The Look: The Caucus Challenge - "Worlds Collide"

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

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

NOTE: This story had been planned to go up on this site back in the fall of 2022 prior to the start of the Ride or Dies season; however due to the various things going on in this blogger's life outside of this site, this story has been pushed back by quite a bit to just before the newest season of the media franchise we have covered more than any other outside of the MTV world begins in one week from tonight.

During the course of our ten years of this DCBLOG odyssey, we have covered dozens of seasons, hundreds of episodes and just as many people across many different shows, and countless numbers of stories from around the MTV Reality world. But there has been one item that we have covered more than any other outside of our primary beat... and it's something inspired by this site's biggest draw. And just as it has been for a few shows that we've seen through over this past decade, it's something that we have followed every step of the way on here.

By now, those who've visited this site quite a bit and have seen what he's been able to do know the story: a 2017 trip to a New York City studio space saw Andres Rodriguez & his friends spend a day of their high school summer vacation getting to work out alongside the Season 30 Challenge cast. But we were drawn to them because of the fact that they had done a homemade, made for YouTube version of the big show that they got to do for fun at his house over the summer and on spring break. It's unique, original and one-of-a-kind that would make you think that what they do might be just as good as the show we cover on here the most and he obsesses over just as much as you and I.

We at DCBLOG have been able to follow not only every season of The Caucus Challenge on here, but also the various subsets of what is now the passion project that is the Dre.Media world. It has seen Dre and co. branch out of that Secaucus, NJ backyard for trips across America for multiple seasons of Real World-like docuseries The Life We Live, and spending a summer with his friend clique on Seven Mutual Friends. It's a remarkable feat of getting to produce over twenty seasons of addictive YouTube content that has entertained those wanting something else to watch in between Challenge Wednesdays and everything else on the television dial and streaming apps -- much of which during this pandemic.

But for everything this awesome kid has been able to do over the past eight years, all things revert back to the show that started it all... and last fall came the latest chapter: the thirteenth installment of The Caucus Challenge, and a season that brought different worlds to his house.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Ride or Dies - "Blind Faith"

 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 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

It's the last Sunday of this month of January... and we welcome you back to our DCBLOG coverage of The Challenge: Ride or Dies. Bear with us as we take all the time we need to get ourselves back into the groove of covering this season as we're in the midst of this busy first month of 2023 - and our tenth anniversary going MTV Reality... but for the sake of those who are just catching up on all this, we'll keep true of not spoiling all else until we get up to date on this site. But in any case, off we go...

When we last left Argentina -- and that is, Week 12 which we covered back on January 20th, TJ Lavin played the role of trivia master and Amber B. had taken out Nurys in elimination... and that caused Nelson to go into a state of panic knowing that his biggest ally had taken the flight back to La La Land. He and the rest of the challengers were feeling the heat as they went on a thrill ride aboard a chopper above the water... but his team did not take the win and they had to put someone in elimination. That would go to him... and the opposition chose Fessy -- thus, a rematch of that tense battle on Double Agents, but the result was the same: Nelly was en route back to Texas. But it was what happened before that which caused everyone to discuss the latest chapter in the #Jori soap opera.

Another couple came into this season with a title under her belt and her girl being one of the best to not win it all... as we return, the reality of Kaycee and Nany being on different teams means that, potentially, they may not make this season's final together as they did on Double Agents. The one lady who did reign on that season could be in a big spot of being saved by her boyfriend (and, as of this past week, a daddy to be) or playing for his team... just as one-half of the aforementioned people above could have karma get back to him -- and so does one of his rivals. Yes, it's quite a twisted puzzle we're trying to solve here... and there's also the matter of teams gambling in a game of Blind Faith too.

It's just under an hour from kickoff of Championship Sunday on the gridiron... but why not take some time out of your pregame festivities to join us for the Week 13 edition of the DCBLOG Challenge 'Pulse as the Ride or Dies enter the last two-third's of this season. It's all coming up after the break...

DC ExtraTime: The Challenge Goes Onto The Bachelor?

 REPOST   From October 2022

from during filming of the new Bachelor 

season, which debuts this Monday

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

Instagram @ambaaa_

There is a possible thing to look forward to for those in the know in the world of reality TV and links to Challenge Nation -- something we'll be delving into next on here before we cover the Ride or Dies premiere. But here at the end of this appetizer: a little look ahead.

Bachelor Nation is now into its traditional year-ender when it comes to the trilogy of series that airs in that love franchise, as Bachelor in Paradise continues with its eighth season down in Mexico. At the same time, filming is in full swing for the 2023 edition of The Bachelor which will begin airing in the new year on ABC, and with Zach Shallcross from the duel Bachelorette season of Gabby & Rachel given the honors to be the leading man for Season 27.

Now when we watched Double Agents two years ago, there were actually two women named Amber: Amber B. who won it all, and Amber Martinez who made her MTV debut on the most-recent season of Are You The One? -- the sexually-fluid Season 8 -- back in 2019. As we hinted in our Who Are These Newbies? intro to her that year, she was a co-host of a YouTube recap show entitled SPILL3 -- and if everything on the wire is right, there may be new episodes of that coming in 2023.

The favorite authority on all things Bachelor Nation to those on Twitter, Reality Steve, served up this latest serving of tea late last month when he reported that Amber's Spill3 co-host and cousin, Kimberly Gutierrez, is among the nearly thirty or so suitors who have been chosen to try and vie for Zach's heart on this winter's edition of The Bachelor. Safe to say, there will be plenty to spill from the Casa come January... but for now, below one of the Spill3 episodes with Kimmie and Amber -- we wonder what kind of advice the MTV'er got to tell her friend before going on her own journey to find love on TV.

  UPDATE   1/21/23

Amidst the craze of reality love taking over with the return of Amber M.'s original show AYTO returning (which we covered the Season 9 premiere on here earlier tonight) as well as her fellow Season 8 single Kariselle Snow getting yet another chance at love in her being part of the cast of Netflix's take on this whole thing Perfect Match debuting next month (she was on the cast of the widely reviled but equally hilarious Sexy Beasts as a panda), Kimberly's quest for love begins on Monday on The Bachelor. And below, her being part of the cast introductions.

Will @Zach_Shallcross meet his perfect match? 🌹 Find out when his journey as #TheBachelor begins Monday at 8/7c on ABC & Stream on Hulu! pic.twitter.com/at46lMornT

— The Bachelor (@BachelorABC) January 20, 2023

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG

The MTV Love WRAP: Are You The One? - The Season 9 Premiere (and Return)

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

Twitter/Instagram @AREUTHE1

Nine years ago this weekend, MTV brought those insomniacs who snuck around after that Teen Mom mama drama something totally different: a new take on the world of reality dating shows that combined what the channel does best in all of that over-the-top drama with a whole lot of love and a great deal of high stakes. In a week that saw a fight on Teen Mom, a triple elimination on The Challenge, the probable series finale of Siesta Key, the debut of West Hollywood's newest squad and yet another reality show appearance for one Asaf Goren, one of the many shows he's been on in this world, MTV's Are You The One?, finally returned to our consciousness and into front page status in this third week of 2023.

If you saw his cameo on RuPaul's Drag Race on Friday, Asaf added to a reality resume that includes him being part of the legacy of eight seasons of MTV's first foray into the modern reality dating phenomenon that spans eight seasons, and which have brought us plenty of that along with a slew of memorable girls, guys, couples and countless hookups. But forty months have passed since we last went into the Truth Booth -- the world as it was the past few years had to do something with it after Season 8 brought a new dimension to the theory that love is more than just guys and girls loving one another... the LGBTQ+ community is also deserving of taking part in it too.

But finally, as the world has opened back up after the pandemic so has the social romantic experiment... and Season 9 is not only taking up residency on Paramount+, it's also inviting those from around the world to join in on the fun. Twenty-two singles have traveled from the United States and six other countries to the Canary Islands, where Catfish host Kamie Crawford awaits them for this latest odyssey in finding love through laser beams, Boom Boom Room trips and matchmaking science. And though it's been three & a third years since we last enjoyed the feeling of watching this guilty pleasure, it's as if it's never left us in the amount of drama and fun for its opening stanza -- that includes a triangle, a game of Never Had I Ever and even something many of you had over the holidays.

After the break, DCBLOG brings you all that went down in the first two hours of the Global edition of Are You The One? on this premiere edition of something brand new on here: the MTV Love WRAP. And at last, welcome back lovers...

DC ExtraTime: Teen Mom Turned... Bad Mamas Club (?!?!)

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

By now, everyone in Challenge Nation and those in the land of MTV Love knows about Nelson Thomas' biggest MTV romance... and that would be none other than the infamous on- and off- fling with our only two-time Ex On The Beach single, Angela Babicz of Final Reckoning, as well as his bromance with Cory Wharton as we saw with their FaceTime on episode 12 of Ride or Dies (which we covered on here earlier tonight). All three of them know what it's like to get into some on-camera fireworks -- and it's cost all of them their places in these shows... but to think that the kind of trashy TV we love and those fights that make us want to get our bowl of popcorn would make its way to where his fellow member of this world calls home now... well, we pretty much have seen everything.

The community that Rivals III finalist and mom to Cory's first baby, and Nelson's fellow castmate on Season 3 of Are You The One, Cheyenne Floyd-Davis has been part of the past five years, the Teen Mom franchise, is into its second installment of the winter super show Family Reunion. Think, it's Real World meeting that mama drama with those from the various variations of the series living together in a far-away place from home, just as Cory got to do in his first MTV go in San Francisco long ago. It's a totally different world than what the show has gotten to document over the course of the past decade & a half of all the hardships, drama and moments that each of the moms, their families and friends get to go through every day where they live. And up until the green lighting of this spinoff, the only time these people get together is for their season-end reunions, and the occasional wedding -- and that includes Cheyenne saying "I do" to fiancé Zach Davis last year.

When she joined the Teen Mom sorority back in 2018, the series swapped the drama that surrounded Farrah Abraham (who went onto Angela's EOTB return season) for having someone of color join the franchise... and Cheyenne helped to offer advice to one of those who've come up to the series of late via the Young & Pregnant subseries, Bay Area native Ashley Jones, when she replaced Janelle Evans in the show's second generation. Before that crossover went down, in 2017 waves were made both in the Teen Mom universe and in Challenge Nation when Kailyn Lowry's ex Javi Marroquin went on a date in Austin with Tony Raines' Real World ex first baby Madison Walls... and shortly after Javi was dating another member of the mama drama family, Briana DeJesus. That led to her and Kail getting into it at one of the Teen Mom reunions a few years back... and it's as if this franchise found Farrah's replacement when it comes to the drama factor in this show born out of the spirit of 16 & Pregnant.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Ride or Dies - "Frenemy of the State"

 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 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

Well, we have made it to the third weekend of 2023... and this has quite the week Inside MTV Reality: last night saw perhaps the last dance for our friends in Siesta Key as their time in Miami came to an end. We had the return of the show that made the word "Truth Booth" part of our lexicon, and a few days ago if you thought that you were watching an episode of Bad Girls Club, well you have seen just about everything in the Teen Mom universe. But, if you are one of those who is here for the fifth major pro sport, then dive in with us as we get back into covering The Challenge: Ride or Dies.

When we last left -- and we're still behind on our episode coverage here, the game had been turned on its head with the old-fashioned midseason twist: the pairs being split into two teams... and if you thought you've seen this before, then you have after what we saw on Battle of the Bloodlines. We also got to see another rite of any Challenge season which delighted those teachers watching after giving out those fall final exams: TJ Lavin becoming Alex Trebek but without the suit and tie as he unleashed his annual game of trivia to the players and them spinning out out of control on a wheel.

At the end of Week 11, Amber excused Nurys in elimination to add to a relatively understated champ's resume... but as we return to Argentina, Devin's team knows that they are in that mode to press that panic button, so does Nelson after seeing his Ride or Die take the next flight home. He and everyone else will be feeling the heat as they take off on the latest daily mission: a ride aboard a chopper -- or make that, a ride hanging out from that flying object. But what happens here might bring another chapter to the one pair here that were ride or dies a few years back, only to be this season's most prominent exes.

After the break, it's the 'Pulse of Week 12 of The Challenge: Ride or Dies as we cross the two-thirds mark on the trek to the final... and you'll also meet Challenge Nation's newest baby. Thanks for joining us and welcome to the weekend...

Inside MTV Reality: Welcome Back to Are You The One? - Gone Global

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

It's January... that time of year when we turn the page to new beginnings, fresh starts, and hopes that the future will treat us better than what we had to endure the previous twelve months. It also means, right now especially, returns to things we were used to to begin the year -- from not worrying about hearing 24/7 Christmas music until next November, to getting to travel safely again after all this time being stuck at home... and even this site's byline above has gone a makeover in it now displaying my new LinkTree. And in the case of the subject of this first season preview post of 2023, it's something that we've not been able to say on here since before this world lost its collective mind in so many ways.

When DCBLOG started our MTV coverage ten years ago, it was during the last normal Real World season in Portland (coming this Friday to Netflix), followed by Season 24 of The Challenge - the second Rivals edition and the first of what would be five titles for C.T.  Then in early 2014 came not one, but two shows that would help to foretell the next generation of this world: the first was the twisted Real World in Ex-Plosion, whose theme of exes invading San Francisco not only gave us Cory Wharton but also predated the eventual arrival of Ex On The Beach that spring to the British tellies and where he would ultimately find love when it arrived to our shores four years later.

All Pics: MTV

The other was a totally new show that finally gave this son to two parents who double as fans of The Bachelor franchise a new entry into what has now become a hot commodity these days in the world of this genre: a romantic dating show. The concept was bold, fresh, innovative, and brought an element of high stakes not found in that other world of finding love in those weekly rose ceremonies: money at stake... not to mention the patented brand of reality only found on MTV. The result was Are You The One? -- and Season 1 gave us something rarely found anywhere: the only scientifically-proven perfect match who are still together, and who are also parents to some adorable kids a decade after they met.

Seven seasons followed in the footsteps of Amber, Ethan and The Originals: from memorable characters who later crossed over to The Challenge and other facets of pop culture, and a girl who's enjoying the good life of being a YouTube fighter's girlfriend... to another who's found her perfect match in that MTV king, and the guy who we saw playing a ukulele in New Orleans but who has made some sweet music during the time that his original show has been away from our lives. And the last time we were engaged in the world of AYTO, it was more than just finding love but also finding out about who a group of people really were when you don't have to love someone of the opposite gender.

Four long years ago in 2019 was the most recent AYTO season that gave another definition to the term "Love Wins," and now it's time for the next chapter in this journey to begin. This time, there are a whole bunch of things that are new: a new platform from which this show will be airing in the new way of watching TV. There's also a new host who knows very well this world of romance from having to catch those who are frontin' and who will later find out if the singles' exes are their next. And there is an facet that, during the winter holidays that just past, will bring an element of recent Challenge seasons and the biggest global sports events to this show: the fact that love can be from anywhere on this planet.

It has been a while since we got to say this: after the break, DCBLOG offers you our very first look at the return engagement of MTV's Are You The One?, as Season 9 takes up residency on Paramount+ with our very first Global season of the social love experiment. And at last, welcome back lovebirds...

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Ride or Dies - Spinning Out with Trivia, Two N's & a Hooters Girl

 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

Hello to all in the blogosphere and if we haven't spoken as of yet, a belated Happy New Year to you wherever you are. And we are well into a 2023 that officially marks ten years of DCBLOG and our MTV coverage -- and this begins a big time where one of the reality world's biggest hits is moving to the channel, and a show that we've followed from day 1 is moving to stream world... more here later.

For those who are into the world of the show that we follow more than any other, it has been the new year in the world of The MTV Challenge for the past few months... and Ride or Dies rages on down in Argentina. And last we brought you all the action, reaction and interaction from the home of the World Cup champions, we saw the one sign that things are about to get a bit more interesting than anything else: a change-up at midseason... it's something we refer to here as a "Teej-bomb." A game-changing twist has split up the ride or die pairs into two teams -- something similar to this occurred on the last Challenge with a similar theme of sorts on Bloodlines. And we also had some duels above the water to begin the season's second half with the help of the Shrek characters, and Horacio enter rare air of winning in elimination four times in one season as a rookie.

The midseason shakeup is one tradition we take for granted in any Challenge season, but as we return to South America another is about to be unleashed on the challengers -- and it's one that the host looks forward to every time TJ Lavin and the production big-wigs have that it scheduled on their lineup. Of course, we are talking about trivia... and not only will the brains of our competitors get tested in their eleventh daily challenge -- they have to also endure going for a ride on a wheel like they're on Wheel of Fortune. And one pair of Ride or Dies will also find themselves in the hart of the matter: one finding himself on the outs with his new team, and his partner having worries that her budding relationship might make her the next target for that plane ride back home.

Straight ahead, our first DCBLOG post of 2023 brings you the 'Pulse of Week 11 of Ride or Dies... but that is hardly the only thing that dominated the pre-Christmas buzz in Challenge Nation: we'll also have more on the exchange a player on The Challenge: USA last year had about her day job -- and it's something we have covered before. Anyway, welcome to 2023... and a Happy New Year to you.