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EXTENDED POST - 19 Mins.
BY DC CUEVA
Every season, we at DCBLOG task ourselves with an early-season assignment to scour the web and help answer the question, "Who Are These Newbies?" in reference to rookies making their debuts on The Challenge and those people of note from both reality TV and pop culture who come to Ex On The Beach. We make sure to give everyone their proper welcome in helping you, the readers, get to know them better and add some background, insight and context to their journeys. And the people we've profiled on here numbers at nearly 120 people since we first did this for our first full MTV season of Rivals II in 2013. For this installment, it's all about those across the pond.
Imagine what this decade has been like for the folks in the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland - it's not been an ordinary one but an eventful one too. It began with Gordon Brown in the office of the most powerful legislative authority in the British Commonwealth as Prime Minister, followed by David Cameron, Theresa May and now new boss, former London mayor Boris Johnson. The most recent change at 10 Downing Street came after all of the events surrounding the UK's controversial decision to leave the European Union, and the deadline of Brexit is currently slated for this Halloween. And seven years ago, Queen Elizabeth II marked 60 years since her ascension to the throne with a Diamond Jubilee, and has been witness to three Royal Weddings this decade: William & Kate, Harry & Meghan Markle, and recently the Queen's granddaughter Eugenie.
Athletically, Britain has thrived in the 2010's with London hosting a memorable 2012 Olympics, while cyclists Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendish have thrived in the Tour de France... so have golfers Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy. Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have emerged to claim boxing's world heavyweight championship, while Lewis Hamilton has won four Formula 1 world titles. Andy Murray ended a decades-long British tennis drought by winning two Wimbledon titles, two Olympic golds, a U.S. Open and clinched the 2015 Davis Cup. After their semifinal run in the World Cup last year, English football continued that momentum with Manchester City claiming a domestic treble of the Premier League and League & FA Cups; while Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur all played for the European trophies. And in July, England won a thrilling Cricket World Cup, decided by a 6-ball "super over" after a tie in regulation in the final, and a run-out of the last batsman at the Lord's Cricket Ground, the game's spiritual home.
It's with this historic decade for British sport that will give reason for those who bleed the British colors to continue this momentum into, what they hope, will be a first Challenge crown - and it will have been a team effort should they lift the trophy by the wintertime. And if you glance over at all of the competitors of this season, and there are numerous histories amongst the 32 of them in total... we Americans know about what Team USA have, but if you're checking us out from across the pond, then the histories among the British challengers both here on this season and going back to Vendettas is just as juicy and worthy of the red top tabloids.
Those who saw two previous series of EOTB UK know about the beef Kayleigh Morris and Melissa Reeves had over one of last season's prospects in footballer Ashley Cain, while Kay is also linked with two other lads who've been part of this invasion in exes Joss Mooney and Stephen Bear. Geordie Shore alums Kyle Christie and Zahida Allen share the same hometown of Newcastle, while the former was witness to having a tattoo of his ex Holly Hagan getting inked on the first season of Just Tattoo of Us UK, hosted by Bear. Theo Campbell and Georgia Harrison were on the same 2017 series of Love Island UK before they both made to the WOTW final earlier this year, and everyone knows of the bromance that Joss and Rogan O'Connor have.
Now, it's the turn of six more Brits to join this British invasion, and they share links with these people and shows that they've been on in having been on a previous series of EOTB UK and on last year's installment of UK Love Island. But this time, there is also representation from shows not known much in America that have elements of taking place on an island, in the wilderness and in the middle of nowhere, as the gap between American and British television narrows much more.
After the jump, we introduce you to this fall's rookie class of War of the Worlds 2 in this all-British installment of "Who Are These Newbies?" We do caution here at the outset that certain videos embedded in this post contain adult language and situations, and suggest parental guidance.
🇬🇧 NICOLE BASS (Ex On The Beach UK)
Nicole Bass was part of Zahida's Ex On The Beach season, its sixth series, back in winter 2017. Nicole came as the ex of Bolton native and reality vet Josh Ritchie (who placed third on Love Island UK 2015, is a co-host of The Charlotte Show with Charlotte Crosby, and co-hosted episodes of Tattoo with the Geordie original). The Essex native also had several more exes come to the house, and in the end she would have a short romance with four-year Geordie Shore veteran and future Bellator MMA fighter Aaron Chalmers... and that links them to fellow MTV UK staple Marnie Simpson (a Geordie series regular, two-time BB UK houseguest and part of series 8 of EOTB UK).
But her most notable moment in the villa, as detailed among the clips below, was when rumors were abound about Nicole being cheated on by one of her exes. When Essex native Jacques Fraser emerged onto the beach, word spread about him cheating on her with a girl while they were in the summer party capital of Europe in Ibiza. His other ex, Frankie Isabella from Northeast London, came into the house midway through the season - and with plenty of dirty mouthing among the two in the backyard, it eventually led to them getting into a fight in the bathroom.
EOTB wasn't Nicole's first time on reality TV, as she also appeared on two series of the other show Georgia appeared on prior to Love Island, The Only Way is Essex. There in her region's own reality series, Nicole had a turbulent relationship with Northeast London chap Lewis Bloor (an 6-year TOWIE vet, a Celeb Big Brother UK 2016 houseguest, and who was charged this summer with fraud over improperly promoted diamonds), and where they got into several arguments in their short-lived romance. There was some talk last year about Nicole bringing her talents to Love Island UK, though that hasn't yet come to fruition.
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🇬🇧 IDRIS VIRGO (Love Island UK)
Idris Virgo came to series 4 of LI-UK last year as a 25-year-old emerging professional boxer from Birmingham, and who was single for over two years before walking into the villa in Mallorca, Spain. Coming into the house, he saw himself as, "Easy-going, someone who is easy to get along with, and I tell people how it is," and he's made that known on Twitter in the early stages of this Challenge. Love wise, he had a few girlfriends before enjoying the single life but those exes do respect him though things didn't pan out much as he added, "I need to settle down now. I need someone to push me and motivate me so it is time to find someone."
When he moved in at Day 37, Idris was one of two men to enter the villa and the next day they were chosen to go on a date, choosing eventual runner-up, Scottish girl Laura Anderson over Yorkshire's Georgia Steel (one to watch for later). On their date, he brought up the kiss one who Laura got to know earlier, Londoner Jack Fowler, had with Georgia that woke up viewers on social media. Later that week, Idris won a challenge that involved the guys putting on a fireman's outfit and endure an obstacle course, rescuing animals from a tree and doing a striptease, to see who they would be coupled with. Idris won that challenge, but in that night's recoupling ceremony he stayed single, and was dumped. But before he came to the villa, there was already some talk about him in social land: a Twitter user who had a relationship with him shared some of his cringy pick-up lines.
Last Saturday night, Idris continued with his budding boxing career as a light heavyweight, having begun fighting professionally in March 2018 months before Love Island. Despite his opponents combining for a cumulative 19-189-4 record including his most recent opponent having lost 104(!) times, Virgo won his first three fights, recorded a technical draw in his fourth bout before leaving for this Challenge, and won that 4-round fight by a decision against that perennial loser (Gloucestershire journeyman club fighter Lewis van Poetsch) on the undercard of a regional 135 lb. title fight in front of his home fans. Highlights of his first pro fight and his time on the island are below.
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🇬🇧 JENNIFER WEST (Survival of the Fittest)
Last year, ITV - Britain's leading commercial broadcaster and the production company behind Love Island - aired one series of a program that was billed as that show's sister, and whose concept can be described as the UK's own take on The Challenge. Survival of the Fittest took place in South Africa and pitted teams of girls and guys in a "Battle of the Sexes," with numerous physical and mental challenges combined with the contestants living together and romantic dates on the side. And like its summer counterpart, Survival also gives voting power to see who stays, who goes and who wins.
One of those who came to where the next UK Love Island series will be held was Jennifer West, a 32-year-old fitness model from Wigan in the Greater Manchester area. She described herself as loud, chatty, hardworking and ambitious, yet is one who has a soft spot in caring for even those strangers in the streets. Jenny saw SOTF as a chance for her to prove her worth in this fitness-based series, and in the end she was part of the winning team of her, Surrey's Mariam Musa, Birmingham's Mettisse Campbell and Manchester's Sam Dewhurst, and they shared in the first place prize fund of £40,000.
Long term, if she becomes a staple of The Challenge then there's the possibility about a Battle of the Bloodlines 2. Jenny is one-half of a fitness duo called The West Twins: her other half is twin sister Lucy, who have become fitness icons on social media in, as Jenny says, "... to promote a healthy and positive fitness and mental wellbeing state. We do fitness shows and always get recognised." Their Instagram following recently crossed 350,000 on their main page, and it's nearing 150K for Jenny and 80K for Lucy... and it's a safe bet they'll be frontrunners if Bloodlines 2 comes around.
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🇬🇧 TULA "BIG T" Fazakerley (Shipwrecked)
Tula "Big T" Fazakerley is a 27-year-old part-time wig-maker who was born in Malawi, but later was adopted by a London family. They also had a hand in coiningher nickname for the mere fact that she has small boobs, and she adds, "Everyone calls me Big T. It’s really funny as when people want to be formal, they call me Big T and if they are chilled out, they call me T." Big T sees herself as caring, competitive and entertaining, and who has her eyes on becoming a TV presenter (British lingo for "host" in America) and hosting her own talk show.
For someone who last went camping at age 15, going on Shipwrecked was an experience she never expected to be on the show, which as she told Radio Times, "I never thought they would pick me. I thought they would think I was too high maintenance... They picked me because they thought I would be controversial. There was no one else like me on the island." And below are some of her highlights.
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🇬🇧 SEAN LINEKER (Shipwrecked)
Sean Lineker is a 28-year-old who lives in London and is an account manager for the leading magazine for the UK's gay & lesbian crowd, Attitude. He grew up on a British Army base in Europe and along with his brother Jack who is also is gay, they struggled to come to grips with their sexuality in what's always a tense combo of gays & the military. In an interview with Attitude, Sean went into detail of what it was like to be in that environment - similar to what Danny Roberts went through on his Real World New Orleans season in 2000.
Sean was a late arrival to where Shipwrecked series 9 took place: Aitutaki in the Cook Islands for Battle of the Islands, where castaways had to choose between two islands to live in during the season. He came during the second week of the 3-week event miniseries, and opted to join the Sharks island. While there, Sean made history in having the show's first on-screen same-sex relationship with model and music festival producer Chris Jammer, which continued for some time after they left the South Pacific. And Sean's Sharks castaways won the big prize at series' end... a £50,000 paycheck.
Though not blood related, Sean also shares a familiar surname to British sports fans: 14-year club veteran and 80-capped England striker Gary Lineker is host of the BBC's football coverage and the Champions League on BT Sport, but who's best known for fulfilling a promise that the club he played 7 seasons for, 5000-1 long shot Leicester City, would win the 2016 Premier League title, and opened the first day's coverage of the 2016-17 Premiership season in his boxers.
Find me on @E4Tweets tomorrow night as a new arrival on @e4shipwrecked 🦈🐯🌴 pic.twitter.com/6Jx3cRDO7J— Sean Austen Lineker (@SeanALineker) February 7, 2019
#Shipwrecked Life Lesson: Appreciate all the good things in your life as much as our islanders appreciate Sean's leaving gifts. pic.twitter.com/gVfBt8jPiY— Shipwrecked (@e4shipwrecked) February 8, 2019
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🇬🇧 ESTHER FALANA (Internet Star)
In spring 2017, BuzzFeed found a site that they called one of "the most explosive web series you've probably never heard of," and it didn't come from a site in the U.S. It was a British site called BKChat LDN - a place for Black Twitter and those with an English accent to come to for everything related to their world as seen through the eyes of young urban Londoners who sit in their kitchen to discuss sex, relationships and the like which gets those in Britain talking just after they publish each of their videos. BKChat LDN has over 200,000 YouTube subscribers who've seen their 40-50 minute long videos 37 million times, one of a handful of places for the UK's under-represented urban community to have their voices heard.
One of those who is part of the BKChat LDN family is Esther Falana, one who is sure to be this season's one rookie who can tell it like it is and be simply be herself. It was on this show that she got backlash from the social verse for her wearing too much makeup and agreeing with the men that she wanted attention.. all part of a site that is no stranger to controversy and has gotten those on social media buzzing. When asked that she was a feminist Esther responded, "I think I'm a diplomat. I try to always look at both sides and whatever I say is based on my opinion."
For someone who's admitted to having had plastic surgery in her life, Esther makes her American breakthrough with eyes on not only continuing the Brits' strong showing since their Challenge debut last year, but also having something and someone to compete for. When not being at the debate table, she is a single mom who works three jobs: owning her own makeup artist business, selling hair extensions, and working for London's homeless population as a property assessor... showing that there's more to her than just people see on this show and on YouTube.
Nicole, Idris, Jenny, Big T, Sean and Esther... they are the rookie class of War of the Worlds 2 in the first group of newbies since the international invasion began last year that comprise entirely of overseas first-timers. One of them was on the same EOTB series as another of last season's British contingent, while two of them already have money going into this Challenge. The rest of them come from last year's British lovefest, the country's most-talked about web show and more, as they continue to narrow the gap between their country and the nation of the show they're making their debuts on. If they are able to handle what they have ahead of themselves here (and if you're in the UK, we won't ruin things until you get to see this season for the first time later this month), then they'll be fine... it is, after all, a British thing here.
- I AM DC
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