six degrees of reality tv

I am hoping that most of you are familiar with the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.’  For the minority readership who are under 35 years old, the idea of the game is that Kevin Bacon (an actor) can be connected by every other actor in Hollywood by six other actors at most.  This game was far more of a complicated exercise before IMDB existed on mobile devices because you had to remember which movies Kevin Bacon was in and then also remember all of the other movies his co-stars appeared in. 

Recently while at home performing my daily, dramatic interpretation of the movie “Groundhog Day,” I realized that most of us have at most six degrees of separation from someone who has appeared on a reality TV show.  Do you have a friend who has another friend or a relative who has appeared on “Top Chef”, “House Hunters”, “The Amazing Race” or “Survivor”? Are you lucky enough to have a personal relationship with someone from “Love is Blind,” “90 Day Fiance” or “American Idol”? I bet if you sit down and think about it, you do.

A few years ago, I found out that I had a reality tv connection that is only one degree of separation! I feel the need to give you some background on my reality tv celebrity association.  In the fall of my junior year of college, I was on the rebound from a messy summer breakup (meaning I was dumped within 24 hours of arriving home from six weeks of summer school in London) and somehow found myself dating a very good looking guy. Before we connected, I had known who he was for over two years and had considered him to be way out of my league. I don’t remember how the relationship began but I know it lasted maybe two months, which was long enough for about two or three actual dates and at least one sorority date party.

The short relationship sticks in my memory because this guy did a few things that are still brought up and laughed about by my college girlfriends. 

• He attempted to surprise me at my sorority house wearing an authentic, plush Bugs Bunny costume. The adult version of me absolutely loves that he did this but the 20 year old version of me was mortified.  Of course, I was not home when he showed up at the house but many sorority sisters were there to drink in the stunt.  
• He brought me two gifts. The first was so very greek system a la 1990 – a big plastic blue bowl that was personalized with the words, “Hands off! Study Treats!” and little stick figure popcorn people dancing all over it.  The second present was a bag of Halloween candy in a gift bag that read, “Yo! Candy Now!”

I knew the costuming and presents were entirely sweet. Those of us that watched “Sixteen Candles” in our preteen years dreamed of some cute boy making a grand gesture just like Jake Ryan.  But living in a sorority house (at least my sorority house) meant that these gestures were viewed, discussed and enjoyed over and over again.  At the end of Monday night meetings, we would conclude with “Kappa Komments” which were anonymous notes written during meeting and read aloud to the group.  You can imagine that “Yo! Candy now” and “Hands off! Study Treats!” made for exceptionally funny “komments.” I was tempted to stick with the guy for more humorous moments but the relationship just didn’t have legs.

Fast forward to 2015 and I get a phone call from one of my college roommates.  “Guess what? Your boyfriend is on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills!” Of course, I had to clarify which boyfriend she meant because she likes to refer to anyone I ever dated as my current boyfriend.  Who could I have dated that would be “Housewife” material? Of course! Mr. Yo! Candy Now!  I immediately googled his name and there he was on “Real Housewives” web site.  There were a number of articles and photos and even an article that was a modern version of a Tigerbeat favorite, “Five Fast Facts You Need to Know About Yo!Candy Now!”

I am not going to reveal Yo! Candy Now’s! real name but you will get some satisfaction knowing that he got better looking with age, dated a housewife but may have cheated on her and, based on a cursory social media check, appears to have never married.

So, there you go.  There is my reality television one degree of separation.  I also have a one degree separation from a guy who was on LA season of “The Real World” but there is not much to that story. Do you have a fun reality tv connection? Someone please tell me they know Tim Gunn from “Project Runway” or someone from an early season of “The Bachelor.”  And, of course, do not spare the detailed backstory!