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Staying true to a longstanding tradition of ours, DCBLOG's "Who Are These Newbies?" offers fans & readers our chance to introduce unfamiliar faces you're seeing for the first time on these MTV Reality shows -- over 200 of them have been featured here dating back to our start in 2013. As we count down to what should be a packed Wednesday for reality fans, we continue our most extensive series of rookie primer posts yet with the second part of this four-part deep dive at this summer's rookie field.
What began twenty-two years ago with humble beginnings has turned into one of the many rites of an American summertime, and THE one thing on everyone's mind within the reality television community once you feel the heat of those dog days of summer outside. Big Brother has been a global phenomenon since it began back in 1999 when Dutch TV producer John de Mol Jr. first conceived the format for his co-owned Veronica network in the Netherlands, and a year later the series debuted in the United Kingdom to enormous buzz and later that summer here to America. It has been franchised to over 60 countries and over 500 seasons of the franchise have aired throughout the world.
We have this show to thank, or to blame, for many reasons: from the fascinating characters who get chosen every summer for this social experiment, to us armchair quarterbacking every move while watching those live feeds and the episodes. And most especially, we have Big Brother to either praise or point the finger for them igniting this crossover of the whole wide world of reality television into The Challenge... but then again you have another reason to hold onto your Paramount+ subscription once All-Stars wraps up for what begins almost immediately after the epic Wednesday that awaits us.
It all began with Natalie & Victor on Vendettas, then Paulie, Da'Vonne and Jozea the next season, Josh and the Nolan Twins on War of the Worlds, Fessy & Kaycee the following year, and Amber and Lolo most recently. And now, Big Brother has a Challenge season to call their own without having to worry about the hate coming their way from MTV fans... we'll introduce you to this season's crop of former houseguests coming into Challenge Nation, just ahead on Part 2 of "Who Are These Newbies?".
EARLIER SEASONS
ENZO PALUMBO
● Seasons 12 & 22
One who did enter the house that year was Vincenzo Palumbo, who was at the time a 32-year-old Italian American insurance adjuster from the New York City suburb of Bavonne, NJ, but who is better known by the last four letters of his given first name. Enzo described himself as "funny, likeable and obnoxious" who has the weekend park game of bocce ball as one of his favorite activities along with even rapping with his friends... and he's also most afraid of rats like so many of us. But he had just simply one strategy going into the BB house: just win, and to handle anything the show can give him.
But little did Enzo know that he would have two pieces of Big Brother history: the first is making the term "Meow Meow" part of the summer 2010 vocabulary. The other is partaking in one of the series' most legendary alliances ever: he created "The Brigade" of him, Matt, Lane and Hayden who dominated the BB12 summer in winning most challenges and controlled every eviction vote. However, when they made it to the final three Enzo was cast the lone eviction vote by eventual winner Hayden Moss and came home to Jersey in 3rd place... all without winning HOH and getting only one Veto win.
Two years ago, a second Big Brother All-Stars saw Enzo be one of the lucky sixteen chosen for another shot at the half-million that got away from him a decade earlier. This time, no change: he was in another position of alliance power as part of The Committee of him, Christmas. Cody, Dani, Memphis, Nicole F. and Tyler who held control for almost the entire summer & autumn -- proof came in winning all but two competitions, four of them belonging to Enzo himself in 2 HOH's, 1 POV & a safety challenge. He was better on the challenge side and also played safely too on the way to the final two... but a poor Q&A session with the jury say Enzo finish just one spot better than 2010: 2nd to Cody with no votes for him.
ANGELA RUMMANS
● Season 20
For the fifth BB20 houseguest to come to an MTV project, Angela Rummans was a 26-year-old South Carolinan who moved out to California to become a fitness model out west. She described herself as "scheming and spontaneous" -- something any BB house would love to have, along with being hilarious and intelligent. And Angela also came in with a big plus that made her ready for a Challenge in having had plenty of athletic experience under her belt: she was a collegiate pole vaulter and pro track & field athlete who trained at the San Diego area Olympic Training Center with Rio Team USA hopefuls and who once tried out for her high school football team -- and who also has a heart in donating to different charities monthly.
The one they referred to as "Lala" came to the BB20 house where she not only got to put her strong competitive spirit to work in the many HOH and POV challenges, but also developed a reputation for being the villain of the house. Angela also put herself in a power spot as part of the ruling Level Six alliance with her, Kaycee, Brett, Rachel, Winston and, and who would become her love -- Tyler Crispen. A month into the summer, she got backdoor Bayleigh then formed a relationship with our defending Challenge champ, and they & Tyler had their eyes on making finale week together until JC took HOH, Kaycee won POV, and Angela was sent to the jury in 4th place.
And in the time after stepping out of the BB20 house, Angela and Tyler only got closer: competing at the PBA Celebrity Invitational bowling tournament, sitting stage-side on Dancing with the Stars, and then getting engaged last year.
DAVID ALEXANDER
● Seasons 21 & 22
David Alexander was a 29-year-old Atlanta photographer when he moved into the Season 21 house three years ago, and who once shared walking the same high school hallways as Migos. For one who saw himself as positive, charismatic and energetic, he approached his strategy of going into the BB villa a bit differently: as a newcomer, he had to binge-watch the seasons while he was sequestered in his hotel to see what he can expect and what strategies to deploy... all while seeing it as "a complete shift in my routine and being around people with no escape."
As we told you here back then, David was part of the controversy that came about when he, fellow Black houseguest Kemi Fakunle, Latina-plus sized model Jessica Milagros and 54-year-old Cliff Hogg were nominated for eviction on opening night by eventual winner Jackson Michie of Nashville, which raised questions from fans on discriminating against both race and age, and in turn ignited perhaps BB's most controversial season ever. David won his way back into the house by way of a twist where he got to exhibit good social skills in the house, before he lost a last chance elimination and was evictee #1.
Knowing that he got robbed of the opportunity to really enjoy the Big Brother experience, David was invited back the following year for the Season 22 All-Stars special. This time with a fresh slate, he survived the week 2 eviction vote before earning disruptor power in week 5, which gave him he right to remove himself from a possible block from the next three eliminations, which he did the next week. Week 8 saw David take a big gamble in taking $10,000 on a POV challenge despite being nominated, and he did get evicted in 8th place.
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SEASON 23 2021
DEREK XIAO
● Finished 10th
At first glance, you'd think that he came to a TV show like this straight off the big stage of competing at a major eSports competition... but as they always say, looks can be a bit deceiving sometimes when you have some nerd glasses on like Derek Xiao does. A 24-year-old Asian American from Baltimore who was one of two such people in his high school grad class, he moved up to New York City to form a startup company and saw himself as "funny, logical and thoughtful." Going into the house, he was excited about meeting new and diverse people from across the country, while also seeing the chance to build relationships and alliances with them was going to be part of his game strategy.
Once he moved in, DX (his nickname to give himself some distinction from Derek of the Cookout) joined the Aces at the start and had to earn the season's first Veto to keep another challenger out of the block at the expense of ally Travis and gaining new alliances such as the Royal Flush. Once he took HOH duties in week 5, he gambled to take down his biggest threat of Christian while his relationship with Sarah hit a snag... which really took its toll when she took game control two weeks later. She decided as a way of revenge, she chose to backdoor Derek despite an emotional plea when facing eviction -- which he did get the boot in 10th place and became jury member #2.
Derek's gameplay -- both from a physical and mental standpoint -- garnered him enough fan favorite status to be shortlisted for a America's Favorite Houseguest nomination, which he lost the honor too. But Derek did find love in the BB house: the lady who finished two places ahead of him in the final standing, Claire Rehfuss from outside Cleveland, began dating when they were in the jury house. And word on the grapevine is that if fans' reasonings are correct, we may see Derek & Claire compete on the next season of The Amazing Race... we'll have to see if he'll be on his third reality show in 18 months.
ALYSSA LOPEZ
● Finished 7th
Like Juliette and Kelsey of the Laguna Beach of the TikTok age in Siesta Key, 24-year-old Alyssa Lopez is a swimsuit designer -- only she's been on just one season of TV compared to what will soon be five for the Florida cool kids. "Witty, sarcastic and outgoing" are the words that described herself, and who also has something in common with many a Challenge alum in having worked at the Tampa area's greatest gift to the world: a hometown Hooters restaurant. When Alyssa was picked last year, it fulfilled the fantasy of one who's watched the show since she was a teen... and where she eyed on aligning with the most powerful players while also trying to develop a good social game.
Another of her stated goals was trying to win the season's first HOH, but Frenchie had other plans: he nominated Alyssa for that dreaded spot of being first one gone, but she dodged that bullet as she got close with the aforementioned Christian. Come Week 5 Derek chose to backdoor Christian, which left Alyssa with only one ally in the eventual winner... but she did overcome that disadvantage to win two vetoes. But on Day 65, the mega-twist of a double elimination would see her go to the jury house... and so began, in order, the coronation for our next subjects.
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THE COOKOUT
Frequently, we take the opportunity to branch out of our usual weekly episode coverage to introduce those from all walks of life who've gotten to meet with MTV reality stars... all it takes is an Instagram pic or YouTube video to feature them in the sister series of this franchise, "Someone You Should Know." And last October, DCBLOG devoted an entire post to the next four people below, who together with Derek Frazier and Hannah Chaddha made TV history as "The Cookout."
Just as with the last time we were faced with a similar scenario with Swayleigh when they came onto Total Madness, that post above only offered some biographical info and only a few clips. Thus, we'll be featuring this group a bit differently than it was for the other players above in offering slightly more in-depth profiles of them than it was last time.
TIFFANY MITCHELL
● Finished 6th
The oldest member of the alliance that gave Big Brother USA its first Black winner, 40-year-old Tiffany Mitchell of Detroit is a phlebotomist who, when not in the doctor's office, loves entertaining her family and friends whether it's doing voice impersonations on a boat along Lake Michigan or at the gym. Describing herself as "kind, funny and outgoing," her strategy was to make sure to learn about all of the other houseguests while also making sure to not put it there out in the open... which she ultimately did.
As we all know Tiff helped to put together the Cookout in that first month, but while not in power pre-jury she did get to convince the house to send Frenchie, Brent and Whitney home before the master plan of getting her fellow alliance to pair up with the others in setting up the road to the final six. Things were not perfect in her plans as disagreements with others in the troupe eventually led to being evicted in 6th place as part of the summer's second double elimination.
KYLAND YOUNG
● Finished 4th
29-year-old Kyland Young grew up in Southern California's Inland Empire before driving west to Venice Beach to become an account executive. He loves going to the movies on a particular weekend, and loves to also engage in parkour, axe throwing, poker, chess, escape rooms... any type of game after he enjoys the popcorn -- Ky is a competitor born to do shows like these. And going into a different kind of game he's used to, he looked to Cody and Derrick Levasseur for the kind of game they played to their titles: a small influence, charm, strategy and showing competition strength to guide him through.
Ky's Big Brother summer began inauspiciously thanks to Frenchie's failed HOH reign: him being blindsided by being nominated but being saved by Derek's veto... and then ascending to power by taking the week 2 HOH honors. Along with the safety of those secret plans, Ky added more to both his and their games by winning several more challenges and telling those aligned with him to not go after the others, for which that manipulation didn't sit well with some of the housemates. And when the game was clinched for the Cookout, he was in the middle of two finale deals between the men and the women members, and he chose the former with him, Derek & Xavier by the time of the second double eviction. But that backfired when Xavier convinced Joe Frazier's son to evict Kyland, which he did in 4th place... which led to something more afterwards.
AZÄH AWASUM
● Finished 3th
30-year-old Azah Awasum is a sales operations manager from Baltimore who saw herself as "charismatic, crafty and clumsy. Her passport consisted of stamps from 25+ countries and, when at home, loves that pastime of doing cooking around her house and in places where any of those in her family tree might be living -- as we alluded to in our last post, her family has over 300 cousins and 50 kids thanks to her grandpa being married six times (?!).
For someone who despises showmances in any Big Brother house, Azah's strategy going in was to take notice of who the power players were, and to make sure to play for herself and not anyone else. As it turns out that would not be the case, even though she did grow to become loyal to her initial team of the Jokers. Thanks to letting her social game do the work for her, she got to stay off the block in forming bonds with those her alliance would then pick off until they got to the lucky number #6... and then the game truly began for Azah when she won her only competition for the HOH room keys. But then came the tough choices for her as she chose Hannah for eviction, and on finale night feelings about Derek F. evaporated once she was evicted into 3rd leaving it a choice between him and our last subject.
XAVIER PRATHER
● Finished 1st WINNER
He might be based in the city of those famed breweries, but his heart is in where they make those world-famous cereals... that's the case for Xavier Prather, a 27-year-old from Kalamazoo, Michigan but who has been doing business as an attorney in Milwaukee. He sees himself as fun-loving, confident and personable, and who loves to play hoops, spend quality time with family and friends (as one of eleven siblings), and being active. What he was excited about with the experience was getting to live in that famous house with Zingbot & co., but wasn't excited about being away from his mom & everyone else for the whole summer. And his strategy was to make sure to make genuine connections with the players, focus on just the game aspect of it, and adapt to any twist that might come about.
Once Xavier moved into the house as part of the Kings, he decided just to be down-to-earth instead of going in right out of the gate, and he found himself in a few alliances. But once he lost fellow King Christian before the jury phase, a player who played safely decided to turn on his first crew as his game reached a turning point heading inward. First was contributing to the secret plan with Alyssa when she nominated him, and that would bite back at her once the Cookout alliance was revealed to everyone. Once in the final six, he had a deal in place with Ky and Derek F. which then became irrelevant when the former questioned him if his nephew respected his gameplay. In the end, a unanimous 9-0 vote on finale night gave X the $750,000 check, but in the larger picture it confirmed this historic team effort.
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An important note: due to the extensive nature of our preseason coverage, we will not post our premiere edition of the DCBLOG Pulse of this season, or the social media buzz of the final three episodes of All-Stars 3, until after our entire 4-part series is posted on here. It may take a little while for me to put together all of this week's planned content that might be spilled into next week perhaps, but that's why I take a great deal in what I do: in-depth, quality-based content that takes time to put together that I've done for the last ten years, so you all can get more out of it. Thats why DCBLOG takes pride in being the fan blog site of record in both Challenge Nation and in the MTV Reality community.
With that in mind, ahead DCBLOG's deep dive into the Newbies of The Challenge: USA continues as the third part of our introductions turns to the ones who've had to endure the ultimate endurance test: going onto a season of Survivor. And we leave the last word to the houseguests... good luck everyone.
- I AM DC
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Photo Courtesies: MTV, CBS and Paramount
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