Due to the heavy presence of graphics and video, "Who Are These Newbies?" is best experienced on desktops and fast-performing mobile devices. Some videos embedded contain adult language & situations, parental guidance is suggested.
On this last day of October and on this Halloween night we bring you into this week's MTV coverage... (offered a bit later than planned due to my YouTube work and other things) and just ahead we'll be delving into Week 3 of Season 38 of The Challenge. This is just part of a busy fall season in the reality TV world which also includes the just-premiered new season of Siesta Key which has moved down to Miami, among other things on the packed docket. But first, we offer this tradition that dates back to the beginning of this very site.
This year in Challenge Nation, we have seen part of two seasons of All-Stars and the show's first trip into the world of network television when CBS aired The Challenge: USA. Now that we are back in the MTV sphere for this fall's regular season, Season 38 brings us Ride or Dies... and the theme brings us a slew of newbies that this would easily count as another Fresh Meat season but that is not exactly the case: a few of them got to spend their time on other reality shows including a couple familiar faces to those of us who get to enjoy the whole MTV circuit beyond this Challenge world. And it also has elements of Battle of the Bloodlines and Exes too: there are siblings, significant others and friends... even a couple exes.
After the break, we begin this Rides or Dies edition of Who Are These Challenge Newbies?, starting with the ones who we know from doing these shows: a duo who comes to us from the most controversial season ever of Big Brother, those partners who have the tall task of having to tame more well-known names as their Ride or Dies, and a few others too.
Our ever-coveted title of rookie headliner in this class has been granted by us to Nurys Mateo for that she was on Season 6 of Are You The One? in 2017, and then linked up again with her partner Nelson when he invaded Malibu as an Ex on Season 2 of Ex On The Beach, where we saw Jay for the first time as did Nelson's ex Angela, Bananas' ex Morgan and many others. However after that memorable season in New Orleans (the same one that gave us Tai Verdes), we have chronicled her rise to stardom as a music video vixen, appearing with Chris Brown, Megan Thaa Stallion and making out not one but TWO(!) times with Cardi B., and those star-studded blog posts on her will have to do here instead of rehashing things... and there's another video cameo with another MTV star which we'll look into later.
The same thing of giving familiar faces a free pass will also have to do for Johnny Middlebrooks, who came here just after competing on a warmup season of sorts of All-Star Shore this summer on Paramount+, coming after being on Love Island Season 3 with another fellow rookie on this season and falling in love with Challenge USA competitor Cely Vazquez. And it's also the case likewise for Sam Bird, who we featured here after proposing to Kailah two years ago after he flew in as an Ex on Laurel & Jakk's Ex On The Beach winter season, which also featured a slew of Challenge & Real World alums. Now, let's proceed with those who will be covered on here, starting with the Big Brother alums.
ANALYSE TALAVERA
& TOMMY BRACCO
● Big Brother 21
Three years ago, we featured the postseason activities of the cast that gave us the most controversial Big Brother season ever: houseguests from Season 21 flying up to Las Vegas to mingle with other fellow alumni following the 2019 season finale. They served as a punching bag for fans for everything that was wrong in America and on the show -- racism being most paramount that cast a dark cloud above the sunny Southern California house below. It sparked a total overhaul of the show including diverse casting for all CBS reality shows, which has paid instant dividends in persons of color winning the two most recent Big Brother and Survivor seasons. And now, we have two reps from that season on this Challenge just after we saw David on C-USA.
Tommy Bracco was a 28-year-old Broadway dancer when he made his way from that popular hangout spot for reality show prospects that is Staten Island, New York to Big Brother. He saw himself as "optimistic, driven and over-the-top," while also considering himself a momma's boy in loving her homemade cooking and looking to her when it came to his BB gameplay. In the Bracco house, Tommy wanted to be the one who would be the resident parent in the house in taking care of the houseguests and making sure that they're loved just as much as Mama Bracco. One other person Tommy adored when it came to BB: another mama... Mama Day as in Da'Vonne.
When Analyse and Tommy first moved into that summer camp-themed BB house, they were part of the "Gr8ful" alliance that also included eventual winner Jackson Michie, Ex On The Beach 5's Kathryn Dunn & others who dominated the season... yet became the very root for all the problems of what you all had to endure on the live feeds and the show itself three summers ago. As for our duo, Analyse was a loyalist to the Gr8ful bunch who got involved in a showmance with Jack Andrews and became known for her cluelessness... other than that she stayed under the radar for most of the time until she was evicted in week 9 after Christie Murphy found her to be an ally to Nick Marrarone.
Tommy also preferred to not make as much noise as the rest of his alliance -- and who also had a preexisting relationship to Christie prior to moving in. But he was able to keep himself safe thanks to both her and Jack Matthews until he found himself in Double Eviction week -- and where he found himself all alone when all his allies got cut... and it was when he reached the final 5 that Tommy got framed by the champ and got evicted just before the end. But before all that, he did take the biggest stage of all: Broadway as part of the cast of the Disney musical Newsies, which we will also delve into more later on here. And he's also proud to be in the LGBTQ+ community... so does our next subject.
🏘️ 🏘️ 🏘️
JAKK MADDOX
● Laurel's Partner and Ex on
Ex On The Beach: Peak of Love
If your Paramount+ subscription is still active from having watched those three All-Stars seasons & many other things, the first four seasons of Ex On The Beach are there for your enjoyment -- and Challenge Nation has been represented in each of them along with Da'Vonne last spring. The most unique of those was the winter-themed Peak of Love, which saw Nicole Z., Jemmye and Marlon down under in New Zealand... as did Laurel as she had to deal again with the Staten Islander -- and it was also where we saw the aforementioned Sam too before he came into Kailah's heart.
But it's not just the star-studded casts that define any EOTB... some of the singles and exes that come onto each season are just ordinary people with no prior TV experience under the belts being brought onto the show the old-fashioned way. In this case, Jakk Maddox belongs in that category: he came to the Peak as an ex to American Idol and RuPaul's Drag Race icon Adore Delano -- who also happens to be a good friend with Corey Lay from Season 37 last year. Given that his season aired just before the world turned upside down, we don't really remember that much of him from that winter... we'll just let this brief clip of him and the house gasping at the champ's return make do.
🏳️🌈 🏳️🌈 🏳️🌈
THE OTHER PARTNERS
Bios Courtesy MTV.com
Finally in this first part there's the players who we don't know exactly, but you do know who their partners are from their Big Brother experience and now on The Challenge. Because we are so pressed for time and we have not much to share about these partners due to a lack of info, we have instead chosen to feature MTV's brief bios on them instead of doing the hard work of digging things up... all starting with the boyfriend of our first Big Brother houseguest turned Challenge champ.
● CHAUNCEY PALMER - Amber's Partner (Fiancé): "His name is Chauncey, not “Amber's boyfriend,” and as a rookie, he wants to make a name for himself in the game. Despite his fear of heights, Chauncey knows he's a physical powerhouse. He's ready to square up to the legends of the game, especially not knowing where he and Amber fit in the social game. Chauncey's not as trusting as his partner and would rather put his faith in the other rookies than the vets who have proven they don't have Amber's back."
● KENNY CLARK - Kaycee's Partner (Brother): "Kenny may look unassuming, but that doesn't mean he's not here to compete. Kenny knows this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete in this wild game with his sister Kaycee, and he's not about to let her down. As the only sibling pair in this game, the Clarks have a unique communication advantage."
● MORIAH JADEA - Fessy's Partner (Friend): "Moriah might be a rookie, but her unshakeable confidence doesn't come from being partnered with the absolute force that is Faysal. It comes from her natural athletic ability, charisma and brains. Moriah's the oldest of six children and lives in Orlando, FL. If she can survive theme park season, Moriah's certain she can make it through this season of The Challenge."
● RAYVN ROCHELLE - Johnny's Partner (Friend): "Ravyn was presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when Johnny called her to join him as his Ride or Die. Not only does she get a chance to win $1 million and buy her family a home, but Ravyn's looking forward to spending time alone with her partner. Nothing sounds more romantic than being one of the only rookie-rookie pairs competing against some of the most cutthroat and bloodthirsty Challengers in history."
● TAMARA ALFARO - Turbo's Partner (Friend): "Tamara has a lot to prove. Coming in with the infamous Turbo has its pros and cons, but Tamara hopes the rigorous training she has gone through with Turbo puts them in a position to win and avoid being obvious targets. Tamara plans to keep her head down and try to keep Turbo out of trouble. The training will speak for itself, but Tamara's biggest issue might be taming her partner's temper."
👪 🤼 💑
When we bring you Part 2 of the Ride or Dies edition of Who Are These Newbies? later on during this Challenge season, we'll introduce you to the rest of this year's MTV rookies -- a team with duel North American representation from outside the lower 48, and the trio who emulate from the nation of Germany. To side you over for the back half of our primer on the newcomers, we have the 'Pulse of Week 3 from last week to bring you here coming up, among other things as we take you through our coverage of this fall 2022 MTV cycle all just ahead...
- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
No comments:
Post a Comment
Got something on your mind? Let us know! But please be mindful and do not post spam or negative comments (due to that, all comments are subject to blogger approval... and we reserve the right to disable these sections if things get way out of hand).