Who Are These Newbies? - The Challenge: Ride or Dies - Global Invasion

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.

BY DC CUEVA 

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Earlier this winter, the finest nations and the best players in the world's most popular sport converged on the Middle East for the 22nd FIFA World Cup -- a tournament that had everything. From controversy before the opening kickoff, to plenty of upsets and intriguing headlines on & off the pitch, it was capped by a classic final confirming the GOAT status of Lionel Messi. Qatar punctuated an 18-month stretch of global sport and world-class soccer that, for the first time, took place not in its traditional spot in June & July but in the fall & winter, following two Olympics held not too far away in Asia that brought the world back together. And it's with this in mind that we bring you into this second half of our traditional introduction to the newcomers of the fifth major pro sport of The MTV Challenge.

Five years ago, the competition show that was invented in America that was an offshoot of the shows that started the reality television genre began its expansion to becoming as much as a global game as the sport that those outside of North America refer to as football. To help spice up the field of prospective rookie competitors when both The Real World and Road Rules ran their courses, draft calls were sent out to some unexpected territory that foretold the eventual re-merger of their networks' respective parent companies when houseguests from CBS summer hit Big Brother began competing on Vendettas a year before the CBS/Viacom merger. Joining Natalie Negrotti & Victor Arroyo that winter of 2018 were not one, but five people with different accents hailing not far from Spain in the United Kingdom.

The entry into this world of Kyle, Melissa, Joss, Kayleigh and Rogan heralded the return to American shores of the Shore franchise (Kyle coming in between Jersey and Floribama), the arrival of their original series Ex On The Beach that came after that season, and signaled the start of The Challenge to becoming a truly global TV show where everyone in this wide world of reality TV are welcome to join in. Since then, those from the Isles, the European Union, the Middle East, the Asia/Pacific region, Latin America and outside the Paramount corporate stable have taken part in every Challenge since -- and that includes international versions of this franchise that's feeding into the Paramount+ World Championship which kicks off in early March.

As we have reached the final act on Ride or Dies, some of the rookie competitors have been more than hanging tough in this new game that is mixing both old and new... and it has given us plenty of worthy new talent that will sure carry this series forward into its next twenty-five years. But all the way back towards the beginning of this, DCBLOG conducted our annual tradition of introducing players participating on The Challenge for the very first time on Season 38. And after the break, Part 2 of "Who Are These Newbies?" shines the spotlight on the two rookies who have more than exceeded our expectations to make it to the end, along with the latest set of players to come to us from Germany.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Ride or Dies - Semifinal Week

 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 

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Good Sunday's evening to all of you on this second February's Sunday, better known as Super Bowl Sunday... and we have just witness one thriller of a final act of the 2022 NFL season. One who Challenger LaToya met a few years back, Patrick Mahomes, just led his Chiefs back over Jalen Hurts & the Eagles to claim his second Lombardi Trophy in four years... we're sure a few in Challenge Nation are whooping it up there in Kansas City. And with respect to Gordon Ramsey, we have a perfect nightcap to your festivities: DCBLOG's coverage of The Challenge, and Ride or Dies entering its very own postseason... that is, one that has a $1 million pot awaiting the challengers.

When we were last in Argentina last weekend (as this site has it on our own calendars), it was the time of season that always gives us the best clue of who is really up to the task of handling this late part of the season, the same way KC and Philly have earned their way to Arizona today. For this Challenge, the reunited Ride or Dies pairs got to endure a nighttime daily of dancing on top of a skyscraper, a wild ride solving a puzzle while riding a school bus, and going through the biggest twist yet of having three eliminated teams return for one more shot at winning their way back into the game... and also, watch the latest chapter unfold in the soap opera surrounding two former ride or die exes as well.

In the end, Jordan & Aneesa won their way back from The Challenge's own version of Redemption Island and now they, Bananas & Nany, Fessy & Moriah, Devin & Tori and Horacio & Olivia have made it into what at this site like to refer to as "Semifinal Week" -- our definition of the last regular daily challenge & elimination week before the final. For the week that will determine the field for the $1 million last act, the teams' puzzle & communication skills will be tested in a tub of cold water and where they will find who might be the most vulnerable. Whoever wins may have the biggest choice yet of who joins them in the final... and it may also bring to mind past history of one who knows what it's like to skate along to the end and also take momentum from the arena to Fort Knox.

Join us here after the break as DCBLOG brings you all the action, reaction and interaction to Week 16 of The Challenge: Ride or Dies... and we'll also let you in on who's joining the club of Challengers turned moms. Thanks for joining us, friends...

The MTV Love WRAP: Are You The One? Global - Heaven, Hell, Triangles & a Match

BY DC CUEVA 

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Hello there again... it's the second weekend of February, and you still got some time to make your plans for the abundance of Valentine's Day activities that are on offer in a few days -- from dinner dates at the local restaurant to classroom candy giveaways. We're also in the midst of a juicy time in love TV as we're a few weeks into MTV's Are You The One?, and the Paramount+ Global Season... and if you're in Australia don't even bare to read below though you will have the pleasure of getting to see this debut on the magic day of this Tuesday (Monday for us Americans).

The first two weeks of our first AYTO since 2019 have certainly offered a whole lot: first night hookups, a first-ever first matchup blackout, and as of last time out: awkwardness. Leo's choice to pick CC on his getaway date backfired on the former basketballer and Holey Moley contestant, as the house tried to pick up the pieces from losing $250,000 right out of the gate and trying desperately to perform some damage control as a result of that. But despite that misstep, it appears that the house has righted the ship to finally get on the board with their first two light beams in week two.

If you're a longtime fan of MTV love, then you know that partying is something else in this world -- and it makes those opening night orientations on The Bachelor feel like they're intimate social gatherings.

We can think of the white party that the Season 1 originals had back then, Nelson dressing up as a lobster in the Ex On The Beach villa, or that crazy time in Vegas on Double Shot at Love. And, there is also the matter of what is a no-no in this game... after the break, we have the latest addition to that list of fun after dark and a non-match not separating as Weeks 3 & 4 of Are You The One? Global throw a Love & Lust Party and a dose of good news from the Suites on our Love WRAP.

Inside MTV Reality: It's Ex On The Beach... Couples Style

BY DC CUEVA 

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As we enter this second week of February, we are now in the homestretch of what is known popularly around the world as "cuffing season." Just in case you aren't in the know of what that is about: it's that time during the fall and winter where single people search for their companions to keep them warm and cuddly during the colder months... from the pumpkin spice lattes of October through the merry time of the Christmas holidays and that New Year's kiss. And of course, it reaches its climax on the global holiday of love on this planet, Valentine's Day -- and that's over a week from now on Tuesday, February 14th, two days after the Super Bowl.

For those who are into the world of love, there's no shortage of that in the world of reality TV: we are two weeks into 2023 in Bachelor Nation as Zach Shallcross looks to land his love on The Bachelor -- where one of the worthy suitors is Kimberly Gutierrez, podcast colleague of Are You The One? alumnus & Challenger Amber Martinez. We're sure that Amber gave some advice to Kim on how to handle the heat of a reality dating show, the same way she got to experience that back in 2019 on Season 8, and for which her successors are a few weeks into the MTV show's return engagement on Paramount+. And in Britain, the focus there reality-wise is on an winter series of summer favorite Love Island.

It is the jolly folks there in the United Kingdom that also gave the world MTV's other romantic reality entry Ex On The Beach... and this year marks five years since it made its American debut with Cory, Taylor, Paulie, Angela and that original batch of reality all-stars. Each cast of the U.S. show since then has had a similar makeup: a who's who of familiar faces that we and the broader reality fandom know from AYTO, The Challenge and any global reality franchise you can think of -- and that includes that land of roses -- has had to endure that dreaded moment of them seeing their exes invade the dreaded Beach of Doom as answers to the question, "Whose Ex is Next?" We've seen plenty go down.

Like AYTO, the EOTB villa and the sands on the beach were getting rusted up by the pandemic... but last year Ex USA returned as Big Brother and Challenge queen Da'Vonne headlined the Season 5 cast, joined by Double Shot at Love suitor Derynn and a competitor on that season's CBS Challenge Kyra... along with a slew of other reality alumni from both within and outside the Paramount corporate fold from Love Island to Too Hot to Handle. But the spotlight was stolen by the up and down romance of a VIP of the Lindsay Lohan Beach Club in Mike and his trans supermodel ex Arisce.

Now as we are just a few days out from V-Day '23, things are about to be switched up big time by the Beach: this time for the first time anywhere in this global franchise, it's couples who are about to go through the ringer. In time for Valentine's Day, welcome to Ex On The Beach, Couples Style.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Ride or Dies - Twisted by Balls, Buses, Knots and Terror

 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 

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It's the first Sunday in February, where in past years this has meant Super Bowl Sunday... but with the NFL's change to a 17-game regular season that is next week as Kansas City and Philadelphia will duke it out in the Arizonan desert. But for those hungry for some actual competition outside of that new format for the Pro Bowl, there's LeBron's quest to become the NBA's newest scoring king, the NHL All-Star Game yesterday, NASCAR tonight at the LA Coliseum, golf at Pebble Beach, plenty of college hoops, and the network debut of Bellator. And then, there's The Challenge: Ride or Dies...

We are into the stretch run that will take the teams that are left in Argentina to the start line of the final challenge... but in the calendar of this DCBLOG site we are at the Week 14 mark. When we last left at the end of Episode 13 -- right at the two-thirds marker, there was a bit of concern for two couples: Nany & Kaycee on different teams, and Amber & Chauncey as during the week's daily he faced having to play for his team or playing it safe just to keep her out of elimination. At week's end, it was Fessy who had to face the music and have karma come back to him and Moriah for their burned vote gone bad as she went into elimination and fell to Nany.

Now, things are about to get crazy as we return down under: you, our readers, will get two for the price of one this week on here: a rare daily challenge taking place at night will come to terrify the pairs as they try to dance their way atop a skyscraper... followed by them taking on a sight synonymous with morning fun: riding a school bus while trying to solve a puzzle. We also have the latest saga to take place in the #Jori soap opera which may reach a potentially big breaking point... but that will pale in comparison with what the teams will have to endure: another Teej-bomb that may change the game again.

After the break, DCBLOG brings you a Double Shot of the Challenge Pulse: an expanded edition covering Episodes 14 & 15 of Ride or Dies. And thank you for joining on in on this Sunday Funday...

The MTV Love WRAP: Are You The One? Global - Week 2

BY DC CUEVA 

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It's the first weekend of the second month of 2023... and if you're reading this post while in the mood for some lovin', you now officially have 10 days (and this 2/3/23 Friday) to prepare yourself for the Super Bowl of Love that comes two days after the actual Super Bowl: that would, of course, be Valentine's Day. And in scaring you with trying to figure out how you'll be spending that Tuesday night in a fortnight, we got this edition of the DCBLOG MTV Love WRAP to share with you as we cover Are You The One? Global... and we sure have missed being around the Truth Booth.

The big show known simply as AYTO has returned into our hearts for the first time since September 2019 and before this world lost its collective mind... but it was as if things picked up right where the Come One, Come All season 8 left off. That would be of all the debauchery that takes place whenever you have some hot girls and guys sharing quarters on a reality dating show... and in this case, we had your favorite icebreaker game of Never Have I Ever spark plenty of hookups -- as well as identify candidates for this year's "F-Boy"... none other than the DJ with the blond hair, Brandan. But all the fun that the house had to begin this return engagement did not prepare them for the rude awakening they got.

That would be an unprecedented first in series history of a week 1 blackout -- no lights in the first matchup ceremony in forty months... which cost them $250,000. It has certainly rattled the house the same way that a 4.1 earthquake & a 3.2 aftershock shook Los Angeles just as those who stayed up for the midnight episode release here out west. But as we return to the house, there may be nerves rattled but always plenty of optimism that comes with a fresh start... and after the break & later than billed, the MTV Love WRAP brings you week 2 of AYTO Season 9. And welcome to the weekend, lovebirds...