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| Twitter @CJKoegel |
The sight of seeing players collide head-on in a tight hallway in a nighttime setting with spots in the game up for grabs is a quintessential Challenge elimination game, and it is the reason why I watch The Challenge nowadays after this very elimination took place during the rookie-laden Battle of the Seasons seven years ago, where one of its two combatants is the star of this post. But you'd be crazy if this blogger had to write about it here again, for which the post we are featuring the man who succumbed to the season's eventual champion that night is helping to spread something that is needed more than ever during times like these where negativity seems to be everywhere.
There is one day every year that those who fall in love, those who are in love and those who wish they were in love look forward to more than any of the 364 other days on the calendar: February 14th. The Valentine's Day holiday is classified as the Feast of Saint Valentine, the 3rd century Roman saint who was commemorated in Christianity on this date and during the High Middle Ages from the year 1000 to 1250 A.D., was associated with courtly love.
But in modern times, Valentine's Day is certainly much more than just a day to celebrate him, as it has emerged as a celebration in religious, cultural and commercial circles of romance, romantic love and everything related to hearts everywhere. When it was celebrated on that Thursday this past February, Americans sent over 200 million Valentine's Day cards -- hundreds of millions more among the school kids, and over $18 billion was spent on chocolates, roses, candy and all things related to love for its biggest holiday... ranking alongside Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter in the most popular holidays from an economic point of view. And of course, Valentine's Day was everywhere you went on social media as couples announced engagements and others posted pictures of their significant others on a day where love is on everyone's mind.
It was on Christmas morning last year that Real World Cancun alum and two-time Challenge competitor C.J. Koegel revealed on Instagram that he and girlfriend, fellow fitness model Bree Branker, that they got engaged thanks to his puppy asking the magic question on his behalf to her. And it came a few short months after he went out to Los Angeles to fulfill a prestigious item on his to-do list: go see The Ellen Degeneres Show, and got to dance in front of America once again with the show's in-house resident DJ Twitch.
The synopsis on Ellen's YouTube channel reads, "For 16 incredible, eventful and sometimes life-changing seasons, Ellen has been making audiences laugh all over the world with her signature brand of humor and her powerful message of kindness. There's nobody better at making you laugh and brightening your day. You never know what funny can do!" It's with that message in mind that, on Valentine's Day this year, C.J. decided to spread that message of love in a way that is uniquely New York and rings true during an intense time in our country.
In the video embedded below, he decided to brave the upper 30-degree cold of the Big Apple by donning a Cupid outfit and boxers with the name of his favorite daytime talk show host and helping to radiate Ellen's message of kindness and love all over a city that's tough on the outside but welcoming on the inside. As he goes to Central Park, Times Square, the city's coffee shops and subways and even sending hope to the city's homeless, the video's description reads, "Everyone deserves love and smiles, especially on Valentine's Day! Roaming around NYC handing out roses to everyone I felt would bring smiles to people's faces! Be kind to one another! Happy Valentine's Day!"
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