DC ExtraTime: Kailah and the Bird - A Transatlantic Perfect Match

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB
    Estimated Reading Time: 19 Mins

Instagram @SamRobertBird

Say whatever you can about this year of 2020, and you can think of all the twists & turns that it has brought us... and obviously there's been a lot of tough headlines to take and just as much negative news that we can consume in a whole decade filling up this first year of the third decade of this century. But when it comes to the world of MTV Reality that we cover on here, then it's been quite the first nine months.

When we look back on 2020 when we finally get to kick this year to the curb once the New Year's weekend rolls around in less than three months' time, MTV fans can look to how The Challenge is finally getting the much needed attention it deserves. The fact that the most recent season, Total Madness, did so well in giving us a weekly 90-minute reprieve from this imperfect world and garnered so much buzz speaks to how loyal you are to the fifth major pro sport. And now that the modern era of this show has joined a newly-expanded lineup of offerings on CBS All-Access and Pluto TV, more & more viewers are discovering this thing we call the fifth major pro sport.

The success of this franchise is in no small part due to the many people who have competed either in just one episode in their lone season, twenty of them as our now 7-time champion has, or the twenty-five that host TJ Lavin has been at the helm. And those who have been on The Challenge over the years have made plenty of headlines in all sorts as the media have joined with you the fans to rave about how good this show is. And we've made it a point here to mark every milestone they achieve when the cameras aren't rolling: pregnancies, cameos on other programs outside MTV, and most particularly proposals -- and there's been plenty of those in the past 12 months alone as those who we've enjoyed their company are now onto bigger & better things.

And just two weeks ago today came the latest one: a Florida girl who's been a key Challenge face the past few years, started out on The Real World and made her mark in one's celebrity territory became the latest to say "yes" to a proposal. The man who got down on one knee and who popped out an engagement ring in front of her while on a European vacation also appeared on MTV in the past year as part of a romance that was meant for the British tabloids surrounding its biggest reality series. And together, Kailah Casillas & Sam Bird are now officially A Transatlantic Perfect Match.