Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Temptation Island Season 5, Episode 8 Recap: Hall Makes His Decision

Temptation Island Recap
(Photo by: USA Network)

As Temptation Island Season 5 inches closer to its finale, big decisions are being made. It’s hard to know if anybody is going to walk away still in their couples when all is said and done. Episode 8 certainly saw the definitive end for one pair. It was a tough and emotional watch. Here’s everything that happened in Temptation Island Season 5, Episode 8.

Kaitlin is forced to recognize her worth

Temptation Island Recap
(Photo by: USA Network)

It’s the moment we were all waiting for. Hall was forced to grow a pair of balls, and tell fiancĂ©e Kaitlin exactly where his head was at. Any hope that her video message had helped him see the light was soon dashed out. “I have never had a real, emotional connection with you,” he told Kaitlin. “I forced myself to go back to you and I have been lying to myself.”

Truthfully, this was some of the most painful reality TV I’ve watched in a long time. Kaitlin deserves SO much better than this cowardly cretin, and she’s now been forced to recognize that. She even claims that she’s always known it, deep down. As Hall skittered off back to the boys’ villa, the girls rallied around Kaitlin. A teary Vanessa spoke for us all, when she said, “I hate how selfish men can be sometimes.”

If Makayla and Hall do leave the island together, something tells me that Makayla has a reckoning with reality coming her way. Sadly, the two may stick together out of spite, in the hopes of proving the naysayers wrong. Because THAT always works out…

All the single ladies

Temptation Island Recap
(Photo by: Patrick Ecclesine/USA Network)

Kaitlin officially declares herself single as the guys return to the girls’ villa. All the men have something to say about Hall. Christian declares “good riddance,” while Mike says he’s “inhumane,” and Sebastian calls him a “loser.” It’s safe to say, Kaitlin has options now.

Meanwhile, Marisela is “free to live life however I desire,” and will “never let anybody tell me what to do again.” She’s putting all of her eggs in Kristian’s basket, and their chemistry is undeniable. Whether or not that can translate to the outside world remains to be seen, but if this is simply a stepping stone in Marisela regaining her confidence, then that’s good too.

For her ex’s part, Christopher – he’s still happy he didn’t send Marisela a video message. In fact, he and the other guys – Roberto and Great – are wondering what’s happened to Hall. Makayla’s having a breakdown, feeling “guilty.” No, not because she’s helped destroy an engagement, but because Hall is “going through it.”

Hall makes his grand return

Temptation Island Recap
(Photo by: USA Network)

Upon his return to the boys’ villa, Hall pulls Makayla for a private conversation. He’s been through “every emotion,” and is exhausted. Makayla tells him she’s “never felt this way in my life,” and she’s scared. She should be. Look at this guy’s track record! Still, he says all the right things.

“You have shown me what I’ve been missing,” Hall tells her. “I need to learn to not feel guilty,” Makayla replies, as they look to the future. “We can now start building something special together,” Hall says. Good luck with that.

As the night beckons, the girls’ villa turns it up in a Pirates and Mermaids party. Kaitlin is “numb,” but thankful to have the distraction. She jumps in the swimming pool with Sebastian, and the two share a flirty kiss. Nothing major, but there are sparks flying. Over in the guys’ villa, Makayla agrees to join Hall in bed. Exactly what they get up to isn’t clear, but Hall’s nervous. He’s not invited another woman to share a bed with him for over four years. Thankfully, when we cut back to Kaitlin, she also has someone in her bed: Sebastian! Get it, Kaitlin. Though she says they only cuddled. Cute.

Dates go well, but Vanessa’s confused

Temptation Island Recap
(Photo by: Patrick Ecclesine/USA Network)

It’s time for another round of dates, and Vanessa has “mixed emotions.” While she’s enjoying her connection with Bryce, as of right now, she would still leave the island with Rob. She appreciates how supportive Bryce has been, but can she see a future with him? The problem here may be that Rob doesn’t want to give Vanessa another shot. He seems quite happy baking vegan cookies with Desiree.

Tahjjic and Paris are painting on their date. He paints a Miami seafront home, that he would love to share with Paris one day. I’m not completely sold. The award for the best date goes to Great and Nafeesah. She appears almost completely nude, with just some leaves covering her bits and bobs. Great gets to work painting a portrait, and it’s … awful. But Nafeesah seems to like it!

Marisela and Kristian continue to get on like a house on fire. She teaches him some Spanish, and her best dance moves. It’s sweet, but it’s giving vacation summer fling. Chris and Alexius also get to dancing, and Chris notes that their “initial vibe was just beautiful.”

The final solo bonfires of Temptation Island Season 5

Temptation Island Recap
(Photo by: USA Network)

Host Mark Walberg arrives for the final solo bonfires of the season. The girls are up first, and Mark is immediately on top form. He really is awesome, and seems to care about the progress these people make, either as individuals, or in their relationships.

Vanessa cries after watching Rob express himself. Despite him saying that she is “sucking the soul” out of his life, she sees it as a positive. “He finally came through for me,” she says. Vanessa is “so proud of him,” and when Mark tells her that she now has to work on herself, she says she hears him. Hopefully, this has been the wakeup call Vanessa needs. She can still be a strong, confident woman, without keeping those walls up and hurting those who love her.

Paris is next, and watches Great get dirty with Nafeesah in a car during a date, before the two share a naked shower. “It’s the same bullsh*t again,” she fumes. I’ve honestly never been more confused. She doesn’t seem to realize that Great’s actions are all as a result of her comments all the way back at the start of the experiment, as soon as she was sent to the girls’ villa. The mind boggles…

Marisela laughs off Chris’ claims she’ll come “crawling back.” It’s not going to happen; she’s done pleasing others. Kaitlin, meanwhile, is disappointed to hear Hall say he’ll give Makayla all the time she needs to live her life before they commit to children. Mark tells her she should wait for someone who’s willing to “build you a throne.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

The boys are up, and delusion strikes

(Photo by: Patrick Ecclesine/USA Network)

It’s nothing new that boys on Temptation Island are delusional. Still, they seem even more delusional than ever this season. Marisela is talking about freedom, on her video clip, for example. Chris answers this by saying he has sacrificed so much to make their relationship work. He also makes some snide comments about her being “entitled to have the freedom that she likes.”

Then there’s Rob, who watches Vanessa on a date. She says she has no idea how to focus, and is working on being vulnerable. His response? “The audacity.” What? She’s admitting she has stuff to work on. How is that a bad thing? Thankfully, Mark allows Rob to reflect on the fact that the point may have gone right over his head.

“I saw a single girl doing single things,” says Great of Paris’ video. He may be the one closest to reality, right now. Not something I saw coming. “You have a lot to talk to Paris about,” Mark tells him.

Finally, there’s Hall. You would think he would take the comments about being “selfish.” NOPE. He is mad as all hell. In fact, he’s confused. “It makes me look like a bad person,” he whines in confessional. Yup. But remember Hall, you did that all by yourself, to yourself.

Temptation Island continues Wednesdays at 9/8c on USA.

TELL US – WERE YOU SHOCKED BY HALL’S DECISION? HAS KAITLIN HAD A LUCKY ESCAPE? WILL HE DO THE SAME TO MAKAYLA? COULD THERE BE HOPE FOR VANESSA AND ROB?

The post Temptation Island Season 5, Episode 8 Recap: Hall Makes His Decision appeared first on Reality Tea.



from Reality Tea https://www.realitytea.com/2023/08/02/temptation-island-season-5-episode-8-recap/

NeNe Leakes Seemingly Confirms Shereé Whitfield Has Split From Martell Holt

Martell Holt, Sheree Whitfield
(Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

NeNe Leakes may have just spilled some major tea during her exclusive interview with former Housewives producer Carlos King. The former star of the Real Housewives of Atlanta sat down with the “king of reality TV” to chat through all things Housewives and beyond. When the pair gossiped about Season 15 of RHOA, NeNe seemingly dropped a major bomb about ShereĂ© Whitfield’s relationship with Martell Holt.

Did Shereé and Martell break up?

Although it’s unclear how close NeNe is to ShereĂ© these days, it seems as if she confirmed that Martell and the RHOA star are no more. NeNe and Carlos were chatting about Season 15 of RHOA when NeNe dropped the news about the couple.

NeNe admitted that she hadn’t been watching the show, so Carlos tried catching her up on the current cast dynamic. When Carlos reminded NeNe that ShereĂ© was a part of the current cast, NeNe hilariously asked, “And what is she doing?”

Carlos answered, “Well, she started off dating Martell,” to which NeNe replied, “Oh right, and she’s no longer with him.”

The conversation quickly moved on, and NeNe talked about how ShereĂ© doesn’t have the gravitas to carry the show as an anchor, but that’s beside the point. How did NeNe just drop that juicy little nugget of information and keep talking like it was nothing?

Some fans are probably not surprised to learn that ShereĂ© and Martell may have called it quits. Their relationship always had a big question mark over it. Martell, a star of Love and Marriage Huntsville, gained a reputation for being a not-so-great romantic partner. The father of four had a messy divorce. There was a mistress involved. It wasn’t good.

Then, on RHOA Season 15, ShereĂ© introduced Martell to the ladies, and it didn’t go well. Kenya Moore claimed that Martell slid into her DMs in the past, and then a screaming match ensued as Martell tried (and failed) to prove his innocence.

We’ll probably get an official update from ShereĂ© on her relationship with Martell when the Season 15 RHOA reunion airs. But, if it’s true that ShereĂ© is single again, let’s hope that she does a better job at picking her next partner. She deserves at least, a reliable date.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs on Bravo on Sunday nights at 8/7c.

TELL US – DO YOU THINK MARTELL AND SHEREÉ BROKE UP BASED ON WHAT NENE SAID? DID YOU EXPECT SHEREÉ AND MARTEL TO GO THE DISTANCE?

The post NeNe Leakes Seemingly Confirms Shereé Whitfield Has Split From Martell Holt appeared first on Reality Tea.



from Reality Tea https://www.realitytea.com/2023/08/02/nene-leakes-seemingly-confirms-sheree-whitfield-has-split-from-martell-holt/

NeNe Leakes Thinks She Should ‘Absolutely’ Be Bigger Than Kim Kardashian

NeNe Leakes
(Photo by Prince Williams/WireImage)

Should NeNe Leakes be on the same level as Kim Kardashian? The former Real Housewives of Atlanta star thinks so. She recently sat down for a full interview with the self-proclaimed “king of reality TV,” Carlos King. During their chat, she revealed how it felt watching the meteoric rise of the Kardashians while staying in the Housewives bubble.

Leakes or Kardashian?

During the interview with the former RHOA producer, NeNe discussed everything from her lawsuit with Bravo to her friendship with Wendy Williams. However, the conversation shifted to Kim when Carlos asked, “Do you think you should be bigger than Kim Kardashian?”

Of course, NeNe always wants to dive in head first when approached with a question like this. So, she replied, “Absolutely. If not bigger, right there with her.”

NeNe continued telling Carlos how she felt network executives pushed Kim’s career but not hers. “Kim came on after me, and they opened every door and every opportunity for her,” NeNe explained.

Just to fact-check, Keeping Up With The Kardashians premiered in October 2007. The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 1 graced the world in October 2008. So, technically NeNe came after Kim. But we get what she’s saying, and there’s no denying NeNe’s enormous impact on reality TV, especially for Black women. Quote for quote, we know that NeNe has delivered more gems than Kim has. But Kim became a billionaire, and NeNe is stuck doing YouTube interviews.

During her chat, NeNe explained how she and Kim would be put together for promotional purposes in the early days of their reality TV careers. Keep in mind both of their shows were a part of the NBC family. Still, NeNe felt that more doors opened for Kim while they closed on her, from talk show opportunities to spinoff shows.

Of course, there’s one huge factor that NeNe forgot when comparing her career to Kim’s, and that’s Kris Jenner. The momager of all momagers helped push Kim, and their entire family, into the spotlight. Who had NeNe’s back during those early RHOA days? Either way, there’s an alternate universe out there where our girl NeNe is just as famous and just as rich as Kim K.

Although NeNe is no longer a part of the show, The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 15 is currently airing on Bravo, Sunday nights at 8/7c. The Kardashians is streaming on Hulu.

TELL US – DO YOU THINK NENE’S CAREER SHOULD BE AS BIG AS KIM’S? WHY DO YOU THINK THEIR CAREERS WENT IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS?

The post NeNe Leakes Thinks She Should ‘Absolutely’ Be Bigger Than Kim Kardashian appeared first on Reality Tea.



from Reality Tea https://www.realitytea.com/2023/08/02/nene-leakes-thinks-she-should-absolutely-be-bigger-than-kim-kardashian/