Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Temptation Island Season 5 Premiere Episode 1 Recap: Will Any Couples Survive?

Temptation Island is back for Season 5, with host Mark Walberg back in the driving seat. He’s welcoming four new couples into an experiment unlike any other. Can they survive being apart and surrounded by eight sexy singles of the opposite sex? Or are they all doomed to fail, and leave the show with somebody else on their arm? The Temptation Island Season 5 premiere was packed full of clues that it’s not all going to be smooth sailing. Here’s our Episode 1 recap. As Mark likes to say: let’s get into it.

Introducing the couples, and the season

Temptation Island Season 5 Episode 1 Recap
TEMPTATION ISLAND — “Same “Island, New Twists” Episode 501 — Pictured in this screengrab: (l-r) Kaitlin Tufts, Hall Toledano — (Photo by: USA Network)

Mark immediately jumps into the chaos that this season of Temptation Island could bring. Season 5 will feature the “temptation light” for the first time. One will be placed in both the men’s villa, and the women’s villa. If any partner gives into temptation, the light will glow, leaving one-half of the couples scrambling for information. He promises “higher stakes, and more temptation than ever before.”

Meeting the four couples poised to take part, it’s clear they all have their problems. Can any couple on the planet say they’re perfect? Probably not, but the majority won’t step in front of a television camera to let the world judge.

Kaitlin Tufts and Hall Toledano have been together for eight years in total, but did take a break after the first three. It was his idea, as he admits he wanted to “date other women.” This takes Kaitlin by surprise; he’s never expressed that this was part of his reasoning for the initial split. “We’re both good at bottling up emotions,” he tells Mark. Oh, and did I mention these two are engaged?

Roberto Mal and Vanessa Valente get a little heated from jump. “Sometimes she views me as a little boy,” he says, while Vanessa admits she is worried about their 10-year age gap. She thinks that a man should have “everything aligned” by the time they are 30, and she’s not sure she sees that in his future. Host Mark poses the question, “Is [Roberto] a work in progress for you to mould, or is he an equal partner in your relationship?” Vanessa didn’t like that one bit, replying with an “Ouch!” Still, she sticks to her guns. “A man should be a provider and protector.”

Next on the hot seat are Christopher Wells and Marisela Figueroa. They tell Mark they haven’t been able to “get along” for the past two months. Christopher says they are both “very controlling,” while she admits to being “a wall” in comparison to his emotions. They still don’t know how to communicate effectively as a couple, and he has hurt her in his past. He describes himself as a “respectable whore” in his 20s. While he doesn’t come right out and say he has cheated on Marisela, the implication is there.

Finally, Paris Pedro and Great Ezihie introduce themselves. Paris feels “disrespected,” and says that Great “talks to me like I’m a little kid.” She reveals that Great has cheated on her on more than one occasion, and this seems to upset Great. He looks as though he doesn’t want to be on the show. Paris, meanwhile, bursts into tears, and says that Great’s cheating has left her feeling “not wanted.”

One last night together

Temptation Island Season 5 Episode 1 Recap
TEMPTATION ISLAND — “Same “Island, New Twists” Episode 501 — Pictured in this screengrab: Leonila “Paris” Pedro — (Photo by: USA Network)

Mark shocks the couples when he tells them they can spend one last night together in the men’s villa. Everybody seems excited, but Vanessa just wants to get inside. It’s been raining, and she wasn’t happy when her demands for an umbrella seemed to fall on deaf ears. Roberto’s left feeling embarrassed by his other half’s behavior, and tells her that “it’s annoying to have your back when I know you’re in the wrong.” Her response? “Go f*ck yourself.” Charming.

Later, they make up, and things get a little heated in the bedroom. “I can foresee spending the rest of our lives together,” Roberto says in confessional. “[But] things do need to change.”

The sexy singles arrive

Temptation Island Season 5 Episode 1 Recap
TEMPTATION ISLAND — “Same “Island, New Twists” Episode 501 — Pictured in this screengrab: (l-r) Christian Tesoriero, Brice Robinson, Michael Zappa, Kristian Barbarich, Sebastian Baraza, Griffin Grady, Julian Bradley, Tahjjic Smith — (Photo by: USA Network)

Eight single men, and eight single women, arrive the next morning for the test of a lifetime. The couples all seem pleased to meet some new faces, but there’s a huge twist when Mark announces they can all spend their first day getting to know one another during “one big party.” They’re not going to be split up into villas just yet, because why let such a potentially dramatic first day get away?

“It’s time to gauge my competition,” Vanessa says, while Paris is feeling “a little insecure.” It doesn’t take long for Vanessa’s behavior to rub some of the single women the wrong way, as she loudly mocks their laughter. Elsewhere, Hall is clearly enjoying himself, and his alcohol. “What in the hell did I get myself into?” he asks, promising “trouble” as he flirts just a few feet away from Kaitlin. Still, he says she “loves getting hit on by guys … hopefully she’ll get over the six packs and come back to her loving man.”

Great and Paris argue a little as the day continues. Neither one like their interactions with the singles in the villa, and they’re not afraid to say it. Marisela doesn’t get much of a chance to chat to any of the singles, as Christopher pulls her away. “No more drinking,” he tells her. As she begins to tell him that her current drink isn’t alcoholic, he shushes her. Yuck.

Christopher’s behavior goes from bad to worse, when he effectively outs Marisela in front of some of the single women – as well as the world. She wants “a girlfriend” to be part of the relationship, and while she shares that information herself, she isn’t happy when talking to production. “Sometimes he just overshares,” she says through tears. “My family doesn’t know … he used my story to communication with other females.”

Temptation Island Season 5 continues Wednesdays at 9/8c on USA, streaming next day on Peacock.

TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE TEMPTATION ISLAND SEASON 5 PREMIERE? WILL ANY OF THESE COUPLES REMAIN TOGETHER AT THE END OF THE EXPERIMENT?

The post Temptation Island Season 5 Premiere, Episode 1 Recap: Will Any Couples Survive? appeared first on Reality Tea.



from Reality Tea https://www.realitytea.com/2023/06/14/temptation-island-season-5-premiere-episode-1-recap/

Kim Zolciak Defends Her Parenting Says Kroy Biermann Is Mentally Abusive

Even though it’s June, if you’re chilly, warm yourselves by the dumpster fire known as Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann’s destroyed marriage. What Real Housewives of Atlanta is lacking in content, Kim and Kroy are making up for it with no cameras.

The hits keep coming and at this point, I’m beginning to wonder what the end game will be. Kim and Kroy claim to have the best interests of their children in mind. But their public antics heartily dispute that sentiment. This week we learned Kroy believes Kim might be a danger to their kids and like clockwork, Kim has a response. TMZ has the details.

Kim calls Kroy a liar

After Kroy challenged Kim’s ability to parent, she’s now saying he’s mentally abusive and has been for quite some time. Her attorney released a statement in conjunction with Kroy’s latest implication.

David Beaudry, Kim’s lawyer, advised Kroy’s desire to showcase Kim as a bad mom is damaging to both Kim and the kids. To be fair, feral cats might do a better job with the children the way their parents are acting.

The attorney said, “The emotional and mental abuse Kim has suffered from this man for so many years has taken a toll on her and, most heartbreakingly, their children. Kim has always been an extremely devoted mother to her children; they are her entire world and she is always there to love and support them every step of the way.”

He added, “She refuses to allow Kroy to paint her as something she is not for his own gain. Kim looks forward to the day we can appear in court and solve these issues once and for all.” The general public might be checking Kim on a few of these details. It always seemed she paid more attention to her Solo cups than anything else.

Kroy’s latest move was requesting the court to set up a guardian for their four children as divorce proceedings continue. He alleged he’s tried to “protect” them but Kim repeatedly speaks in an “abusive” and “derogatory” manner about the divorce when the children are present.

As the former couple continues to bash each other and try to cement their stance as the biggest martyr, neither will voluntarily leave the home, which further places the kids in a bad situation. Team Kids.

TELL US – WHAT WILL COME OUT ABOUT KROY AND KIM NEXT? WHEN DO YOU THINK THE DIVORCE WILL BE RESOLVED? WHO WILL GET PRIMARY CUSTODY?

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The post Kim Zolciak Defends Her Parenting, Says Kroy Biermann Is Mentally Abusive appeared first on Reality Tea.



from Reality Tea https://www.realitytea.com/2023/06/14/kim-zolciak-defends-parenting-says-kroy-biermann-is-mentally-abusive/

Selling Sunset Star Amanza Smith Hospitalized With Blood Infection in Spine

Send your positive vibes to Selling Sunset star Amanza Smith because the 46-year-old real estate agent recently shared some scary health news with her Instagram followers. After dealing with a mysterious pain in her back for over a month, the mother of two finally got some answers.

Amanza shared, “Over a month ago and all of this started I thought that I had a bulging disk or a slipped disc or something wrong with my lower back that was regular.” She continued I laid in pain in my house for several days. I cried. I took Tylenol. I went to urgent care.”

The tears, Tylenol, and urgent care visits did nothing to relieve Amanza’s back pain. She received MRIs and CTs, but it wasn’t until a visit to Cedar Sinai Hospital that she finally made progress in diagnosing the problem.

Amanza’s diagnosis

On Instagram, Amanza shared some footage of her experience managing her condition. You can see her pain in the video. It’s hard to watch, but she explained how she finally received a diagnosis.

Amanza wrote, “I came to Cedar Sinai last Friday thinking that I was going to get another scan on my back and then go home. Instead, I was admitted and they immediately started testing me for things in my blood.”

The tests revealed a condition called osteomyelitis, and it’s just as scary as it sounds. It happens when an infection goes into your bones and causes swelling. In Amanza’s case, the infection went into her spine, and that’s what had been causing the back pain.

Since the diagnosis, Amanza has received antibiotics for over 10 days in the hospital to shake the blood infection. But, according to her Instagram post, she had to undergo surgery to help diminish the infection in her spine.

Although this journey for Amanza has been long and painful, she shared that she’s hopeful that once she has recovered from surgery, her back pain will start to alleviate, and she’ll be back to 100 percent soon. We’re rooting for her!

Selling Sunset Seasons 1-6 are available to stream now on Netflix.

TELL US – DO YOU HAVE ANY WORDS OF SUPPORT FOR AMANZA DURING THIS DIFFICULT TIME?

The post Selling Sunset Star Amanza Smith Hospitalized With Blood Infection in Spine appeared first on Reality Tea.



from Reality Tea https://www.realitytea.com/2023/06/14/selling-sunset-star-amanza-smith-hospitalized-blood-infection-spine/

Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 13 Reunion Part 3 Recap: A Not-So-Happy Ending for Teresa Giudice and Joe Gorga

At long last, Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 13 has come to a close. While there was plenty of screaming and shouting along the way, Andy Cohen, unfortunately, proved he’s not a miracle worker. There was no fixing the relationship between Teresa Giudice, Joe Gorga, and Melissa Gorga. Even worse, the mere presence of Luis Ruelas seems to make it that much harder. It’s an impossible feat, even for Patterson Dolores Catania.

The RHONJ reunion ended just as vitriolic as it started. The accusations about Bo Dietl’s digging remained at the center of the conversation, even though fans were left with far more questions than answers. One at the top of my list is, what in the world was John Fuda hiding in that manila folder? If you’re going to bring receipts to the reunion, USE THEM PLEASE. Or at least show us them being used! Anyway, here are five of the main takeaways from the final episode of the RHONJ Season 13 reunion.

Straight to the bottom of Luis’ pajama drawer

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW JERSEY — “Housewarming History Lesson” Episode 1304 — Pictured: (l-r) Teresa Giudice, Luis Ruelas, Milania Giudice, Gia Giudice — (Photo by: Eugene Gologursky/Bravo)

The tension was thicker than Tre’s wedding weave once the husbands entered the reunion stage for Part 3. Andy was stressing out over keeping every hot-headed member of Jersey’s cast in their seats while they were duking it out. It was interesting that Joe Gorga almost echoed his sister when answering his first question about the reunion by commenting on how fast his heart was beating. Andy initially broke the silence by asking Bill Aydin if he needed Botox. Bill kindly said it was a personal decision, but Tre didn’t hesitate to tell her boss to get rid of those wrinkles. She weakened her own argument by using Luis’ frightening face as an advertisement for the cosmetic procedure.

The real start of the reunion was Andy talking about Luis wearing Nonno’s pajamas to sleep. The host simply asked Luis, “What does that mean?” What an impactful question. Truly, Luis’ statement kept me up at night long before Bo Dietl became the demon of my RHONJ-fueled nightmares. Unfortunately, Luis wasn’t giving us A SINGLE good answer at the reunion.

Luis explained that he mixed up his words. He confirmed the pajama pants were never worn by Nonno, and he was attempting to be “endearing” toward his new family. OK, that still doesn’t explain the “safe and loving” of it all. He ended up switching the conversation about Joe Gorga’s refusal to “connect” with him as a brother-in-law. Well, maybe because he saw the long list of red flags, including the pajama comment, and rightfully wanted to keep his distance. Zero points for Luis here.

Attorney Frank Catania cracks the case of Jacqueline Laurita

WATCH WHAT HAPPENS LIVE WITH ANDY COHEN — Episode 19088 — Pictured: (l-r) Joe Gorga, Bill Aydin, Louie Ruelas, Evan Goldschneider, Frank Catania, Joe Benigno — (Photo by: Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

There was so much talk about private investigators and the FBI in this episode but somehow, it wasn’t that juicy. One comical moment was when Andy brought up Tre’s ludicrous theory that the Gorgas were partially responsible for sending her to jail. Luckily, Frank Catania was on the case.

Frank went into the episode on #TeamGorga. Dolores was keeping her distance, ready to go Patterson on anyone who tried to bring up her son working with Luis to justify their side of the argument. Frank, on the other hand, accused Luis of instructing Bo Dietl to run a smear campaign about him, so he was ready to defend himself and his former client (Tarzan).

Frank hilariously made Joe Gorga give up “attorney-client privilege” as Frank was the Gorga’s lawyer at the time. He admitted that Joe Gorga was contacted by the FBI to answer questions about Joe Giudice, not Teresa. Still, he didn’t show up to say a word. “I know he would never try to hurt me,” Tre said, although she still seems to believe the theories that Jacqueline Laurita put in her head. As Andy put it, it was the “joke of the century” to see Teresa use Jacqueline as her defense. Thankfully, he got production to roll footage to exemplify just why that is.

Luis is one of Bravo’s scariest villains

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW JERSEY — “Shots and Shade” Episode 1307 — Pictured: Luis Ruelas — (Photo by: Dave Kotinsky/Bravo)

There were almost too many eerie moments involving Luis at the reunion to rehash. John Fuda tried to confront him about reaching out to his ex-wife in jail, but Luis denied it all. Additionally, Luis confirmed his cell phone number as the one that allegedly was used to call and threaten Margaret Josephs’ son at work. But his response was to back-peddle by claiming he never actually hired Bo Dietl. Like, at all, even though he said it on camera on two separate occasions.

Luis claimed his throwing accusations about a private investigator were all “misstated out of anger.” This man has a lot of strange behavior he attributes to “anger” that Tre should be wary of. Meanwhile, in the next scene, Luis confirmed that Bo Dietl “sent” a security guard to the reunion to protect him from death threats. His story is more convoluted than Tre’s wedding hair, and I promise that’s the last time (this season) that I’ll make that joke.

Luis kept the subtle threats coming. He would say ominous statements like “Let’s play” or “Be careful” that even had me worried while I was safe at home. Joe Gorga hit it right on the money when he said that Luis looked like the Joker, and he sort of acts like him too. Tarzan went as far as to call Luis a “woman abuser” and verbalize that he wished his sister had picked a better guy. Somehow, Luis and Joe Gorga shook hands before parting ways. They agreed to forget about one another and that’s it. There were plenty of reasons to be sad watching this reunion, but every scene that centered around Luis’ villainous behavior gave me chills down my spine.

Gia Giudice enters the chat

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 11: Gia Giudice (L) and Teresa Giudice attend the “Mafia Mamma” New York screening at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on April 11, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

The Gorga siblings had to take a moment to fight about the Melissa cheating rumors. Each party gave their side of the story that didn’t add up and no one agreed, surprise surprise. They discussed the comment Gia Giudice allegedly made to her uncle about the fact that he could “do better” than Melissa. Tre called Gia on the phone on the reunion stage, who denied ever making the statement. She clarified that she had called her Zio Joe to beg him to come to the wedding but didn’t discuss the gossip. “It’s sad, Zio Joe, that you’re trying to call me a liar,” Gia said via speakerphone.

Melissa and Joe think that Tre made Gia lie and it sent Tre over the edge. She stormed off the stage and screamed for her brother not to follow her, even squeezing out a few tears. She called Gia sobbing to console her, which was uncomfortable to watch the parentification dynamic continue. Like, Gia was at Coachella, she did not want to be dealing with her family drama. Andy Cohen was dying to trade places with Gia and hang out at a resort, so that girl should’ve put her phone on “Do Not Disturb” while this chaos was being filmed.

A very unhappy ending for the Gorga siblings

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 12: (L-R) Teresa Giudice, Luis Ruelas, Melissa Gorga and Joe Gorga of The Real Housewives of New Jersey attend the 2021 Battle for Brooklyn celebrity softball game at Maimonides Park, Coney Island on August 12, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)

There was nothing but negative momentum when it comes to Tre and Joe’s relationship following this reunion. Tre approached the day, and even verbalized so, as the last day she’d ever be speaking to her brother. Joe, meanwhile, admitted that he “regret[s] it every day” that his relationship with Teresa turned out this way, but didn’t take any blame. It’s just a sad dissolution of a family that’s not fun to watch on TV.

In his final goodbye to Teresa, Joe revealed that he would “never say never” on rekindling a relationship since she is his only sister.  “I will always love you. If you got in a car accident tomorrow, I’m running by your side in that hospital,” Joe said. Tre was angry that Joe would say he’d show up when she was dead, not alive, which is apparently a saying from Nonno. Tre’s sentiment, both in Italian and English, was that her heart was broken.

Melissa even left her least-favorite sister-in-law with some thoughtful parting words. She admitted that she’ll always go with what “the family” AKA Tarzan decides to do in the future about her. “I definitely feel the hate, right, you see it,” Melissa said. “I do love you no matter what you think.” Tre didn’t return the sentiment, but at least she’s not one to fake her feelings. This is one season of Real Housewives that leaves me feeling icky and confused. Who knows where we’ll go from here, but it absolutely needs to be far away from the demonic merry-go-round that is the Gorga siblings’ relationship.

TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE FINALE OF THE RHONJ REUNION? ARE YOU SIDING WITH TERESA OR JOE AT THE END OF THE SEASON?

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from Reality Tea https://www.realitytea.com/2023/06/14/real-housewives-of-new-jersey-season-13-reunion-part-3-recap/