DC ExtraTime: From Vegas to Paris - Scandal & Style with the Zitos

 CAUTION:  This story contains brief references to an adult entertainment enterprise that is not suitable to a younger readership, though with our utmost respect to sensitivity no imagery related to it is included in this article. Parental Guidance is Suggested.

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

    ESTIMATED READING TIME: 24 mins.

As we just had our first truly "normal" Thanksgiving weekend since 2019, something that's always prevalent whenever we all get together on November's fourth Thursday & its accompanying four-day weekend each fall is the importance of family. It's with that in mind that the story you're about to see bumps off what we'd normally offer on DCBLOG every weekend of covering the weekly episodes of The Challenge, and we'll feature the past couple episodes of Ride or Dies on here next week instead.

Twitter/IG @VictoriaLZito

Back in 2012, this MTV fan who had been just a loyal viewer of just one regular show on the channel and who had just joined a public social media platform in Twitter got baptized for the first time in the modern-day version of what was called back then as The Real World/Road Rules Challenge, which was ultimately shortened to just the first & last two words of that mouthful of a title. There, he got to interact with the cast of the former show being based in the Caribbean, and then stayed around to give the fifth major pro sport a try for a change... I've had a weekly midweek date with TJ Lavin & friends ever since. 

One of the most memorable moments of my decade following this Challenge beat came ten years ago this month during that first of what's now twenty-one seasons of this show in its many forms that I have watched during the past ten years: a fight between various castmates that had one of my late followers just feeling startled as to how my Twitter commentary on that solidified this newfound love affair. It came a year after one of those many involved in that fracas found himself in the heart of a scandal so big and so scandalicious that it actually put him on the cover of a supermarket tabloid magazine -- a status that was usually reserved for the likes of The Hills, Teen Mom and Jersey Shore.

And during this fall -- well after one of our co-subjects did his last Challenge and while you're busy watching this current season of Ride or Dies, the adage that good things just "run in the family" took on a whole new meaning: his sister was cast in another cable network's newest reality show taking place far away from where that story began in the capital of Sin. But thanks to one of the many themed hotels that sprung along the Las Vegas Strip during the boom decade of the '90s, it was only fitting that Paris would play host to the return to TV land of a fellow sibling. And now you can officially say that the Zito family can now lay claim to having two of their own on national TV... not many can boast that unique status. But to understand this story, it's worth rewinding the clock back a bit to more simpler times.

DC Vegas XI - A Vegas Vacation Unlike Any Other

This DCBLOG Post & Its Accompanying YouTube Series is Dedicated in Loving Memory of My Late Dad Mariano, Who Was with Me on This 2021 Vegas Trip That is Being Documented on Here, and Who Passed Away the Following Summer After a Brave Battle with Brain Cancer.

A #DCBLOG SPECIAL

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

     ESTIMATED READING TIME: 34 mins.

One year ago at this time, my world was about as perfect as you can have it... but a month earlier was somewhat different. At the beginning of October 2021, I was so busy with this very DCBLOG site and covering the one thing that takes over the full attention on here of The Challenge and the world that surrounds it & other MTV Reality shows -- this site's primary beat. But during a year where things returned to normal a bit, and where leading into Season 37 of that show I got to enjoy the one event that gives me reason to take my mind off of this hobby in the Tokyo Olympics, I never even thought that there would be something that, to me, is just as big a deal as those two events define last year.

Sports and MTV Reality shows are among my four biggest passions right now: a third is Music -- and proof of my love of that comes in another of my traditions before something big happens to me. There, I got to do something you all probably got to do when Thanksgiving comes around and just before Christmas: going on a binge-buying fest -- but not for gifts for loved ones. For there, I spent money on buying legal online music to compile a vacation playlist... for that it led into the fourth & newest member of this quartet of what I'm into the most: everything that's related to Las Vegas.

Vegas has grown from just being a small vacation town to now being in the big time, and where (as I've written here before) it has also grown in stature to me on a personal level. I first got to go there as a kid on my summer vacation back in 1994... and obviously there wasn't much to do there other than roam through the Circus Circus midway. But it was in 2007 and well after I had turned adult age that I truly got to experience Sin City for the first time... and ever since, it has almost become a bit of a personal Super Bowl to me: the single biggest occasion that I have looked forward the most almost every year for the past decade & a half.

To me, the vacations I take to Southern Nevada aren't just a simple little trip, it also feels very much like an event. Ten previous times I have gotten to venture on either that 90-minute flight or that 9-hour drive from the Bay Area to Las Vegas, and each of them have been special. I've gotten to experience a lot over the thirty-six total days of my trips over the last quarter-century, from going to the biggest hotels in town to spending quality time with family and relatives as we have also experienced the evolution of this city into a major metropolis that brings millions of people the world over to the desert. And the addition of professional sports to the town has only fueled that growth, even with many challenges including the decreased size of Lake Mead on the outskirts of town as of late.

So, to think that there would be an eleventh edition of DC VEGAS would not have been possible back during the heat of last summer and during a time where we have been reminded many times to be very cautious during this time. But as it turns out, the return of yours truly to my favorite city during a global pandemic turned out to be just as memorable as the ten others that came before it. And also, there was something just as poignant that came out of it that proved another point that's just as important.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Ride or Dies - "Get Rich or Ride or Die Tryin'"

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. Enjoy... ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Twitter @TheChallenge

And so we welcome you back not only to DCBLOG and Inside MTV Reality, but also to the biggest day on this blogger's calendar: #DCBDay. If you don't know, that's the hashtag I use for my November 13th birthday -- and we're glad you're spending part of your Sunday Funday with us, as yours truly is taking a little break from today's celebratory festivities (albeit, somewhat subdued) to bring you this week in the world of The MTV Challenge, as we enter the second month of Ride or Dies down in Argentina.

As this website's editor in chief has been away from this site the last few weeks, we've taken advantage of this special weekend to catch up on all that we've missed during this time. And yesterday it was Week 4 of Season 38, which began with our third straight entry of a veteran mercenary pair: in this case it was Darrell & Veronica. But maybe, the 4-time champ would've liked something else for his first daily as he had to face his fear of taking on heights atop a skyscraper... and in the end it was the one he stalemated with on Vendettas, Nelson, who finally snapped his 50+ day daily challenge streak with his Ex On The Beach ex Nurys. They are, of course, MTV love show alumni and for a moment, they thought that the Challenge house was the season 2 Malibu beach house all over again by the way of hookups in that love shack.

At night's end there, Analyse & Tommy paid the price for their ways of not playing the game as rookies from a Big Brother should in a Challenge house as they lost out to Kim & Colleen. But as we return to South America, there is a party vibe going on in the house that would make you think that those from the When We Were Young festival of a few weeks ago in TJ Lavin's Vegas backyard were invited to this place... and so does a prince for a certain fast food chain. That will offer a backdrop to the latest act of when things could backfire as far as new friendships being made in this game, which this week sees a relay take place by the water and where costly miscues could turn the competition on its head... and the consequences could force some veterans to maybe face the music.

So why not spend some of this #DCBDay Sunday Funday with us as, after the break, it's the SocialPulse of Week 5 (this week, in fact) of The Challenge: Ride or Dies. Thanks for joining us...

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Ride or Dies - "O'liv'n on the Edge"

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. Enjoy... ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Welcome back Inside MTV Reality at DCBLOG on this blogger's birthday weekend... and while you probably have been focused on things going outside of the passions I follow -- and I have done what I can to stay focused in those in this manic world, about a month in The Challenge: Ride or Dies has been, shall we say, what we expect from this fifth major pro sport and Wednesday night escape.

If you were with us on here last night, we began to catch ourselves up on everything that has gone on as far as all the social buzz and all else is concerned... this blogger has been busy with other things since we last posted something on here since we spoke before Halloween. But in Week 3, Tori felt like she was on Ex On The Beach for a moment as she had to endure seeing Jordan as they had to look back on their failed relationship. As far as the game was concerned, a demanding barrel daily saw Fessy & Moriah take out the win, and an all-rookie battle in a double-decker Hall Brawl saw Olivia & Horacio take on the title that the Cowboys, the Braves and others boast claim to: "America's Team."

And if that wasn't enough, TJ Lavin had yet another Teej-bomb waiting: the arrival of yet another pair of mercenaries to the game... and as we return to Argentina it's multiple champs Darrell and Veronica who have come into the picture. But the four-time titlist would want to perhaps fly back to California as his worst fear is the subject of the fourth daily challenge... and it may represent a big chance for one of those who battled him in elimination a few years back to snap a streak that stretches back a few years, just as a rookie pair is staring down a target and must think big if they want to stay in South America. And what would any MTV Reality show be without some love being made? In a house full of those who have had some history in some way of finding love or falling in love in our living rooms, several players decide to pair it off romantically in the midst of the preseason to cuffing season.

Join us here after the break as the teams will find themselves going "on the edge" on the Week 4 edition of the DCBLOG Ride or Dies Challenge Pulse... and we'll also have a reflection on a pop star taken too soon from one who shared a boxing ring with him. Thanks for joining us, and see you here shortly.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Ride or Dies - "A Bumpy Ride"

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. Enjoy... ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

It might be a bit late than we thought but on this 11/11 Veteran's Day (and Remembrance Day in Canada & Britain) we welcome you to the month of November around here, which also doubles as birthday month for this blogger -- and in fact, #DCBDay Weekend is now underway. And in the reality TV world, we're into the last weeks at the Bachelor in Paradise Mexican casa, the field for the live shows are now finalized on The Voice, and we are early into Season 38 of MTV's The Challenge: Ride or Dies.

When we were last in Argentina -- and trust us it's been a LONG time in the clock of this DCBLOG site, it was Week 2 of the new season when many a twist were thrown by TJ Lavin including him bringing out Johnny Bananas & Nany at the end of that first elimination... and they didn't waste any time getting back into the groove of things when they won that second daily game. For two players who were entering their third starts at this, there was more bad news for Nam to swallow when he couldn't even get to compete at all after the bolting of his partner... and Turbo returned from three years away resuming his old tricks, and he dared to go into elimination -- only to come up short in his first arena trip.

Also in week 2, Tori opened up about the struggles she has had with her mental health... but at night's end she was given the ultimate reality check when, after Olivia & Horacio sent Turbo home, she saw both her ex and her fellow podcast host enter the arena. It's that latest late & surprise entrance of Jordan & Aneesa that, as we return to South America, brings into focus what happened to them since we saw that proposal on War of the Worlds 2. On the game front, two totally rookie pairs try to find allies and survive a grueling trip up & down the countryside carrying barrels... while inside the house one player may find himself back in the love side of things. And we get a totally different take on a timeless Challenge classic: Hall Brawl being mixed with a symbol of the jolly folks across the Pond.

After the break, we embark on a bumpy ride through love and battle on Week 3 of the DCBLOG Season 38 Challenge Pulse... and we'll also let you in on another kind of love affair: a standout rookie from this summer's CBS Challenge who might've been a good candidate for this MTV season with her very own Ride or Die. Welcome back and thanks for joining us, and welcome to the weekend...