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We at DCBLOG hope you're enjoying your long Memorial Day Weekend and the start of the summer season. Coming up, we'll have the 'Pulse of a drama-filled Episode 4 of The Challenge: Rivals III, as well as the explosive double finale of Real World: Go Big or Go Home. And in case you missed it, last night we posted our preview of Are You The One? Season 4.
First, our vision here is to compliment the various sites that cover the MTV Trifecta by focusing on the stories of the people of the shows I follow most - both those that bring a different side of these castmates and the types of stories that relate deeply to viewers. It's often the ladder that appeals to everyone, and that is the subject of this dedicated edition of ExtraTime.
For this longtime MTV fan, the past four years have no doubt been the best years of the 17 that I have followed this passion. When I joined Twitter in 2012, there was only one show that had followed with immense interest: that first love known as The Real World. By the end of 2012, it had grown to two when I was engaged in watching The Challenge for the very first time. More than year later, Are You The One? would join those two as the shows I follow the most and cover extensively here. And when the news got out of an unprecedented AYTO Challenge crossover, I coined this threesome the name MTV Trifecta. And though it's still tough for the purists to take in, it's no doubt a dream come true for myself and those fellow fans who watch all three shows of this crown.
But for me, my most notable moment of Bri came all the way back on her original season when she went revealed the trauma of a heartbreaking experience that so many people can relate to, and made her relatable to those who had experienced what she went through. We told you this story back during Season 2 of AYTO, but given what's happened in the past 7 days for her, and similar to what took place recently with Teen Mom's Kailyn Lowry, we felt it was appropriate to revisit it for the sake of those watching Briana for the first time and didn't catch her back in the fall of 2014.
In the early stages of that sophomore Are You The One? season, Briana & fellow San Diego resident Curtis had the potential of becoming a fan favorite couple along the lines of Shanley and Chris T., her fellow Rivals III castmates in rival partner Brandon & Goon Squad friend Christina, and Zak & Hannah from Season 3. We wrote at the time that Bri & Curtis had a solid chance of being the house's first perfect match if the house had its way, which as we found out would not be the case as we would later find out. But the moment that bonded them in the house came after they got to enjoy zip-lining when they were having lunch on their getaway date in week 2.
For a lady who, as her original AYTO bio stated, was a sophomore at San Diego St. (excuse us on the error there that she had finished her 2nd year as an Aztec and, as we mentioned at the top, has just recently graduated) and had plans to get her man, tie the knot and become a parent, the story she would reveal to him was from her being a young adult in high school, became pregnant and awaited the moment she had waited for. The end result of that nine-month journey is just about as heartbreaking as you can ever possibly get. Here's their conversation.
● BRIANA: "I'm super family-oriented. And when I have kids and when I have a family someday, I want to be able to give them everything I had because I was a really fortunate kid when I was growing up."
● CURTIS: "Yeah."
● BRIANA: "Because i'm so, like... I was going to say something else, but... (pause) I was supposed to be a mom. I got pregnant and then I had a miscarriage, like, it was the most traumatizing thing of my life. And I can't even explaining, like, the horrible feeling. And I felt like when I started dating someone else, I just didn't want them to feel like I was used already."
● CURTIS: "You shouldn't stress, you shouldn't feel judged. You shouldn't feel, like, already used. I appreciate you telling me that. (Interview:) I can't presume to imagine feelings that she carries. But she should never feel like that has decreased her value or made her like that much less desirable. It's nobody's place to judge."
That getaway date was the first time that Briana had revealed to anyone outside of her inner circle of family & friends - no less the national & worldwide platform of an MTV show - the misfortune of having suffered a miscarriage. The long awaited dream she had of having a kid and had waited so long to raise had suddenly been taken away from her in the most cruelest of ways. And this story was as heartbreaking as any we've had before or since on AYTO, going into the territory of those real-life stories we're accustomed to on Real World, and making Bri relatable to those who had going through that tragic scenario themselves.
After the episode aired that early October, and just before the annual observance of National Infant & Pregnancy Loss Appreciation Day, Briana took to Instagram to give advice to those can relate to her in having gone through this traumatic experience, and offered a message to those who can be lucky that they have the children that they have, as well as her family.
"Tonight's episode was definitely hard for me to watch considering it is the first time I very publicly talked about it.
• To all the couples who have had to go through a miscarriage: be there for each other, understand you may not deal with traumatic things the same, and the best you can do is be there for your significant other. (A very very huge thank you to my ex boyfriend for being there for me and for us during that hard period in our lives, you were my rock when I needed you. For that I can never repay you.)
• To the ladies who had to go through it alone: know you are strong enough to get through it. Know you will always be loved and know you will find someone who loves you for every part of your past.
• To the single moms and dads & to the couples who have children: hug your babies a little tighter tonight for me, what a gift you were blessed with. Be the best parents you can be and show unconditional love.
• & to everyone who has supported me through that time and who still continue to support my life decisions: I am not who I am today, without you."
And Curtis left this message for Bri in the comments below:
"Strength is beauty. @mtv_briana you are one of the strongest most beautiful people I know and I am so grateful to have met you and experienced this moment with you . Being raised by a single mother taught me a lot about how strong women can be . You can only confirm my thoughts thank you for that."
Curtis held his ground in being stoic and supportive of her after her admission. But unfortunately they would later be part of AYTO's first-ever "blackout" when their cast did not garner a single light beam at the match-up and we're not a scientifically-proven perfect match, and later he got matched up to another girl in the house which were proven to be a match and broke the two up, and ultimately got together with another of the housemates. And after a social spat shortly after that season, they've not spoken to each other since.
Nonetheless, Briana's miscarriage story is one of the most personal stories I've gotten to hear during my time covering the Trifecta here. During that same year that AYTO premiered, my grandma died after a long illness, while poor health saw both of our family dogs being put down. And obviously, both Diem Brown and Ryan Knight were taken away from us in a two weeks' span over a month later. That feeling of losing a loved one was all the more surreal to me that year, and in a way there was something for me to relate to. You don't need any words to comprehend what is like to go through that agonizing experience of grief.
Although the chances that women 34 years & younger having the most common type of pregnancy loss are lower than those who are older than MTV's target audience (and whose chances of it happening increase as women get older in age), it's still a heart-wrenching experience for anyone to go through the trauma of a miscarriage. For those who watch Teen Mom, it recently happened to Kailyn this season in a year that has also seen her divorce her husband. And two Trifecta alums - Challenge legend Veronica and RW Los Angeles original & Basketball Wife Tami Roman - also went through this experience too. So Briana wasn't alone.
While much of what we see on the Trifecta revolves around great people, pretty faces, everything that goes on in the view of the cameras and often bringing us water cooler moments such as those we saw this past week, the story that Briana shared on AYTO Season 2 is one of those times where the people we watch on these shows make them instantly relatable to us. She went through the agonizing experience of losing a baby she had waited nine months for. The kind of support she received in the days after making that revaluation public for the first time was strong, and I won greater respect for her in how she was brave enough to share that heartbreaking story. I know when she becomes a mom for the first time, it will be the greatest thing ever for her, considering how painful that experience was the first time out.
For more information on miscarriages and how to prevent them, or if there's complications of pregnancy that you or a loved one are going through, visit the American Pregnancy Association's site at americanpregnancy.org.
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Tomorrow on DCBLOG, we'll have a DC SocialPulse doubleheader as we'll look at Episode 4 of Rivals III where the aforementioned Briana is part of the drama in Mexico, and later on, the finale of Real World Go Big or Go Home, defined by racial tensions and an emotional reunion. Also in our posts, find out about a pair that would've made this cast by way of a big blowup last year in Chicago, and meet a Rivals 3 competitor's famous friends...along with info on how you can get involved in our upcoming spring edition of DC FORUM's Reality Debrief coming next week.
For now, thanks for reading and rejoin us later as our coverage of the MTV Trifecta continues.
- DC
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