DC ExtraTime: Tyranny Goes On A "Blind Date"

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

We are a few weeks into Season 4 of the American version of MTV's global dating franchise, Ex On The Beach, and for the first time in any variation of the series, the backdrop is not a sandy beach in a tropical paradise and its stars are not doing tanning beneath the sun in their swimwear. In time for "cuffing season," the New Zealand resort town of Queenstown is the venue for the franchise's first winter-themed season, Peak of Love... and so far, this winter playground has seen familiar MTV faces join some of reality TV's most well-known personalities -- two newbies from Britain -- for a winter break in the snow gone bad - at least for a few of them this early on in the winter.

It was at this time in December 2016 that the cast of Are You The One? Season 5 were anticipating the launch of their season. But while the entire cast (twenty-two in total, more than the usual number of 20) were interacting with us on social media ahead of their season, they also had to make sure to carefully hide the fact of the enigma that they've had to live with since they left the matchup patio in the Dominican Republic: the heartbreak of being AYTO's only cast to lost the game for not aligning the entire house with all the perfect matches that would win them love and money. But as it turns out, with a two-time Challenge finalist in Kam Williams, a baby coming for Taylor Selfridge and many other achievements since then, they've been able to move on past that infamous moment just fine.

The arrival to our shores of Ex On The Beach from the UK and overseas not only brought a new wave of competitors to The Challenge and a spot of premiering after the relaunch of Jersey Shore, it's also represented another chance at love for those who we've enjoyed on MTV. This very fact is most especially true for Taylor's AYTO5 cast with Derrick Henry (now a bonafide dating show star), Alicia Wright and Andre Siemers on the first season, and Shannon Duffy on Season 3 earlier this year.

Tyranny Todd is now the sixth person from her AYTO5 cast to get a second chance at romance on our MTV screens - and who we last saw her get into it with Alicia on the reunion after they lost $800 grand on national TV. But in a year where romantic reality programming has become a buzz word in the TV industry this year, you probably don't know that her trip to Ex On The Beach is actually her third time being on a reality dating show.

In the prelude to her trip up to the Peak, a few weeks before her MTV return Tyranny had a chance to go for love again on a series that actually predates most of the romantic love-fests we've been enjoying this year, and one that began its run when she was a kid growing up in Augusta, GA two decades ago. For the start of this tale, you have to go back to when to when dates among people who've never even met before became more just than a local activity.

Look up the term on Wikipedia or anywhere in the dictionary, and you can remind yourself of times back then when looking for love in your hometown and going on that first date was much different than what we have nowadays in the social media age. When it comes up, the definition of "blind date" reads, "...a social engagement between two people who have not previously met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance."
   Everything that relates to a blind date is always a more tricky scenario than when one dreads going on that first date: the matchmaker has to make sure that the partners they choose are compatible with one another, especially given the unfamiliarity they have whenever they start going on relationships such as right there on the spot. Like it is for anyone who takes up a new job, neither party has any idea of what they can expect on these dates, and whether they can hit it off is just as clueless.
   The way we all go for love has evolved with the times, where the internet is being relied upon more for its influence on dating than on just local, workplace, friend circles and families as sources. And on TV, the reality dating subgenre has become perhaps the hot item on the resumes of networks in America and overseas in 2019. But there was a time back then we didn't have to swipe left on a romantic mobile app like Tinder, or had to rely on guessing who the person you're going on that first date with looks like thanks to a friend in the towns, cities and neighborhoods we all call home.
   While Bachelor Nation is the modern day king/queen of this genre, the history of love TV dates back to The Dating Game, which dates back to the 60's and has aired off & on since. In 2012, The Choice gave EOTB host Romeo Miller, Pauly D., Singled Out's Carmen Electra and other celebs a chance to go on a blind date with random people, including two future MTV'ers. And MTV itself got into the game with the 2000's show Parental Control: moms & dads setting up dates for their sons & daughters. And then, there's the subject of our story...

Jordan Gutierrez/NBCUniversal

Two decades ago this fall, the show Blind Date first took flight in broadcast syndication, running for ten seasons, 1,400+ episodes and becoming the most notable entry in the resume of its multi-talented original host, Roger Lodge. The show's format is simple: the true stars of the show are people who didn't know each other getting paired up and being sent on an adventurous rendezvous in places all over their neighborhood, with cameras following them every step of the way.
   What made Blind Date one of a kind in this reality dating genre is the commentary that appeared in the way of graphics: subtitles, animations and "thought bubbles" almost taken directly from VH1's Pop-Up Video, but becoming the visual version of what that off-camera voice of Ex On The Beach would say. That gave it its unique identity, in addition to all of what went down on the show itself, often making for often cringy, other times awkward but always fun entertainment that gave reason for Bravo (the home of Vanderpump Rules and other reality shows) to revive this series this winter.
   For this newly reimagined installment of Blind Date, one-half of the co-hosting duo of her & Sara Schaefer in both an early podcast and a 2010's late night MTV talk show, Nikki Glaser, takes over Lodge's spot as off-camera voice of the show and who continues that tradition of bringing humor to this series that, like EOTB, never takes itself too seriously. Blind Date 2019 stays true to its '99 recipe for success, while also modernizing the series to match the trends taking place on social media, and features couples of various ethnicities, sexual orientation and ages.
   As in the previous iteration, viewers will become witnesses to two unpredictable dates in each half-hour episode as they try to connect and maybe find a future soulmate. And the premise remains: the dates have no idea of who they're dating, not even from a glance on social media. And as a synopsis in the show's media presser states, "With nothing to rely on but first impressions, perhaps it's the adventure of the unknown for these daters that proves sometimes you're better off going in blind."

Twitter @MTVMystic

In Blind Date's first week back on the air in over a decade the week before Thanksgiving, Tyranny was one of its featured daters. As she stated in her introduction, she had never cheated on a man, whereas it's the opposite for the men who have cheated on her, including one who she will have to confront when she gets called to the Peak. And she got to tell the cameras, "I feel that guys don't appreciate me when they have me. And I have been #2 for so long, it's time for me to be number one."
   The person who's her suitor was 25-year-old construction worker Jamil, who has hopes for a long-term affair but who had just split off from his most recent relationship before his blind date with Tee... word supposedly got to his ex of his appearance just after he got booked for this gig. When he met her, his impressions were: "Tyranny's everything that I was looking for: beautiful smile and a very, very, very fit body." And for her on Jamil: "He's so cute. I was expecting the worse."

AYTO Reddit

   The dates that every Blind Date couple go on is split into two parts, and the first half saw Tyranny & Jamil meet up at a dance school and got schooled by an expert in the art of twerking, where those smart about this new form of dance learned that it is based on fertility dances in Western Africa. Of course, they got to twerk those bottoms off with the on-screen emojis co-starring with them. He says, "I'm feeling pretty good; I'm not gonna lie. I think there is pretty good chemistry between me and Tyranny." And she adds, "I think Jamil has a nice body. I had fun twerking on him."
   Tee and Jamil's blind date continued onward to a bar for drinks in hopes for the future and her confessing to being a lover for teddy bears. But on the ride over when they discussed their common athletic backgrounds (her in track, softball, hoops & cheerleading despite her town being home to golf's Masters Tournament; him being a football player from junior high to college) that she admitted to having had a rough time when she last dated a jock: "I feel like guys that are athletes get more attention, and they're more easily to cheat than a regular guy."

Meaww/Bravo

   It was at the bar that Jamil told her that, like what's happened to her, he had cheated on a girl before. He stated, "It was immature. It's terrible. It's a horrible thing to happen. I've come across a lot of people that have been through bad situations with an ex, and they let that hold them back from loving the next person that they come across. And I love a woman that can look past that." And while she told him that he has potential, she confessed, "I would like to catch kiss Jamil, but not this second. The chemistry's there. As long as it keeps going on this pace and he don't turn out to be some psychopath, I think we'll be just fine."
   The last stop on their tour of Atlanta brought Tyranny & Jamil to what's become a popular spot for any Blind Date couple: doing some body painting on each other and them getting into the appropriate attire. She says, "I was just, you know, ready to see a regular body with, like, maybe one pack... well, I saw seven packs. He's alright looking, know what I'm saying?" And he adds, "Tyranny is a wonderful girl, man. And I'm excited to see where things go."

That make-out sesh brought them to another date, but we don't know how it all went for Tyranny & Jamil... but this does prove her worth when it comes to love. Those who watched her on AYTO know that she and Chicago native Osvaldo Romero had a thing in the Caribbean, but that didn't work out - like many other romances on the show. With her spending winter at the Peak of Love, Tee will ultimately have to confront her past mistakes and perhaps one of the exes who cheated on her will come back into her life, perhaps if for a brief moment. But until that dreaded moment comes, for now this Southern charmer can lay claim to having looked for love in three different environments: with truth booths, in the shack of secrets and in the funniest romantic reality show there is.

Go to https://t.co/CXMwhnGchU right now and watch ya girl ! ❤️💓 pic.twitter.com/9uM0PhaS8D

— Tyranny (@ItsAll_AboutTee) November 21, 2019

- I AM DC
#DCBLOG