HOLLYWOOD—I heard from a little birdie about this new reality competition series on E! “House of Villains.” I will admit at first glance I thought it was silly, I didn’t expect the series to be anything compelling, but after watching the first episode I became hooked. Why? You have some of the worst of the worst when it comes to reality TV villains battling it out to be the last one standing, who will then walk away with a $250,000 prize.
Now, some of the villains nabbed for this first season, there are some great ones. I mean you have Tiffany Pollard from “Flavor of Love” and “I Love New York.” You have Omarosa, yes that woman, who was on “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Big Brother,” and we have Jonny Fairplay from “Survivor.”
Yes, those three alone are great TV icons here. You have other villains like Johnny ‘Bananas’ from the MTV reality competition “The Challenge.” That guy stole prize money from his partner, that is brutal, and I don’t care what anyone says. We also have hot mess Bobby Lytes from “Love and Hip-Hop Miami” and the guy is just entertaining TV. There is Tanisha from “Bad Girls Club” who is iconic from that pots and pans scene from years back and it makes another appearance in this series in hilarious fashion, but not the same effect as she expects.
There is also Jax Taylor from the Bravo series “Vanderpump Rules” who was quite the villain in the first few seasons of the series that saw a massive spike in the midst of its recent scandal. Now the other three villains, Corinne who is from “The Bachelor” universe, Shake from I think “Love is Blind” and Anfisa from “90 Day Fiancé” are not all that villainous if you ask me.
The sad part about this series is that we have indeed lost Tiffany and Jax a bit earlier than I’d like to see. I mean a Tiffany versus Johnny and Omarosa battle could have been fantastic TV. The series works because the challenges are competitive for the guys and the gals. Anyone can win the competition each episode, so take note “Big Brother.”
The person who wins that competition becomes the Super Villain of the Week. That person then gets to nominate three people for banishment during a Super Villain ceremony that is quite exciting. There is a fun twist to the game though. One of the three nominees has a chance to win safety. Which means you make not one enemy, but potentially two enemies each week, as the VILLAIN OF THE WEEK. One of the two people not safe will then face a house vote and be booted from the game.
Right now, I will admit the best players in the game are Johnny Bananas and Omarosa. They are absolutely thinking long-term and strategic. I would have argued Fairplay before last week, but he made a massive goof with a decision that made him think he had all the power, only to realize he didn’t have all the power. That resulted in Bobby Lytes being in control and he was a wildcard of a wildcard and the final moments left everyone and I mean everyone including me, aghast. He nominated himself; most people with power would never do that.
FYI, Jax, Corinne and Tiffany are all out of the game already. So, we have seven players remaining, with another slated to get the boot this week, but with that move Bobby made to nominate himself, who knows how that is going to turn out. You have people who want to entertain you and that is something I want in my reality TV. “House of Villains” is a pure fun ride with laughs, fights, screaming matches and backstabbing in a way you’ve never seen before. Johnny, that note you left that placed plenty of blame on Corinne was just genius and I don’t care what anyone says. “House of Villains” airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on E!
