DC SocialPulse: Are You The One? Season 7 - "I Want You To Want Me"

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

We're now on the verge of saying hello to the month of October, but we have one more piece of business to take care of from this ninth month of 2018 with the 'Pulse of Are You The One? Season 7, as the season's second half kicks off in the islands of Hawaii.
   Last week, there were not one but TWO episodes for us to consume: Cam and Kayla saw that Kwasi was making a move for her in a big way, even including fisticuffs in the process. In the wake of getting slammed by Terrence J. at matchup, Sam turned her attention to Daniel, Miss West Virginia Lauren turned to New Englander Andrew, and others to new interests after they got one new beam at their previous matchup. And Zak was left with a big choice on his mind, choosing Bria over Morgan in the Truth Booth, which returned a no match.
   There is some optimism for the house, though, as they gained their first positive step in the light race in four beams, and this week sees them try to build upon that always precious momentum. For that New York trainer, he makes a big gamble similar to what went down the previous night on The Challenge that may set the tone for the rest of the house. For another who just now has answered our question of why he's on this show, he gets pushed to begin making his move on the ladies. And for our resident comedian, he reveals his true feelings to one of the girls he's been flirting with.

We'll tell you which is which, along with all of what went down in the social verse during Episode 9 of this season -- one where, usually, we would start to get on the edge for that nerve-wracking 10th and last week... but we're only at the sixth truth booth and matchup. All the action, reaction and interaction awaits you after the jump...

DC ExtraTime: Post Malone Meets an MTV Original

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

For hip-hop fans, the summer of 2018 has no doubt been an unforgettable one. It began with in June with Kanye West releasing Ye (and him performing on Saturday Night Live tonight), Nas dropping Nasir, and Drake shutting down social media with his latest release of Scorpion to record numbers. We then saw Eminem drop Kamikaze and laid a smackdown on Machine Gun Kelly, which came after G-Eazy ignited a beef with MGK. And, obviously, there was the tragic news of Mac Miller's untimely death - which came after he dropped his last album Swimming.

As for the whole year, it has been a breakthrough one for the man who was born as Austin Richard Post, who now refers to himself by his last name and stage name, Post Malone. He was born in Syracuse but spent most of his life down in in the Dallas area when his dad became a concessions manager for the Cowboys. He had his first try at music when, with his Guitar Hero experience, he got to try to be a guitarist in a band, but didn't score the gig when his guitar strings broke. Malone then expanded his palette to being a DJ, soft music and hip-hop while he was in high school, where he was given the senior title, "Most Likely to Be Famous."
   After a short stint in college and using a name generator to adopt his stage alias, Malone moved out west to join a video game player friend to L.A. to form the group BLCKVRD and began recording tracks together with several friends. One of them was "White Iverson," paying homage to NBA great Allen Iverson, which then made it to his SoundCloud account... one million plays later, he was being pursued by the big labels, with the Republic label ultimately winning out. Soon, Malone got to join Kanye on the single "Fade," landed an opening gig on Justin Bieber's world tour and dropped his debut album, Stoney.

That 2016 for him was just the opening act to the worldwide breakthrough Post would ultimately enjoy in 2018, starting with a good appetizer in opening single "Rockstar." It spent eight weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and offered the segueway to sophomore album Beerbongs & Bentleys, which not only debuted at the top but also set streaming records with 79 million listening on Spotify when it dropped last April, and two more top 10 singles in "Psycho" and "Better Now."
   When I watched Post Malone at the Coachella festival - and who appeared as the last act in the Saturday livestream of Week 1 before Beyonce's epic performance, he epitomizes the feeling of being that everyday guy of those our age of being millennials in someone who loves to drink and smoke and still have a good time. Him being able to just be laid-back compared to his contemporaries, blending other genres and approaching his songwriting from an introspective point of view, and a style described as "laconic," has given Post a unique spot in the hip-hop world.
   And then, there's Malone's summer of 2018: after he took to the stage with true rockstars Aerosmith at the VMA's last month, the plane he took from there to London had their tires blow out at takeoff, but rerouted back to New York and landed safely. Earlier this month, his old home in the San Fernando Valley outside Hollywood was robbed when robbers' attempt to grab him by the throat just missed when the rapper moved out. And a week later in the early hours of Saturday, Sept. 8, his white Rolls-Royce car collided with another car in Santa Monica, and again Malone was spared from his third bout with bad luck. He's obviously lucky to still be here.

IG @SyrusMTV

Post nearly had another event add to these past few months but something not related to him cheating death: he and Drake nearly became part of a track on Lil Wayne's newest album that dropped yesterday, but it barely didn't make the final track list. But earlier today, Post's adventures brought him to Las Vegas as the town's famous pool parties draw near to its conclusion for the season. One of them who had the opportunity to rub shoulders with the "Rockstar" of 2018 in hip-hop was Real World and Challenge original Syrus Yarborough. Sy knows very well the opportunity to hang with someone like Post, as he was featured in Eminem's "Without Me" back in 2002.
   And earlier, Syrus added to the long list of those he's gotten to hang out with when he and Post Malone met up. He's not the only big name hip-hop artist to meet up with the Extreme Challenge champ this year, as Sy also hung out with another rapper who's become big in the past year, Lil' Pump during this year's Spring Break down in Cancun.

View this post on Instagram

Party w/ Post Malone in Vegas #LikeArockstar #Lit 🔥 #SyLifeStyle #SyThePartyGuy . . . . #GoodVibes #Sunny #Rage #Drinks #Blunts #Bottles #Vodka #Summer #2018 #Fun #PicOfTheDay #Music #Swag #Reality #TV #TheChallenge #RealWorld #MTV #LivingMyBestLife

A post shared by SyrusMTV (@syrusmtv) on Sep 29, 2018 at 3:05pm PDT

- I AM DC
#DCBLOG

DC ExtraTime: "Chasing" the Ryder Cup in Paris

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

This is a busy weekend in the sports world this last week of September: Chelsea vs Liverpool and Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid headlined today's European soccer, with Daniel Sturridge netting a goal of the year candidate in the former. It's championship weekend down in Australia: the West Coast Eagles beat the Collingwood Magpies and American born Mason Cox to claim Aussie Rules Football premiership, and later Sydney faces Melbourne for the title in Australian Rugby League.
   Here at home, Penn State has just defeated Ohio State in a game fueled by a tweet gone wrong earlier, while the Steelers & Ravens highlight Sunday's NFL action. It's also the last weekend of baseball's regular season with NL division & wild card races and a Yanks/Red Sox playoff preview just before the postseason is set. There's also the NASCAR Playoffs taking to a new road course in Charlotte, and preseason action in the NBA starting and the NHL too.

Aside from those, this weekend the attention of sports fans in the U.S. and Europe -- at least in the morning hours here -- is on golf. Last week, Tiger Woods won his first PGA Tour event in 5 years -- his 80th overall -- and it bumped the NFL from the top of the sports page. And now comes the one time every two years where honor, pride and country take over for a special event in the game.
   The Ryder Cup is taking place in Paris, where Tiger has joined America's top golfers to face the best Europe has to offer in the always intense and spine-tingling drama of match play. Those who watch every other autumn know about the drama of these teams playing not for themselves, but for their nations in the purest form the game of golf has, where every hole is a tournament in itself - and it's of how many holes a player/team can win, not by total strokes, that determines who wins.
   While The Masters in Augusta each spring is the most serene setting for any golf tournament, the Ryder Cup is the total opposite. Galleries come out in droves wearing either European blue or American red, while they actually cheer for an opponent's missed shot. And at times, the Ryder Cup can be described as a mix of a golf tournament, an Olympic event in displays of patriotism, a college football game in the emotions of the competitors, and European soccer in the way of atmosphere.

Through two days of four-ball and four-some matches in the morning and afternoon, Team USA went off to an early 3-1 lead after the first session of better-ball. But ever since, the Europeans have taken control in its specialty of alternate shot: it took all four matches on Friday afternoon, three four-ball rounds earlier this morning and two after lunch. British Open champ Francesco Molinari and partner Tommy Fleetwood took down Tiger not one, but three times in leading an underdog European side.
   The score stands at Europe leading the U.S., 10-6, with a dozen singles matches to take place tomorrow to decide whether Europe will regain the dominance they've enjoyed in the competition the past quarter-century or if the Cup will somehow stay in American control. But that Saturday night score is a jinx: two times a team has been down by that 10-6 margin after the two days of team play and then manage to come back in the Sunday heads-up matches to win: the U.S. did it on home soil in Boston in 1999, then Europe coming back in Chicago in 2012.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Final Reckoning - "Unhappy Days"

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Happy Saturday night friends, and while we're enjoying this last weekend of September, things are getting serious for real down in South Africa, as The Challenge Final Reckoning is past the halfway point. And as the past has shown over the years, this is the time where we will figure out who the contenders and the pretenders are, and it's where the house will get both stir crazy and get serious.
   Last week, we saw the former take place when we saw two throwdowns take place in both the main house and in redemption. In the former, Cara and the Lavender Ladies got into it with Amanda leading the charge. Upon her and Kam taking last in the latest Purge, Kayleigh got into a blow-up with Natalie after the Brit outed the Big Brother alum on social media. But there was a competition to go along with it: the teams ascended hundreds of feet above to combine heights with high stakes.
   In the end, only Tony and the new host of 1st Look TV, Johnny Bananas, completed that tough course, and this week they hold the power vote in the hands... but it's what happens at Armageddon that will cause a ripple effect both in the main house and in Redemption. Meanwhile, one player finds themselves shook when an insult that might be considered unforgivable further divides them. And the teams will get locked up but will also find themselves puzzled by the week's challenge.

We'll have all the action, reaction and interaction from this week's episode coming up, along with the aftermath as a member of one of those teams speaks out. That's all ahead... we're glad you're with us.

DC ExtraTime: Nicky Showtime vs. The Peppers

DISCLAIMER: Videos embedded below contain stunts done

by trained professionals. Please do not try this at home.

A Follow-Up to
Welcome to Nicky Showtime

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

During Season 31 of Real World in 2016 - which introduced us to future Challenger Kailah Casillas, the eighth roommate to join the house was New Englander turned North Carolinan Dylan Moore. He got to kiss Kailah during his short stay in Las Vegas when he came in later than the OG's, and also locked lips on the season's most polarizing roommate, Jenna... only to reveal that he was playing her. With the kind of athleticism he got to show off as a field athlete at the University of North Carolina, Dylan is Challenge ready -- though he almost made his debut on Invasion when he was an alternate who flew with the rest of the underdogs to Thailand but never got to suit up.
   But the calling card of the man they call Nicky Showtime is being an internet star: during the series' third trip to Sin City, DCBLOG devoted an entire post to the prank videos he has been able to post for everyone on YouTube. The most notable of all of these was one that gave him national notoriety: before a science test in Chapel Hill and the last day to drop a class, he decided to crash the party by interrupting a biology class and stripping down to his underwear. He was booted off the Tar Heel track team and lost privileges like having his senior prom tickets being torn up, and even had to plea for his professors to compose letters for him to receive his diploma.
   One thing will be for sure if he gets that call to be a Challenge rookie is that he will be ready to make everyone laugh. But with the summer now officially in our rear view mirror, it's not the case quite yet in warm-weather regions like the Carolinas where he calls home: temps still top out in the 80s as the state continues to recover from Hurricane Florence. But it hasn't stopped Nicky from trying his biggest challenge yet, against not a wrestler or basketball player, but against a formidable opponent that's familiar to those who watch The Challenge: food.

Recently, Dylan got to meet the holder of the Guinness World Record for the hottest pepper on earth: Smokin' Ed Currie, founder & chef of his own pepper company, PepperButt, which came about when he and his wife saw the potential for this seasoning after raising 800 pepper plants of them in both his houses and around his Rock Hill, South Carolina neighborhood. Numerous jars of salsa, mustard, snacks and jellies created by Smokin' Ed brought about his business, whose PuckerButt name came from laughs aplenty when they talked about eating ultra-hot peppers and its after-effect.
   Dylan bought a few of them at the store located in the Charlotte metropolitan area and decided to film not one, but two videos of him eating both Ghost Peppers and Carolina Reapers. The former was Guinness-certified as the world's hottest chili pepper in 2007, which rates in 400 times hotter than the Tabasco sauce you likely have in your kitchen. But the ladder, Smokin Ed's signature, overtook it years later with a heat level rated at 1.57 million in the Scoville Heat Units index, the measurement of how hot a pepper is when someone who's game enough to put it in their mouth. It's so dangerous, in fact, that earlier this year a man was hospitalized with a report of "thunderclap headaches."
   How can Nicky Showtime handle eating two of the world's hottest peppers? See below how he handles it, along with the man behind the secret formula. A caution: do not try this at home if you don't know how to handle eating hot chili.

DC SocialPulse Extra: Before Final Reckoning EP12 & AYTO7 EP9

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Happy Friday friends... after what we have been through in the past week and especially the past couple days, we're finally at the weekend. All the action, reaction and interaction from this week's episodes of The Challenge and Are You The One? comes up here tomorrow & Sunday, respectively. But before that, why not enjoy and check out the in-between interactions of Team MTV before this week's episodes.
   Included in this pre-diary: Cory and Cheyenne joining the Teen Mom family when they and Bristol Palin were introduced in this week's "Meet the Moms" special, and the controversy that's emerged with the Challenge Throwdown events. Because of the sensitive nature of the two, comments have been turned off.

DC ExtraTime: The Wild World of Jungle Boy

From during Real World: Bad Blood Seattle

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

If you glance over at the Instagram bio of our first ExtraTime subject this week, four words seem to capture the mood of the visuals posted by him: "Living Vicariously Through Myself." That motto best sums up the lifestyle of the Real World alum his friends refer to as "Jungle Boy."

Last season on Go Big or Go Home, we met Dione, a free-spirited SoCal transplant who calls Cape Cod, MA his present home and one, as his own website's bio describes, "prides himself on living off the land." This man with the Tarzan hair prefers to live life the way he likes it: no 9-5 job, being open to all people and, as his MTV bio adds, "looking to savor the flavor of life to the fullest extent one day at a time with whomever he comes across."

In Las Vegas, we saw the guy they also call Dione Pepperoni make easy work of those missions the show gave him of bungee jumping out of a balloon, dressing in drag and everything else that came his way. He also hooked up with Kailah and then proceeded to get into, like Mike of this season, an in-season Twitter beef with her. And later, his ex-girlfriend from back home, Amanda, come in to stir the pot and get revenge on Kailah when she and his Carny friends came to town for a visit.

Whenever you have Dione and his friends together, it's certain you'll have nothing but a good time, and the number one rule is: anything goes. Look at his Instagram and the pics he posts there suggest that indeed, anything goes... even if it includes the occasional scene of nudity which we wouldn't dare to show you here on this site. Yes, the "anything goes" motto applies there so much there that one time, the Instagram police told him that one of his pics crossed the line in showing something that shouldn't be posted on that public site and had that naughty photo deleted.

Nonetheless, Dione loves to have that lifestyle which allows him to just enjoy being himself, and that's the spirit of being someone who loves to have fun. Back in late October was the annual Fantasy Fest, which we saw on RW Key West ten years ago and is the biggest party in the southernmost point in America. Each October as the rest of the country celebrates Halloween, it becomes Mardi Gras in South Florida as tens of thousands make their way down either by plane or that 3 hour drive down U.S. Highway 1 from Miami to the Florida Keys. He had sightings with a unicorn marching down main street during one of the parades that week, all of which while he and his friends were wearing drag (of course). Another night, Dione put a chicken hat on his head for another parade, and went to one of the parties with just no shirt on for a glow party. Embedded in the IG photo below is him and the guys dancing on top of a roof of one of Key West's downtown buildings.

That is only part of Dione's travelogue: his travels have seen him don a crab costume at the unique confines of Fenway Park, to most recently taking a trip overseas to Europe in Paris, London and Venice, Italy - one time wearing a dinosaur costume on his head. He even went to the same Hollywood Hills house that was once home to both Justin Bieber and a show we profiled here in our MTV Sampler a few years back, House of Food. It has also seen him hang out with Johnny Bananas and MTV's best during the spring press event earlier this year, the guys from Comedy Central's Workaholics at the MTV Movie Awards (for which we documented his cast's night at earlier this year while their season aired) and big names at both events. And he even appeared in a movie as an extra in the film Good Kids that was released in October and featured Zoey Deutch, Ashley Judd, Nicholas Braun, Tasie Lawrence and UFC star Randy Colture.

Real World wasn't the first time Dione set foot in Sin City with cameras in view... Every June, the music world's attention turns there for the Electric Daisy Carnival: electronic dance music's biggest annual festival - held after dark at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This past summer's event attracted over 400,000 concert-goers over the three days as they saw Afrojack, Armin Van Buuren, DJ Snake, Kaskade, Paul Oakenfold, Zedd and the guys behind "Closer," The Chainsmokers, take center stage. Just three years earlier, Dione was part of a crew that filmed a documentary film on EDC, Under the Electric Sky, which captured the spectacle and sound of their genre's biggest annual party, which ultimately made its way to the Sundance festival and to the big screens.

It's just about certain that after what we saw on his original Real World there in Sin City, Dione will eventually take his talents into Challenge world and that new generation of challengers. But for now, his attention is on just enjoying living the life for being "Jungle Boy," and that's a good thing: you don't have to have a 9-5 job if you're someone who loves to have fun as much as he does.

Photos Courtesy of Instagram @MTVDione

MTV Reality: Floribama Shore - "A Thin Line Between Hunch and Hate"

*** Advisory: Running diary below contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

We're almost at the weekend... and here's something a bit more entertaining and lighthearted than what's been taking place out in our nation's capital this Thursday: the action of this first week of fall Inside MTV Reality. Ahead of us: two big-time gambles on The Challenge and Are You The One?, and dancing with a daytime queen as the month of September concludes. But we begin out in Florida with Floribama Shore, as our summer in Panama City Beach is nearing its end.
   Last week, Jeremiah was dealt heartbreaking news when his grandfather died, but before he left to join the Buoni family to say farewell the house went out to party to temporarily take his mind off of a family loss. However, Nilsa has too much fun in the club, and it caused a big argument with her and Aimee. The girls then take on a trip to try and mend things, leaving the guys to have the house to themselves not only to party but also for Gus to open up about his complicated past with family.
   That bonding trip for the ladies of PCB was aimed to bring them back together, and this week for one of them, she will she will fulfill a life-long dream of becoming a real-life version of her nickname. As we saw at the end of last week's episode, Logan came by to drop off a surprise gift and we'll see how Kortni deals with it. And along with twerking in a hot dog costume and in the gym, could it be that the most buzzed-about romance of last summer be rekindled?

Find out with us after the jump as we begin fall's first weekend with our view of Floribama Shore, along with meeting Someone You Should Know: an most interested viewer of this week's episode. Nice to have you with us...

DC ExtraTime: Tar Heel Madness with Nicky Showtime

From during The Challenge Invasion and after

UNC's 2017 National Championship victory

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

The night before Bananas and Cara lost to Darrell and Laurel on Invasion, there was the end to one of the biggest events in American sports. This year might not have brought us as many of the thrills we expect from the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, aside from the upsets we saw the first two weeks.
   But this year did have a worthy champion in a national championship with #1 seeds facing off: North Carolina defeated Gonzaga in a matchup where the focus was on the officials and the fouls that plagued the 2nd half. But as they say, a win is a win and it gave head coach Roy Williams his 3rd national title, as the trophy once again returns to that part of the South known affectionately as Tobacco Road: home to powerhouses UNC, its archrival Duke, NC State and Wake Forest.

   There are four people with ties to the Triangle area of North Carolina -- which if you're not in the know of what that means, it's of the Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville area: Are You The One? Season 2 and AYTO Second Chances castmate Ellie, Real World Portland roommate Jessica, Real World Skeletons castmate and proud dad Jason, and our first ExtraTime subject of this weekend.

Credit: WTVD

For some added spice to this bit, we here like to bring you some scoop here you probably won't get anywhere else: as this Invasion season was filming last fall, those who love doing speculation of who was on this cast had two additional people they thought was on this cast: Dylan from Real World Go Big last year, and Emilee of RW Cancun, two Challenges and and the indie film Blight, which we profiled back in January and has since changed its name from Habit. They were replacements that were on the plane ride to Thailand and were never used, but Em did get that consolation prize to join fellow New Englanders Brittany, Sabrina and CT for that film coming this fall.
   As for the man they call Nicky Showtime, last year we showcased his hilarious YouTube videos and him being on the same Tar Heels track team as a Olympic medalist in the women's pole vault. Him being an alum of Chapel Hill, as evidenced by his graduation picture we've included above, gave Dylan reason to make the trek from where he calls home in Charlotte to Tobacco Road to join fellow UNC students and alumni -- 55,000 of them in all -- to watch the finale of March Madness on Monday night. And thanks to social media, he let everyone in on the madness in Chapel Hill, and the celebrations on Franklin Street the moment the final buzzer sounded. We've embedded the video below, and if you saw his SnapChat, you saw all the celebrations in the streets including bonfires.

View this post on Instagram

#UNC national champs!!!!! 💵💰💰💴🍻#NCAA #basketball

A post shared by Dylan Moore (Nicky Showtime) (@nickyshowtime) on Apr 4, 2017 at 12:11am PDT

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG

DC ExtraTime: Alicia's Words to the Haters

From during AYTO Second Chances, shortly after after the Are You The One? Season 5 finale and months before Season 1 of Ex On The Beach U.S.

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

In some parts of the world including Great Britain, Are You The One? Season 5 has just wrapped up airing and are now into airing Second Chances. But as we head towards the end of this cycle, it's safe to say that the finale in the Caribbean is much better than the finale of The Challenge Invasion and favored for the biggest moment of this cycle when we give name season-end awards on the Debrief later this month.

On the Pulse of the premiere of The Challenge Bloodlines, we brought you the first words from Amanda after her fight with Mike on the AYTO Season 3 finale. She endured a lot of hate from fans for her behavior that season and then on her two Challenges, but her making it to the final underdog elimination bodes well for her future. We have, of course, seen a lot of questionable behavior from a number of castmates of the love experiment and an equal amount of people going off social media on them, including the man who we focused in above after what happened last year. And for the most recent one, she finally had the opportunity to respond.

This past season, we saw Alicia swoop in from nowhere to steal Kam's perfect match Eddie after their truth booth, then get beraded on the reunion by Kam's BFF Tyranny and made for some of very tense moments during the season. And we also saw her and Mike down in Australia make a deep run into the second half before being the most recent couple eliminated after what we had this week.

After taking some time off from social media to focus on herself while we watched her on AYTO Second Chances, she returned from her hibernation early last week to finally take a moment to respond to those who have been hating on her since what happened midseason in the Dominican Republic, and also revealed something very personal that happened just recently to her. Here's her post from Instagram.

INSTAGRAM @lavida.alicia: "You know what's so disheartening, is the fact that so many people believe to know what I'm doing or always wanting to see me fail. You know where I've been ? I've been in a hospital for almost 2 weeks getting CT Scans, poked & pronged for blood, tests, ultrasounds, multiple IV's, medication, and an emergency surgery on a mass,ruptured appendix & other complexities that lead to a drain being inserted & kept pinned to my side, consistently emptied & I struggle to even walk upright. I've lost 18 pounds total due to all of this,putting me at 102lbs. Because of this I was stripped away of an opportunity literally the night before that I had been training & looking forward to with my ticket in my hand. I love my family & friends that have came to visit, & extend themselves to me all the time not just during my difficulties of course. I'm in recovery for now until another surgery in 5 weeks due to the complexity of my case. My social media presence or disappearance shouldn't automatically be paired to my failure or success on something, nor should people continue to bash or clock my every move. I was a fan of AYTO before becoming an "alumni" & it's honestly really unenjoyable when the majority of the people are the source of negativity against me to prompt others to tag along. Some have come out of no where to text me simply to get information or to put me down, I haven't spoken to you since New Years why text me now...or all the bullshit on blogs you guys keep up with & believe but, when does anyone have the decency to just text me "Hey how are you?" on the regular. If so many "don't like me", why now....because you think you're going to get information or closer to something you're all feening to be apart of, that's why.Respect that sometimes people actually go thru shit Everyone's always got something negative to fucking say, it's annoying af..GROW UP."

MTV Reality: Welcome to Teen Mom

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

In the intro of our preseason preview of The Challenge: Final Reckoning back in July, we began with a teaser of what's to come in the second half of 2018 in MTV Reality: Jersey and Floribama Shore, Fear Factor, Are You The One? ...and at the end we added, "we could have yet another crossover that will sure leave everyone shook." Well, here we are in the beginning of the fall TV season with perhaps the biggest and most surprising crossover of all.
   If you're one of those who have rolled with us for all five years of our journey through covering these shows, we've had a growing number of those instances where those who were on one MTV show make their way to another. There have been a lot of crossovers from all over the landscape - and even stretching beyond its Times Square headquarters that had a hand in leading this site to expand our beat beyond just covering three TV shows, as we did for the first four years.
   First, we had four people from the first Are You The One? season head onto The Challenge with Battle of the Exes 2... a year later, a member of a heralded AYTO Season 3 cast made his way to Real World and cheated on a girlfriend who she met through her season's perfect match who's also his roommate. And at the beginning of this year, we saw The Challenge expand its draft pool by going to former Viacom corporate sibling CBS to take alums from Big Brother and five British folks from overseas, which also brought with them Ex On The Beach, which premiered in America in April.

At the same time amidst this crossover madness, so many of your favorites from both the shows we cover extensively and those that we might not feature as much have become moms and dads. Snooki, J-Woww and Ronnie are parents, and soon Deena will join them in the Jersey Shore parents' club. The baby drama involving Tony Raines and his Real World Season 30 girlfriend, Madison Walls, has recently taken a twisty turn, while many of his other fellow Challengers have also become parents - and most of them have retired from MTV to take on this ultimate of all adult challenges.
   And of course, the one franchise that's been around for this entire decade began nine years ago and has been that one show that, along with Jersey Shore, has seemingly kept MTV afloat in everyone's interest. It started as 16 & Pregnant which followed several girls' journeys of having a baby at a young age, and it then translated into the spinoff Teen Mom. The show opened everyone's eyes into being a parent this early and ignited a national debate over a then largely-ignored taboo topic, and the cast of four generations' worth have long been fodder for the paparazzi and gossip sites.

Given all those circumstances above, perhaps it was just only a matter of time before a seemingly inevitable prospect would come to pass: someone from what we call the Trifecta joining Teen Mom, and it is about to take place as we turn the page to a new month of October. And for the very first time, a show that was first born out of seeing teenage girls go through the most excruciating 9-month process will now welcome those who weren't seen on 16 & Pregnant but certainly are used to seeing in the public light - both in the mainstream and on MTV.
   It's in the ladder most especially that those used to seeing competitors challenge themselves or go for love will be tuning in for the first time come October 1st, and gave us this opportunity to introduce Teen Mom for those of you who will be tuning in when Cheyenne Floyd and Cory Wharton join MTV's most-scrutinized series, as does the daughter of Alaska's best-known politician, Bristol Palin.

DC ExtraTime: An MTV All-Star Weekend of Love

A Follow-Up to
A Rose City Reunion of Romance

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Earlier this summer - and in between this year's two festivals of love on MTV, we featured a reunion of those who appeared on in the channel's two entries into modern-day romantic reality TV. They may share the same pedigree of all of what we're used to from its reality brand as well as a tropical setting, but are different in many ways: one has a Truth Booth and its house is full of newbies going for $1 million and a Perfect Match; the other has a Shack of Secrets, stars reality personalities and sees their exes invade their vacation. And both have been given the invaluable spot of being launched out of the channel's most-watched shows.
   Are You The One and Ex On The Beach have been on the air since 2014 -- the former was launched in the U.S. on the heels of Teen Mom (for which an alum joins the family next week), while the ladder debuted on MTV's international fleet overseas and premiered in America this past spring on the back of Jersey Shore Family Vacation. And there, alums from both these series gathered together for a weekend reunion that brought together friends, frenemies and alumni together to relive that experience of living in the same house for a few days.
   The first one took place in Portland, Oregon - hometown of one of those who was part of MTV Reality's biggest Cinderella underdog story in years after the first U.S. version of what's described as "the ultimate relations*** show." That reunion was so successful that they thought about doing it once again... this time with those who are now part of the family of this love experiment of trying to see if they can find their perfect match in paradise in the newbies of AYTO Season 7.
   This is the story of its sequel: the MTV All-Star Weekend of Love, this time going down out east in the state of Connecticut.

DC SocialPulse: Are You The One? Season 7 - A Midseason Double Shot (MEGA)

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Hey there, welcome back on this late Sunday night... hope you all got to enjoying this first weekend of fall. The last week of summer 2018 in MTV Reality has seen more This is Us-esque tissue moments in Panama City Beach and blowouts in & outside The Challenge house... now, the week's most explosive drama on Are You The One... and it's so big - it's TWO HOURS in length.
   Last week, the guys and girls returned from their relationship rehab & the AYTO tradition of the exes' invasion, and it was Kwasi's turn to take over the spotlight: he got to serve up some tea when he let Kenya know about what her man, Tevin, did in doing a 50 Shades with Jasmine. For Bria, she added to all the drama we've seen from her when she goes off on Morgan and Zak over their relationship... but it turns out to be a warm-up act for what's going down here this week. And the kids decided to take a gamble at matchup by making risky choices, and they got burned with one beam.
   With Terrence J.'s chilling words haunting them in their sleep like Jason on Friday the 13th, this week sees all the drama play out over 120 minutes. For one of the prospective couples here, Cam and Kayla find themselves at a crossroads as the Beast decides to make his move.. For the girl they call Ram Bam Sam, there's having to deal with Daniel, while pageant queen Lauren eyes New England stud Andrew. And for Zak, he has to pick between Morgan or Bria as the house faces a crucial Truth Booth, while Asia and that aforementioned Beast ignite some fireworks to welcome the fall.

We have all the action, reaction and interaction from this Midseason Double Shot - our definition of back to back episodes - coming up here along with the aftermath to these two hours. And afterwards, she's the biggest star in all of music right now... you'll want to stick around for ExtraTime when we'll tell you who Ms. T-Swift has gotten to meet up with, and they are from the AYTO family.

We'll have that ahead here on the Pulse of Are You The One... So glad you're staying up with us -- grab some coffee, a late night snack and join us after the jump.

DC ExtraTime: Dancing with a Star in Night School

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

During this past year, The Challenge has had another trilogy to dovetail with what we've been seeing with Dirty 30, Vendettas and the current season of Final Reckoning. Before the three-season saga began last year, it had the chance to fulfill the fantasy of everyone who calls this show "the fifth major pro sport" by asking who is better: the Champs aka the Veterans who you see each week on the regular shows, or the Pros & Stars from sports, entertainment and beyond who were asked to go up against the incumbent establishment.
   Over three seasons, The Challenge's spinoff series, Champs vs. Pros/Stars, saw Olympians, former athletes, musicians, a couple former reality stars and even a hip-hop star's socially active sister go up against Bananas, Cara, CT and the rest of The Challenge's finest, with Victor Cruz and then The Miz taking over for TJ Lavin as emcee. From seeing T.O. go at it with C.T. to Louise Hazel drawing limes out to determine elimination opponents... Hennessy Carolina's blow-out and Bananas & Wes going at it in elimination, Champs vs. Stars offered some juicy competition and drama in between seasons of our favorite show. But above all else, it's charity that brought them all together: all the players' efforts benefited the causes and foundations they care deeply about.
​   After Cara Maria took the winner's paycheck on Vendettas which was shoved into the last minutes of another long, dragged out two-part reunion came the premiere of Champs vs. Stars II, which also saw things mix up after an almost perfect season by the Champs when Bananas, Emily and CT reigned supreme in CVS I, as well as Cara & Darrell settling unfinished business winning Champs vs. Pros. There, the twist saw both Champs AND Stars competing on two different teams for most of the season until just before the final when they were all paired up. It made for the most competitive and entertaining of the spinoff's three seasons, and one of its stars is the person of our focus.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Final Reckoning - Out of Control & Over the Edge

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

As we now turn the page in the four seasons calendar to autumn, things may start to cool outside, but things are certainly warming up as DCBLOG brings you in to the delicious stuff in MTV Reality this last official week & day of summer. And this week, if things haven't gotten serious yet on The Challenge: Final Reckoning, then now is the time that things are getting a bit heated as the last rites of t-shirts & shorts weather take place here this Saturday night.
   Last week in South Africa, Da'Vonne & Jozea were just recovering from an elimination defeat when they were given new life via the Double Cross, and it enabled them to send home everyone in Redemption (including Tori, Angela and co.), and gained a rematch with Paulie & Natalie... and it ended with the same end result: a SECOND trip back to the main house. Then, they joined the rest of the players still in the $1 million hunt as they took on a hybrid of going bagging above water with a good old-fashioned eating competition.
   In the end, Ashley & Hunter took out the win over pre-challenge favorites Bananas & Tony, and by the end of that contest, we'll find out who joins Paul & Nat in Redemption. But also this week, tension will begin to boil over between the defending champion and the Lavender Ladies, which will leave our favorite Staten Islander in between a rock and a hard place. And if things can get any more testy for the competitors, it does: a challenge taking place hundreds of feet above ground where trust must be rebuilt... on a bridge of ropes as dicey as a game worth $1 million.

All the action, reaction and interaction from this week's 11th episode is straight ahead for you here, along with plenty of jabbing taking place after what we saw this week. And while there are fans like you bemoaning that your favorite show isn't getting the kind of golden love it deserves, there's something to be proud of for an MTV alum who now has a coveted spot being part of a "fabulous" group... afterwards on ExtraTime, it's an Emmy with Karamo Brown and his Queer Eye buddies, and find out why he's lucky to be here for his big moment.

All of that is ahead on the Pulse of The Challenge. Welcome on in... glad to have you with us.

DC ExtraTime: "Dealing" with Christmas in July

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

In the midst of what is the hottest of the four seasons, usually it would be in the back of one's mind in the summertime amidst the scorching hot heat. Those happen to be the feelings of winter time: snow on the ground, seeing your breath in front of you and the shivering in the cold unless you layer up.
   As this post drops on the last full night of summer (September 21st), before you know it we Americans will again feel like kids getting to enjoy the sights of snowflakes falling, dusting off the snowboards we've kept in storage since spring, and having to put up with packed malls and airports. And also for some, to cross those fingers that there will be a "White Christmas" on December 25th, all smack dab in the coldest season of all.

Last year, DCBLOG featured the times where two MTV alums, Real World/Challenge alum Trey Weatherholtz and Are You The One? original Ryan Malaty, appeared on CBS' two daytime game shows, The Price is Right and Let's Make A Deal. For some of you who get to wake up a little later during the warm months and having nothing much to do while the parents are at work and have no worries about school, probably you've surfed onto some daytime fun watching contestants win cash & prizes. It's likely you probably have someone you know from work or school or even a family member go onto national TV and try their luck on these game shows.
   This summer during the offseason in broadcast land, another alum who appeared on a MTV reality series got to try her luck on the latest incarnation of Monty Hall's wacky game show... and in a special episode that got to celebrate Christmas in July. For this story and its roots, we gotta rewind back to the penultimate day of the 2000's, and the same month that saw the debut of two MTV shows that, by the luck of fate, is still on its schedule 9 years later in Teen Mom and Jersey Shore.