DC ExtraTime: A Bachelor and a Big Brother Battle with the Bulls

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

IG @Chase_Brody_McNary & @BrettWRobinson

Ten years ago, MTV's The Real World headed to Las Vegas for the second time, where it gave us an iconic Challenger who has just hung up his uniform for the last time. Leroy Garrett made his way from being a Detroit-born garbage man to being a beloved & respected competitor in his decade-long career, despite leaving this chapter in his life as one of the best to never win a title... though having a great girlfriend in "Killa" Kam Williams doesn't hurt either after falling short on Double Agents.

When Lee made his debut on Rivals down in Costa Rica a decade ago this month almost off the plane from the desert, the one who had the enigma of being his partner was Michael Adam Royer. He might rank as one of the least-liked people in Real World history due to his obnoxious behavior, which after destroying the suite at the now-former Hard Rock Hotel (now Virgin Hotels Las Vegas) and falling in love with Nany Gonzalez. And Adam's bad boy ways continued on Rivals where he got kicked out for a second straight show for getting into it with Ty Ruff after he & Lee shockingly won that first daily challenge.

During the midst of his stay in Sin City -- and a far cry now as he's now a Orange County, CA-based lawyer, both Adam and the one who he tipped to Nany about that now infamous scandal, Dustin Zito, tried their hand at an activity that's as Americana as apple pie, blue jeans, country music and a summer's day at the local fairground. And earlier this summer, one who got to compete with Nany on War of the Worlds but who made a name for himself two times in the romantic reality television, joined with a guy who shared the same Big Brother house with four future Challengers for a night at the rodeo.

DC ExtraTime: The Life We Live Takes Texas

*** CAUTION: Videos Embedded Below Contain Adult Language and Content Intended for a Mature Audience. Viewer Discretion is Advised. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

All Photos Courtesy IG @Dre.Media

Since this DCBLOG site began covering MTV Reality eight years ago, aside from weekly episode coverage we also cover the world at large through its prism, and we've often branched out of the world that TV's most-talked about reality shows to cover other things related in one way or another to this community. That includes the amazing content created by someone who had the pleasure of meeting his favorites from The Challenge when it launched its first $1 million season back in the summer of 2017, and who's also made a name for himself as we have followed his entire odyssey on this site.

There, Secaucus, NJ native Andres Rodriguez got to meet his favorite player, several-times Challenger, Real World alum and Lohan Beach Club queen Kailah Casillas, among others at a workout event before the premiere of The Challenge XXX. Some of his good friends also came along for the trip across the Hudson River to New York City, most of whom took part in competing on The Caucus Challenge -- a homemade version of the show they love which has translated into ten seasons of them competing in Dre's backyard, plus a special spinoff last year during a family summer camping trip.

The pandemic that wrecked last year's best laid plans caused things to take a turn for something different for what the star of this show likes to call his company Dre.Media, as Andres turned his focus to a spinoff of Caucus: a Real World-inspired spinoff that brought together him, friends and strangers for a weekend retreat from real life back home for what is simply more than just your ordinary vacation. The Life We Live has brought him and his fellow travel mates to Florida, the Poconos, Upstate New York, New England and during winter break this past year to the Rocky Mountains.

And in each of those five instances, TLWL has seen plenty of drama go down, as it often does when the cameras are on and where things that happen back home also make the flight from the Tri-State Area (and now, beyond). And this Spring Break, they've once again made their way out west... this time to the state where everything is big: Texas.

MTV Reality WRAP: Siesta Key - Week Three in the Caribbean

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Instagram @SiestaKey

Hello again everyone, it's June's last weekend and the first official one of summer as far as the science of meteorology sees it... and in much of the U.S., the heat is certainly on. And the weather is also just about seasonal in the 80's in Kingstown, capital of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which is the temporary location for the cast of MTV's Siesta Key as their Caribbean summer continues.

The Key kids flew out of Florida for the summer thanks to Sam's deep wallet and immediately saw Brandon make out with Jordana, and last week saw him deal with the fallout from that hookup which was witnessed by ex Camilla and the girls from a distance. They also got some pretty bad news from back home: as she continues to better herself, Chloe decided that it's best to just spend the rest of her summer without having to worry about the cameras getting in the way... and Amanda found herself at the heart of the latest chapter in the Kelsey/Juliette beef.

But at night's end, the crew got to welcome Garrett and girlfriend Kenna to the island as did a social influencer and a few others... and they also had a slice of Ex On The Beach come by too -- the one entrance that garnered the most eyeballs was that of Garrett and Alex's ex Cara -- who we last saw up in New York City when Madisson rekindled things with Ish. And now she has returned, much to the shock of everyone... and that will make things a bit more testy as we roll along from the West Indies. And we'll head out to Palm Island just ahead... thanks for joining us.

MTV Reality WRAP: Siesta Key - Comings & Goings in the Caribbean

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Instagram @SiestaKey

On the heels of an eventful Father's Day & Juneteenth weekend, today is the Summer Solstice - best known popularly as the longest day of the year and the first full day of summer. And while you're just chillin' with a beverage in hand, our journey Inside MTV Reality at DCBLOG is plowing along with just one show we're covering on a weekly basis this summer 2021 now that The Challenge is into its offseason... though we had the pleasure of having a video postcard last week from TJ Lavin from Croatia, where a new season will commence at summer's end. But fitting for the hot times you and us now partaking, it's Siesta Key that is the focus of our summer on this site on the MTV front.

As you all are anxious to finally be able to get out of your hometown and travel, the Key crew is spending part of their summer in the Caribbean... and last we were in paradise, they were on their way from Florida to Palm Island in Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. With their extended vacation down south, that meant Brandon having to say farewell to his son but it also meant that he had the time to bring us the latest steamy MTV hookup with the one who made Juliette's painting in Jordana, just as her subject had to deal with having her man invite Kelsey along for the ride. And his ex also made a painful revelation of her having suffered a miscarriage... and had things gone her way, than BG would've found himself in the shoes of a fellow Challenge dad: being a dad to two kids.

We've had to wait quite a bit for Week 2 of the Caribbean Key extravaganza owing to country's best taking the stage in Nashville at the CMT Music Awards, but after the break get yourself set for one person deciding to take the rest of their summer off and many more arrivals to Palm Island including a potential tropical storm. And thanks for joining us on this 6/21/21 summer's day...

DC ExtraTime: Yo Gotti and DaBaby "Drop" Into the Lohan Beach Club

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Three years ago, MTV's reality scope expanded considerably with not just the return of Jersey Shore, but also the introduction to the American marketplace of its global dating franchise Ex On The Beach. What we now have with Paramount+ had its seeds planted also in 2018 when The Challenge welcomed those from the global versions of those franchises and Big Brother, proceeding the eventual re-merger of Viacom and CBS. And also in the summer of that year, there was something else...

In Europe, MTV and the people behind The Challenge and Real World, Bunim-Murray Productions, got to reconnect with one of the biggest teen idols of our generation, Lindsay Lohan, as she reemerged into the public spotlight in a different light than what we're used to: an entrepreneur living overseas. There, the Mean Girls star went about expanding her business empire to becoming the owner of her own beach club located in Greece as she went about her first summer in charge. Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club became a soap opera in itself - both on the show and off-camera, from MTV'er Kailah Casillas going against the redhead to all the drama among the other VIP's chosen by LiLo. 

We didn't get to return to the Beach Club after that lone season, but for its second year of operations Lindsay's summer club moved its home base from the beach to Athens in 2019 near her other main operation of her self-named nightclub in the Olympic city, which operates the rest of the year out of summer. Both operations were closed last year for obvious reasons, but the Lohan Beach House in Mykonos is back in business again as Greece and much of Europe reopens after the pandemic shutdown as cases drop despite the emergence of a new variant, and tourism spikes among travel-hungry travelers following the long year in lockdown.

It's with this in mind that, earlier this month, one of those who were chosen to work at the Lohan Beach Club in Greece reemerged a bit as part of the latest music video from two of the biggest heavyweights in hip-hop right now, and a video that's fueled some discussion about the latest controversy that's divided viewers: the act of colorism a year after the summer of upheaval led by Black Lives Matter.

Inside MTV Reality - MTV's Following: Bretman Rock

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Once upon a time in the early stages of its development, reality television embraced the opportunity to feature the biggest stars in showbiz in their own series: the Osbourne family, Nick Lachey & Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton & Nicole Richie, and so many more. Thursday night saw a final curtain call for the most famous celeb-reality series ever, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, which has followed over the past decade & a half the royal family of this genre, while also documenting the remarkable growth from adolescence to adulthood of Kendall, Kim, Khloé, Kourtney, Kylie and Rob.

Two years ago, MTV tapped back into this field to follow the biggest stars in YouTube in their own reality series... but not for the traditional linear cable network, but for the MTV YouTube channel. The first subject of No Filter was none other than powerhouse social influencer Tana Mongeau as cameras followed her always fascinating life as one of the biggest stars in all of YouTube. This includes, of course, her much publicized romance and even more publicized wedding night with Jake Paul, as well as friendships and relationships with family and friends in her inner circle.

For its second installment this spring, the focus of MTV Following turned its attention westward from the continental United States to our fiftieth state in the union. Awaiting the MTV cameras in the Hawaiian Islands was someone who lives his life as vibrantly as his personality, and one who had grown his profile even before the lens were focused on him, as Bretman Rock welcomed everyone to his own humble abode in this tropical paradise.

DC ExtraTime: Inside The Godfather's All-Star Golden Birthday Bash

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

At first, DCBLOG's plans for putting the punctuation mark on this early 2021 cycle of our coverage of MTV's The Challenge and the seventeenth overall season of the fifth major pro sport that we've covered in the nine years of this site had us cover the All-Stars reunion. But given the light nature of the Twitter buzz surrounding it, that won't be the case -- and the next time we bring you our signature 'Pulse episode posts will be when we commence the countdown to Season 37 at the end of this summer. So instead, we shall offer you this following special attraction for your enjoyment...

A year ago at this time as chaos reigned outside our windows, our attention was fixated on The Challenge: Total Madness and where we were joined for that fittingly titled season by a sporting public that was anxious for competition during the unprecedented sporting shutdown. While we here at DCBLOG have always strived to provide a face to the hundred or so rookies who have made their debut in the past decade through our preseason "Who Are These Newbies?" articles and the hundreds of ExtraTime stories we've done here, many of you weren't feeling them -- and would prefer more of the veterans... and the power of the people sparked a movement in Challenge Nation. 

Thanks in part to that growing sentiment, those of you who got to join a new player in the streaming wars, Paramount+, no doubt got to enjoy The Challenge: All-Stars this spring. Despite it airing not on MTV and lacking the length of its regular season counterpart, this spinoff was more than just a usual sister of the main show: it more than lived up to the hype and brought us some great entertainment with the drama we come to expect from this show with some more than familiar faces. And it was all made possible by the efforts of not only the fans, but also by one who, a quarter century ago, made his reality TV debut on the first season of Road Rules.

Mark Long is appropriately nicknamed "The Godfather" in MTV Reality circles and with good reason: him being part of that first venture in an RV across the country in 1995 brought him much stature in this community of ours, one that brought him to doing many Challenge seasons starting with the first one in its competitive form in 1999, and then to both iterations of Battle of the Sexes, the second installments of The Gauntlet and The Duel, and recently on Battle of the Exes. His efforts of leading the charge to successfully landing an All-Stars Challenge spinoff only adds to his legend... and this past week, Mark wrapped up this successful venture with a fitting birthday bash to turn the magic 50 years old.

MTV Reality WRAP: Siesta Key - Getting Shipwrecked in the Caribbean

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Well, we have made it to the first weekend of June... and as it was back in the summer of 2010, three shows are dominating the MTV buzz: the Teen Mom franchise, Jersey Shore and The Hills. But just as it was last year, summertime in MTV Reality also means Siesta Key, and we're well into Season 4 of the drama down in Florida -- but not for long as they'll soon be headed out of town.

The first month of 2021 in the Key has already been eventful, and last week saw the crew's latest party give toasts to the newly engaged couple of Madisson and Ish as they marked their engagement by the beach. But clouding over that was talk of a potential pre-nuptial agreement that was brought up by her dad just after daddy Hausberg talked to the old boss man. That gathering also gave Brandon another chance to try and appease his ex Camilla to no avail, while also filming his latest music video on a yacht. And Jules' boo Sam helped set the course for what we'll expect next when he invites everyone to a private Caribbean island paid out of his wallet.... but with one notable no-show in Chloe.

At many times during this series, the Key kids have ventured of their familiar surroundings, including Alex coming uninvited to one of Jules' college parties at Florida State up in Tallahassee on Season 1. Last year, we had four vacations out of town: Georgia for the 4th of July, Nashville afterwards with all the drama that went down there in Music City, New York City where Maddy & Ish patched things up, and the group's second trip to Miami to ring in that lost 2020. And the last time Siesta Key went down to the Caribbean, Bimini on Season 1 saw Alex & Kelsey's indiscretions surface with a harbinger of what we would ultimately see with her and Jules, among other things down in the Bahamas.

Now, the latest trip out of Sarasota and their return to the Caribbean is more than just a simple weekend retreat: it's a whole month that the cast is calling an island in the West Indies home. We'll join them down in St. Vincent and the Grenadines just ahead on the Siesta Key Wrap.

DC ExtraTime: A Ring and Number Two for Chey Not Shy

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

IG @CheyNotShy

Even before the events of the past year would rear its ugly head on us, 2020 and 2021 was anticipated in a more gentile and positive way in the MTV Reality community due to the record array and number of announcements of engagements and arrivals of new babies. And there has been a slew of them taking place in the past 24 months with those who we've enjoyed on The Challenge, Jersey and Floribama Shore, Siesta Key, Are You The One, Ex On The Beach and The Real World... but don't even make us try to mention each and every of those in this story, although this is the first of two to come.

But when it comes to those on TV's most-revered reality network getting pregnant and becoming new parents, there's one other MTV show where those instances are worthy enough to make tabloid front page news than Teen Mom, and twelve years ago this month saw the birth of a franchise that's actually longer than Jersey Shore when predecessor series 16 & Pregnant made its debut. Teen Mom 2 is currently into its 12th year with Jade Cline of Young & Pregnant (aka Teen Mom 4) replacing Chelsea Houska who departed the series last year, joining originals Kailyn Lowry and Leah Messer, and relative newbies Briana DeJesus and Ashley Siren who joined TM2 from other spinoffs of the show.

For those of us who have been more than entertained by two seasons of The Challenge airing this first half of the year - and who also follow three other shows in that first paragraph, there is reason for some of you to at least have some interest in Teen Mom. It's for the fact that the rest of the MTV Reality world is represented in this sorority by the ecosystem that surrounds the franchise's first person of color to be a leading figure in either the OG or TM2 shows - and who's also a close friend of Ashley's. And in what's been an amazing past six months for Cheyenne Floyd, it has culminated with saying "yes" to a proposal and welcoming her second kid in the space of only thirty-five days.