the Kanye trick of speaking for a few moments before being ejected from the event. Not only did it not make air out of respect for the winners, it also made those at 1515 Broadway cringe the Sunday morning after when they found that it was Johnny Bananas of Challenge fame who pulled the trick.

That unseen moment that took place while this blogger took a sojourn from the site to win $2,000 at the slots while seeing his cousin get married in Reno offers the context to the latest story of a high-profile celebrity currently in the headlines getting to meet up with a member of the MTV Reality family. And of all the stars who make up an official language of the genre that's brought a generation together for decades, perhaps there is no bigger star in the field of female hip-hop than the most famous alum of the show that pulled off an upset of sorts at one of summer's biggest parties, and the one who had everyone leaving their jaws dropped last week when she dropped her latest music video amidst the latest episode of the biggest star in the hip-hop world right now: Cardi B.

DC ExtraTime: The Greek Freak - An MTV Reality Fan?

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

In the six years DCBLOG has covered MTV Reality, we've often gone beyond the borders of the shows you love by putting them and the people who star in them in context with this world and pop culture at large outside the realms of our screens. The ExtraTime bits that appear around our episode coverage has introduced you to people that might not guest-star on the episodes each week, but are linked in some way to reality TV's most-talked about shows. This one is no exception, though we have plenty of people for us to meet here during this winter cycle, and it has to do with the favorite sport of both my family and this blogger (outside of the fifth major pro sport, of course).

Last week, the National Basketball Association held the 68th annual renewal of its mid-winter night's classic, the NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte, NC. As in past years, players were voted on by the fans and their peers for who would represent the Eastern and Western Conferences in front of a worldwide audience. Plus, in recognition of their service to the game, retiring Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade and 20-year Dallas Mavericks vet Dirk Nowitzki were given special exemptions to this year's game.
   But there was a catch: those who were the top votegetters in their respective conferences would be the captains of teams that bear their name... a departure from the traditional East vs. West matchup. And while LeBron James was far and away the biggest draw in the West after his internet-breaking move to the Lakers during a most-eventful offseason last summer, the race to see who would be top dog in the East became more like a free-for-all among the big names there than anything else.

In the end, it was Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks who netted the most votes of a conference that has to play second fiddle to their western counterparts, and who's on a team that boasts the best record in the Association... all in spite of the Lakers, Warriors, Rockets and the like garnering the biggest buzz by far of NBA fans everywhere. The "Greek Freak" - named for him being born in Greece and having Nigerian roots, stands nearly 7 feet tall and has become the face of the Bucks franchise since coming to America from a stint in the lower tiers of Greek ball.
   Giannis has enjoyed a steady rise since his 2013-14 rookie season, including becoming the first player in NBA history to notch top-20 rankings in total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in a regular season in 2017 - earning him Most Improved Player honors. Thanks to LeBron's second departure from Cleveland (this time having given his city that historic 2016 title in an epic comeback), he became captain of his own All-Star team - his third selection, and in mirroring what has happened in the NFL and NHL in recent years, he and LeBron had the chance to pick their own teams in a draft that was aired as part of a TNT Thursday doubleheader last month.

Besides the two headliners and the two legends, the players that were up for being drafted included a Murderer's Row of Western All-Stars: Stephen Curry, James Harden, Paul George, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Klay Thompson and Anthony Davis. And the East offered Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid, hometown representative Kemba Walker, Blake Griffin, Ben Simmons, and Kyle Lowry. Them and others were placed in a draft pool, as LeBron and Giannis selected backyard style their picks for their mixed East/West All-Star teams.
   Team LeBron saw Durant, Kawhi, Harden and Kyrie join him as starters and having Wade on the same team one more time in igniting past memories of that 2016 title with Irving, Olympic gold with JD, and those first two titles of his career with Flash while playing on South Beach. Team Giannis saw him partner with Embiid, PG13 on the same starting lineup and became the local favorite of the Charlotte crowd in having Hornets player Walker (a carryover from when the Charlotte franchise was called the Bobcats before the Hornets name and its related heritage returned from a brief sojourn in New Orleans) and Carolina native Steph on the same starting lineup.

In the last game before the week-long's All-Star winter break, Antetokounmpo and his Bucks faced the Indiana Pacers, in the hometown of one of the most passionate basketball fans this blogger knows, Hayden Weaver from Are You The One? Season 5. The Bucks star netted a triple-double of 33 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists in a 106-97 win on the road, before he led his All-Star team to what would be a close game for most of the way but ended in a 178-164 Team LeBron win. Of course as is always the case in All-Star Games like this, offense would dominate the night, where Durant was the MVP and Giannis was the top scorer with 38 points.
   In the postgame presser with the media in Indy, Giannis shared with everyone his plans for the day before traveling down from the Midwest to the Queen City. There, he told the press of just having the usual day off of getting to sleep in, the typical morning routine and to get his hair all fixed before the Association's biggest event. And it's not just the big game on Sunday and the preparations of playing in that showcase: there's all of obligations that come with being an all-star, such as meeting the media, appearing at events around Charlotte (where a friend of this blogger, Jawad Ahmed @SJMedd went to the All-Star Jam Session and watched Inside the NBA live), and everything else.

But absolutely no one, not even those who avidly follow basketball like Hayden and his fellow Season 5 castmate Derrick Henry (who himself is a college hoops veteran who's now become an in-demand MTV star himself post-AYTO), could expect that something else would be part of the several days' All-Star pregaming for Giannis that they are very familiar with.

"So, this is what I am going to do: I'm gonna go back home tonight. I'm gonna sleep all day tomorrow, wake up, get some breakfast, get a show and watch some MTV. I like some drama shows -- Kardashians, Ex On The Beach, Are You The One, The Challenge. Stuff like that... I like drama."

              - GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO

"I'm gonna go home and sleep all day tomorrow, wake up and get some breakfast and watch some MTV. The next day I'm gonna get some breakfast and get a haircut and look handsome." 😂😂😂@Giannis_An34 on his plans before #NBAAllStar: pic.twitter.com/0jM4HofbXm

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) February 14, 2019

That quote of him giving a shoutout to The Challenge, AYTO and Ex On The Beach, as well as a stablemate in the Bunim-Murray family in The Kardasihians franchise (weeks before the cheating scandal that's just erupted involving family friend Jordyn Woods) was also shown on ESPN's SportsCenter as well as on the Bucks' regional TV home Fox Sports Net Wisconsin. It instantly caught the attention of Team MTV on social media... none more so than Mr. Hayden himself:

So Giannis is a fan of @AREUTHE1 @ExOnTheBeach and @ChallengeMTV so I’m ordering his jersey @Giannis_An34 pic.twitter.com/VIrp9GMabj

— Hayden Weaver (@HaydenPWeaver) February 14, 2019

The 'Pulse diaries that showcase the social media interaction to every episode of The Challenge, Are You The One?, Ex On The Beach and others, often features posts from those who are not everyday fanatics but well-knowns who somehow get themselves interested. Generally, those featured are journalists who work on the entertainment beat and sports reporters who watch the fifth major pro sport while also fixed on other athletic interests before doing the sports segment on the late news... But there are those celebs and athletes who even become as obsessed as we are to MTV Reality... Giannis is the latest to call himself an MTV fan. That's pretty rad, thank you.

- I AM DC
#DCBLOG

DC ExtraTime: Someone You Should Know - Big Brother's Swayleigh

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Chris "Swaggy C" Williams & Bayleigh Dayton,
with BB host Julie Chen (center; from CBS)

As we enter the Christmas portion of what is referred to in the social media verse as "cuffing season," love is in the air for reality TV fans. A new season of Ex On The Beach begins in a matter of hours from now with an Are You The One? love triangle and reality villain Chad Johnson being part of this season's cast of singles. Former NFL receiver Colton Underwood is waiting in the wings as the next leading man on The Bachelor, while one of the most controversial reality shows ever created, Temptation Island, will return in the new year.

Finding a couple who met on a reality show and them making it work after the cameras turn off is about as rare as the matchmaking process that those who follow AYTO as much as this site does can attest. But when true love is found, everyone has reason to celebrate: Amber & Ethan Diamond are the epitome of relationship goals to fans who handicap who are perfect matches while their original show airs... and they're one of a handful of those who have made love work in the long run among couples that met on a reality television series.

For 2018's romantic reality success story, the couple of our focus here met inside the most scrutinized summer house in this country: dozens of cameras and millions of eyeballs fixed on every move, televised and edited to viewers every year. One was a representative from the Midwest in an event ExtraTime focused on back on Tuesday, while the other is (like just about everyone in this blogger's family) an avid basketball enthusiast who shares a nickname as one of the NBA's most celebrated non-megastars. Their story of them meeting in the house and everything that occurred since has been well documented, and it's what happened when they left the house that is sure to be one of 2018's biggest reality TV moments.

And with the help of another couple who also met on reality TV and are still together a year later which they met last week, here's our chance to introduce you to Someone You Should Know: the couple from Big Brother 20 known simply as #Swayleigh.

DC ExtraTime: Ice Ice Baby

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

This Thursday night, MTV will unleash the sequel to its American version of the channel's global phenomenon, Ex On The Beach, as another set of MTV and non-MTV reality stars will take up residency for what they think will be a memorable vacation. That is, until the news will get to them that those who will be joining them in Malibu, California are people from their past who they thought they have kissed goodbye forever and are back for revenge & a second chance. And this season will debut during the merriest time of all, and five days before Christmas.

It is the holiday season, and we are in the midst of what is by far the most lucrative season for both consumers and retailers... that means, money, money, money for the retailers and buyers. But imagine, what if you were given the opportunity to win $10,000? Cool, you might say almost 99% of the time especially with how pressed for time we are right now. But in this instance, there's a catch to this: you have to face your fears to win valuable spending money to buy those last-minute Christmas gifts with not many shopping days left until Santa Claus delivers those gifts under the tree coming the morning of December 25th.

For this story, it involves the man who’s arguably the most notorious man in all of YouTube: one-half of a set of brothers who have generated millions of followers and dollars, and even greater buzz both positively and negatively. The other person of our focus was part of the only cast in history of her original show to not win money, was part of the inaugural class of singles of the newest member of MTV's reality schedule and has more exes of those who’ve been on these shows than your usual sweetheart next door. And the challenge they are facing is having to go into a pool usually used in the summer that's freezing cold, with the last person standing winning that pile of Benjamins.

So, what happens when these two worlds collide all for the sake of Internet glory? This is what happens when they answer the question, "What would you do for Ten Grand?" The answer - three words: "Ice, Ice Baby."

​

The Look Ahead: Ex On The Beach USA - Season 2

DISCLAIMER: Contains Potential Spoilers, Please Read with Caution Below.

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

So, hope you all got to enjoy this week's episodes of Are You The One?, The Challenge, Floribama Shore and the season premiere of Teen Mom OG as MTV alums Cheyenne & Cory join that family. DCBLOG will have all of that coming up for you here starting tomorrow as we usher in the month of October in grand fashion... but first, something special to begin this week's blog wave.

If you're a TV nut, then you are surely like that kid on Christmas rejoicing to your favorite shows returning for the fall, as well as wrapping your arms around new ones too. For us here - and for now, our focus is on a threesome... an MTV Reality threesome that is, with the first two shows headed into their business half of the season, and Floribama to soon wrap up its summer. And now, a lot of you are now getting to watching Teen Mom for the first time as those who we loved on Rivals III now join Maci, Catelynn, Amber and fellow new mom Bristol Palin to the show.

   Something we sometimes do here is to take a peek ahead, look into the crystal ball and find out what the future holds for a show of interest on here. We don't do it as much as those of you who talk about it among yourselves and on other sites do, but when it's necessary we'll have a first opportunity to scratch the surface a little bit on it before it goes out to everyone else when the time comes. That's what we'll be doing on here as, now, we'll have this Look Ahead to something that will be keeping our eye out for, and will of course be covering it wall to wall once we arrive there.

   Last time out here - and as this is posted on Mean Girls Day of October 3rd, we discussed MTV's reentry into celeb-reality television with Lohan Beach House, as Lindsay Lohan will be at the helm of a new and fabulous European resort in the Greek islands... she's been in the news lately with her bad behavior once again taking over. And one of those who has been reportedly been cast to be part of that new show that debuts in early 2019 is someone who, if you're a Challenge & Real World fan, is familiar... check that out when you can and to give you a clue about that: if you watched the second season premiere of Jersey Shore Family Vacation and the guests who came to Ronnie's baby shower you know what we mean.

For the show that received the ultra-coveted spot of airing after the first rendezvous to Miami this past spring, Ex On The Beach introduced America to something that's been keeping those in Europe and overseas on their toes of hot girls and guys having to go through absolute hell seeing the past come back to bite them in the tush. It ushered in a new way for a lot of those who loathe romantic reality shows to get a chance to see your favorite reality stars and their exes make a vacation feel like they wanted to go back home and not want to live with the ones they thought they buried in the past coming back to haunt them like Halloween ghosts.

   The show rode that post Jersey Shore-wave to be MTV's highest-rated totally new series in several years, and helped fuel the channel's reality re-embrace. Season 2 of Ex On The Beach is now filming down in Malibu as it's slated to drop during the winter and it will definitely warm us all up with those sights of summer during the season of snow. Obviously, the sequel will have much to live up to after what we saw when Cory, Alicia, Paulie, Angela and the rest of those who made up that first cast had to go through in Hawaii.

   For what we have ahead of us for Season 2, there will be a new group of those who will find themselves in that spot of having to ask themselves, "Whose Ex Is Next?" And we'll discuss who will be in that position after the jump... so again, get ready for some tea around the hotstove after dark.