BY DC CUEVA
■ @DC408Dxtr @ TW / IG / YT
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| Instagram @JennaCompono |
This past week -- an eventful one in MTV Reality as will be explained this weekend -- saw the renewal of what is now the latest love story to grip what many call the fifth major pro sport: MTV's The Challenge. This relationship began when the reality competition show's most iconic romance was in its final chapter: Diem Brown falling ill on Battle of the Exes 2, longtime boyfriend CT Tamburello going back home with her, and the last months of Diem's courageous battle with cancer. But while in Costa Rica with others who had romantic flings flame out and then getting paired up again, a new couple was born that has now become the latest romance to blossom in a genre where reality romances come as go as often as refreshing your social media timelines.
That couple first charmed everyone three years ago in mixing a hot-headed former football player with a gorgeous model, then went through a number of interesting events that broke them apart, and somehow seemingly brought them back together again. And as the road to The Challenge: Final Reckoning now commences with the premiere in 33 days from tonight, an Instagram picture posted last week days before the theme of Season 32 was revealed on Champs vs. Stars last night broke the internet. It's the latest chapter in The Challenge Love Story of Zach Nichols & Jenna Compono.
Outside of now-three MTV series veteran Cory, no Challenger has been in as many relationships with MTV alumni in this decade alone as Thor. On his first season, RW Back to San Diego in 2011, Zach became attracted to Connecticut model Ashley Kelsey, isolated themselves from the rest of the house for most of their stay in Surf City, and stayed together for some time after that season (and long after breaking up, she's scored another hottie in AYTO & Challenge alum Dario Medrano). Then, while he was on his first Challenge Zach turned his attention to RW Cancun beauty Jonna Mannion... and they, too, also were together for a little following Battle of the Seasons 2, and competed on Exes 2 where his demeaning ways towards women were exposed during competition itself. And after that, Zach then briefly dated RW New Orleans castmate (and fellow roommate of his late friend Ryan Knight) turned Boston radio DJ Ashlee Feldman.
For Jenna, she was part of a romance that made its way from New York City to San Francisco for the season that changed it all for Real World in Ex-Plosion. Her ex was Jay G., a club promoter, emcee and "womanizing heartthrob" who had his ways of picking up girls and getting to do what he wanted them to do. Jenna and Jay dated off and on for two years and after many instances of him getting away with murder, once she came to the Bay Area she did what many in the Ex On The Beach house have done in Hawaii: using video evidence to expose his ways with the girls. That love affair led to a twisted tale like those cable car rides in the City that saw their relationship fall apart, and brought them to Exes 2. Everyone remembers how that went with a trip to the finals exposing them as layups, and him as someone who didn't want to consume a drink mix got scathed by TJ Lavin and the courtroom of public opinion known as social media.
At a club night after the first elimination, Jenna and Zach first became attracted to one another, and it spared some jealousy from Jonna and from Jay, for which the ex confessed, "It's always great to go out to these bars because, imagine living with your ex and working with your ex - and you have to rely on each other. It complicates things dramatically." And at the club Zach told Jenna, "Do you know how many dudes in here would be honored with be with you?", and she replied, "Yeah, to hook up and that's it." He then proceed to say, "No one should ever treat you like that, especially someone who's that tall." And she confessed, "I'm done dating guys like Jay. I need tall, muscles, tan... Zach pretty much looks like Thor, and that's just exactly my type." And Thor added, "You bring out the primal senses in every dude in the house."
However, it was what happened after she and her cousin Briana started strong in but faded to 3rd in her second finals trip on Battle of the Bloodlines (and a complaint about a family bakery included) that caused fans to cry when she revealed on the Reunion that, after he made a cameo appearance with CT during the season, she and Zach had gone to Splitsville. She told International Business Times backstage, "Zach ended it. Everything was great ... I went to call him and said, 'Hey, guess who?' and he said, 'Oh, Brooke.' There's really nothing I can do."
But like any soap opera cliffhanger (or in MTV's case, keeping fans of Siesta Key guessing all winter to see what happened to Alex's jaw), it would be five months later that we would find out who Brooke was and what happened to #Zenna: midway through Rivals III in July, Jenna would find out that while she was in Mexico that Zach wasn't as fateful to her as she thought. In the clip below while she was making one of those rarely-shown courtesy calls to loved ones back home and to him, he thought that it was another girl he was dating at the time named "Brooke." Instead, it was Jenna who was calling him and not the new girl, who was discovered to be a Missouri CrossFit athlete named Brooke Wells.
But - as the saying goes, time heals all wounds. And in winter 2017, Jenna would find herself on Season 27 where, while she was competing and living out of an outdoor shed by the beach, little did she know that there would an Invasion of the Champions coming, which included Zach on a team that included Johnny Bananas, CT, Darrell, Cara Maria, Camila and Laurel. And when the Champs joined her and the Underdogs in the Oasis, the opportunity was given for them to at least make an effort to make up, including below when he hung out in her bed.
When Zach was eliminated in the first Champions elimination against four-time titlist and Champs vs. Pros winner Darrell, Jenna was understandably in tears and wrote on Twitter afterwards: "I just wanna say, yes I know I was concerned about Zach this whole season. We have a lot of history and a lot of conversations off camera. It was a lot for me to deal with in such a short period of time with a bunch of strangers. Yes I could have handled it different but emotions were high and it was hard to take in seeing him after so long all at once." And she added to one fan, "Just [because] we didn’t work out doesn’t mean he’s a terrible person. Regardless I want to see him do good... it’s just the type of person I am."
And most recently, there was Champs vs. Stars I, where both were on Team Champions, the moment that brought them back together was when she was in the most need: her getting injured in Week 2 with a foot fracture that forced her to withdraw. And in the clip below, when he went into her bedroom, they had the opportunity to have a moment before she left. And Zach confessed, "It's actually incredibly heartbreaking to see this. After the last three years of just ups and downs, we're finally in a place where we are able to be friends, compete together and enjoy each other's company."
And Jenna added, "Me and Zach, we just have a connection. We get along, we laugh. But honestly, I think for Zach, it’s out of sight out of mind. And when I’m not around him, he can kind of get over me. So I don’t want to get sent home because I would miss being around him."
But it was a photo on that platform a week ago from an event he came to recently that made everyone jump for joy: over 115,000 likes and over 7,000 comments in the time between after Memorial Day and the countdown starting to them being on the cast of The Challenge: Final Reckoning to debut next month. And in the past week, fans and castmates popped in to send their congrats including fellow New Yorker Nicole Z. to call them, "My fav couple," and a plea from Johnny Bananas to "Please make babies."
She captioned in the accompanying IG photo @JennaCompono: "Love isn’t practical. It isn’t meant to be easy. It doesn’t appear on command. It doesn’t let you fall for whomever you’d like. It surfaces neither at the most opportune moment nor in the most convenient. It might pair you with someone you might never have expected. It’ll put you face to face with endless obstacles. But in the end, none of that will matter because it’s how you overcome its obstacles that will define your love. It may not be practical, but love is ultimately the best thing that will ever happen to you ❤️".
And it's Jenna being the lovable sweetheart that she introduced the one girl she's grown closest to The Challenge house since Invasion, Real World Go Big or Go Home (Vegas III) alum Kailah Casillas, to one of her Las Vegas friends, musician and reality TV vet Mikey P., and so began their own picture perfect relationship that, thanks to being in Sin City, has seen them hang out with Floyd Mayweather, Kevin Hart and Jersey Shore's Pauly D. and Ronnie -- even being invited to the new daddy's baby shower before going out to that Family Vacation.
With them now being together once again, we can now think that we have this generation's own CT and Diem: that romance of The Challenge that can be destined to become one of the biggest in the reality TV world. Like what the Bostonian and the Warrior had in their time together, they become romantic, broke up, and made up and became a beloved couple transcending MTV. And for Zach and Jenna, things are now in the position that they are in a great place together that it can only go upwards from here. And with them being part of the final chapter of a Challenge trilogy which begins in more than a month from now, this becomes the story that will be the hook for the casual viewer to become glued to the show. Let's hope that Zach & Jenna become THAT next reality super couple.
With them now being together once again, we can now think that we have this generation's own CT and Diem: that romance of The Challenge that can be destined to become one of the biggest in the reality TV world. Like what the Bostonian and the Warrior had in their time together, they become romantic, broke up, and made up and became a beloved couple transcending MTV. And for Zach and Jenna, things are now in the position that they are in a great place together that it can only go upwards from here. And with them being part of the final chapter of a Challenge trilogy which begins in more than a month from now, this becomes the story that will be the hook for the casual viewer to become glued to the show. Let's hope that Zach & Jenna become THAT next reality super couple.
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Because of time constraints and a packed schedule ahead, this week's WRAP which would've covered the past two episodes of Ex On The Beach that was planned to be up tomorrow won't be posted, but there we plan to have coverage of that coming up in next week's blog wave.
Tomorrow sees the steamy drama in Hawaii enter Week 8 with no idea of who's next, while Angelina will learn of her fate on Jersey Shore Family Vacation. And after all that, this could be the last NHL hockey game until September as the Washington Capitals look to clinch the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights. All of that will be covered on DCNOW at @DC408DxNow along with Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday night as the Warriors look to win in Cleveland.
And last night saw a Purge take place on The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars that saw fireworks take place on the field and on the sidelines... we'll have that and EOTB covered on this week's ride Inside MTV Reality starting Friday, plus a special look at how several of your favorite MTV stars - including Jenna - got to experience in an epic weekend that saw them meet fans, get slimed, get married, give birth and have fun. Be sure to join us then.
- I AM DC
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