MTV Reality: Who Are These Newbies? - Ex On The Beach Season 2: The Exes

BACKTRACKED EDITION
BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Whether it's the Americanized version of it that we cover here, the original British show that started this global franchise five years ago, or the 13 other localized adaptations that take place in Europe, Brazil and overseas, the big moment in every episode of MTV's Ex On The Beach is always that time when a few of the housemates gather down at the Beach of Doom to go through absolute hell. Of course, it's them finding out "Whose Ex Is Next?" when one or more ex-girlfriends or boyfriends invade the beach often to their greatest shock or sometimes to just another reaction other than just pretending to be shocked. It's the looks on their faces that best speak for themselves when the exes invade the "ultimate relations*** show."

Past British series of Ex On The Beach have seen some of MTV UK's most notable stars appear for a second, and some a third, time on the show... often times as an ex. That includes all four alumni who were part of The Challenge's British invasion to Vendettas in Kayleigh, Joss, Melissa and Rogan, and their second generation successors Ashley C., Bear and Zahida, who recently crossed the pond for The Challenge: War of the Worlds. And on the first U.S. EOTB, the list of notable exes who came to Hawaii to shock Cory, Paulie, Angela, Tor'i and the singles were just alumni from Are You The One? and a star of the VMA-winning video of Camila Cabello's "Havana," Marco Delvecchio.

For Season 2 in the U.S., there were a few exes who while they have past reality experience, unlike what we had with Derrick H., Alicia, Andre, Shanley, Cameron and Joe, they are not well-known to MTV fans. That's where we here will get to know them a little bit more, as among those who have or will emerge out of the water include a man who's now part of a big love triangle, another who shared the Big Brother house as a Texan who won the only season of that show to air online, a pair of exes who had a fiery relationship documented on TV, and a non-reality ex who's used to having a lead role during the autumn.

Once again, it's time to ask, "Who Are These Newbies?" This time, DCBLOG turns the focus to the notable exes of Season 2 of Ex On The Beach USA. And after the jump, we begin with one-third of the all-CBS reality love triangle who took hold in Malibu.


♥ JAY STARRETT (Survivor) - Morgan's Ex

While The Real World first put the modern form of reality TV on the map 27 years ago, it was Survivor in summer 2000 which made the genre mainstream as its first-ever hit on U.S. network TV... no other words or explanation is necessary to explain why it grips so many fans after all these years spending quality time with host Jeff Probst. For the first time, someone who had to endure 39 days to outlast, outwit and outclass their field to win $1 million on a stranded island will make their way to the MTV family, and already he's been joined by a second member in Turkish icon Turbo who made his mark on War of the Worlds both on the show and online, ultimately en route to winning it all.
   Survivor fanatics first got to know Jay Starrett on Season 33, Millennials vs. Gen X, back in fall 2016 - and premiering the same night as the finale of Corey's Big Brother 18 season. Jay was a 27-year-old doing business as a real estate agent in Fort Lauderdale, FL who described himself in his bio as "determined, intelligent and funny," and who loves to do fishing (of course in this state). As part of the millennial half of that Survivor cast, this laid-back guy described being someone born in the '80s onward as having more freedom, being more social and used to technology. And while he cites his mom as his inspiration, the Survivor castaway he most resembled was all-time icon Russell Hantz.
   In Fiji, Jay started in the millennials' tribe of Vanua, where he and an alliance of a few others helped to orchestrate one of the season's big moves of them blindsiding castaway Michaela Bradshaw despite holding a hidden immunity idol that would've saved her from getting her torch extinguished in tribal council. After the merge with the other tribe, he continued to be a strong threat in winning two individual immunity challenges thanks to his strong physical prowess. Thanks to the friendship & friendly rivalry with Bay Area native Adam Klein, Jay outlasted the rest of his alliance, Triforce, and he relied on his physical physique during those challenges. But most memorably, he found himself on the other end of getting played by David Wright when a fake idol made by him saw his torch get extinguished on Day 36 in karma coming back to him, and eventually voted Adam as sole survivor on the final jury... for which highlights of his season are below.

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♥ MURRAY SWANBY & CORY ZWIERZUNSKI (E's What Happens At The Abbey)

The next entry's backstory is so tied together that the next two people don't need to be discussed without one or the other - just as it was when we profiled Big Brother twins Julia & Liz for War of the Worlds. This bit takes us to The Abbey, the iconic gay & lesbian nightclub and bar in Los Angeles' LGBT hub, West Hollywood, not far from the SUR restaurant at the heart of Vanderpump Rules. That vibrant place on Santa Monica Boulevard and those who worked there were the subjects of 2017 E! series, What Happens At The Abbey. including two who've shared space in the EOTB casa and where two VIP's of Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club, Alex and Mike, also work at that famed gay bar.
   Murray Swanby may be from Abram's backyard of Montana and gaining experience in the bar biz, but his heart is firmly in SoCal as one of the Abbey's most-popular VIP hosts. He was thought of both the life of the party and WeHo's biggest playboy, having dated every L.A. gay guy. Murray is also a heartbreaker - one who can move onto the next one that quickly and not have to worry about accountability for any relationship sins that might come his way. He's also a model who's IG popular with his intimate selfies, and who even got to take a selfie with Taylor Lautner.
   The one who scored his heart was also his fellow Abbey employee, bartender Cory Zwierzunski, whose original bio noted him having "a sweet, but short fuse." He also comes from small-town roots having grown up in a Pittsburgh suburb, and lived in Tampa Bay before coming to L.A. Like Murray, Cory is also a model having done work for Abercrombie & Fitch and Andrew Christian underwear, and he even cameoed on two seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race (which we featured last summer when Jozea was at the Season 10 finale with his Final Reckoning partner Da'Vonne).
   The tumultuous relationship of #Curray had so many twists and turns you might say that this was tailor made for Ex On The Beach, where drama seemed to have followed them everywhere they went, and where a Twitter tirade they had put it to rest - enough to place them in the Ex On The Beach house. Below, two clips of #Curray getting into it at the club, and two chats with E! and AfterBuzz about an explosive and complicated relationship that put everyone on edge in the EOTB house.

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♥ MONTE MASSONGILL (Big Brother Over the Top) - Morgan's Ex

While attention in the EOTB 2 house focused on many romances and triangles, none had a more twisted and larger heart chart than the one that had those working the night shift at network & local newsrooms in MTV's one-time corporate sibling CBS take a break to watch: the love triangle of Big Brother alumni Morgan and Corey, and the aforementioned Jay. But it's when her fellow houseguest from that season arrived that further complicated things.
   Monte Massongill came to the fall 2016 digital festival known as BB Over The Top from Nashville and who then settled in a Mississippi suburb outside Memphis, as an engineer's associate and a Southern farm boy. In his bio, he described himself as "a strong, stubborn leader" who had a plan of being smart in the house, and who had to adjust to living with total strangers when he moved in. But unlike other houseguests who turned to MTV for a second chance at reality fame, Monte had a short stint in the BB house despite winning week 1's Head of Household, being evicted in week 2.
   But with those nice abs, Monte did click with Morgan thanks to meeting each other's preferences, and they had a six-month relationship after the show before she went off to L.A.  Below, some of his highlights from Big Brother.

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♥ JD HARMON (University of Kentucky football player)

Finally, for the only notable non-reality ex to be cast on season 2 and who came as Maya's ex a few weeks ago, there's an athletic background that was worth considering for us to include here, especially for those with an eye towards a potential Challenge run down the road.
   JD Harmon hails from Paducah, KY and who had strong aspirations on making it to Sundays in the fall. As part of a family of 17 siblings and two loving parents, this all-around high school athlete and a state champion in both football and track came to the University of Kentucky as a walk-on, won his way onto the Wildcats as a true freshman and by the end of his 2012 freshman year became a starter. Harmon played in 49 games for the 'Cats as a DB & on special teams. Eventually, the man nicknamed "Prince" signed as a free agent to the Cleveland Browns in 2017 but was a victim of the preseason cuts before what would become that ill-fated 0-16 season in Believeland.
   On the love side of things, what brought JD to Ex On The Beach was Maya, where they grew up in Paducah and was each other's date to prom. But she crushed his heart when, as MTV.com wrote, "...he found out she wasn't taking the relationship as seriously as he was, and he discovered she was texting other guys on the side. JD is a sensitive guy, and he's looking for love, but first he wants to end that painful chapter of his past, or maybe they'll open that door again."
   Below, two highlight reels of Harmon in action including an early season non-conference game from 2016 against Southern Mississippi of Conference USA, and him hopping into the car for UK football's take on James Corden's Carpool Karaoke... in case an athletic career is not in the plans.

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Season 2 of Ex On The Beach provided us with plenty to talk about: Bad Chad and Nicole, the all-CBS love triangle which even included a postseason cameo from Bradley Cooper, and a love triangle with three from the same season of Are You The One which will eventually see another of those who pulled out that "Miracle in the Bayou" come ashore. We'll be previewing Season 3 here in a few days, followed by our traditional introduction to this season's newcomers to the MTV family, as well as a returning star from a show that's gained quite a bit of traction in the past 24 hours. Be with us then...

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