DC ExtraTime: Say Hello to Baby Nichols and Baby Christie

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

If there's some sort of silver-lined serendipity to the last 20 months we've had to go through, it's that there's been a big boom in the number of babies being welcomed into our world. If you're reading this, it's likely that you, a family member, a friend from high school, a fellow co-worker or an acquaintance has given birth to a young boy or girl during the pandemic... and you are not alone. When this blogger gathered with family and friends for our aunt's 80th birthday during the summer, one of my cousins announced that he & his girlfriend were expecting weeks before they made that public on Facebook.

For the MTV Reality community in the past few years, so many of your favorites from The Challenge and other shows of interest to us on here have had their moments not just during this time at home, but even before mayhem took over our world. For four veterans on Spies, Lies & Allies, they are not only competing for themselves but also for their growing families back home, for which if they do go on and cash at season's end a cut of that cash would obviously go towards building a future college fund or buying a year's supply of diapers to help in their newfound challenge of being parents.

Of course, one of those still in the running for the $1 million is part of the inner circle that surrounds the one who represents not just The Challenge, but the rest of the MTV Reality family in the Teen Mom sorority just as Cheyenne Floyd's road to welcoming her second kid is being documented on the current season of the OG series. But this past month, three of those Cory Wharton has competed with on the show -- and in the case of one of them, lived in his Real World house -- got to join him in the category that a growing number are joining him in: being both a Challenger and raising kids.

DC ExtraTime: And Another One Joins Challenge Parenthood...

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

It was three years ago this winter & spring that MTV's The Challenge as we knew it shook things up a bit, as the draft list of prospective competitors expanded exponentially. What began with the addition of four Are You The One? originals to Battle of the Exes 2 and other alumni of love in the Truth Booth coming onto Bloodlines, Rivals III, Invasion of the Champions and Dirty 30 would lead up to just about every reality show participant being eligible to go into battle along Bananas, Cara Maria and others.

This month's launch of Paramount+ serves as the kingpin to the second corporate marriage of Viacom and CBS, but where the roots of their re-merger were planted when The Challenge invited along past houseguests from Big Brother to the show when Natalie Negrotti and Victor Arroyo (who will tie the knot soon enough with Season 18 champ Nicole Franzel) competed on Vendettas. MTV's other entry into romantic reality television bliss, Ex On The Beach, began the road to its American arrival when Joss Mooney, Rogan O'Connor, Melissa Reeves and Kayleigh Morris of the UK version, also suited up in Spain with three of them eventually making a final and the second becoming a champ.

Also on that plane in taking that short hop from the British Isles was a man from Newcastle in the Northwest of England, who was the first from the global Shore franchise to make his way to The Challenge, and represented the bridge of sorts between the return of the Jersey OG's and the arrival of the Floribama newbies to MTV. And it was almost from the get-go that Kyle Christie would get himself comfortable in Challenge Nation when he befriended Cara Maria en route to going to the Vendettas final and eventually becoming the enemy of her man Paulie Califiore on Final Reckoning and both War of the Worlds seasons. And you can't deny that he's made quite an impact on The Challenge: a second finals appearance on Total Madness, a few hookups and plenty of memorable one-liners, among others.

Kyle is still in the running for the $1 million, which translates in British pounds to just over £722,000 as the United Kingdom goes about life outside of the European Union. But you could say that, though he has just those two finals appearances and winning almost £15,000, he is already a winner just past the halfway point of Double Agents. That's because of the following announcement he made on Instagram last week...