Reality TV Confidential

Naturally, this arrangement led us to gossip, not least when Tyrone confided to Joe that he was leaving because he needed to get his "own life back." Tyrone said he was sick of the "weird cuck shit" the married couple had gotten into ever since they'd been on the reality show. So now, Peyton is pregnant with her third child, and we all have our doubts about whether it's Andy's.

Jake & Alyssa: Where are they now?

Jake filed for divorce from Alyssa under California's no-fault divorce laws, citing "irreconcilable differences." Alyssa was utterly heartbroken. But, as much as he wanted to, Jake could not forgive her. For Jake, worse than the physical cheating was the fact that he could no longer trust her.

Only a week into his new single life, Jake crashed his Sea-Doo RXP-X into a yacht. The timing was suspicious, and we all speculated that he may have been suicidal. Miraculously, Jake survived. However, his body was severely damaged, and he had a long road to recovery ahead of him. Physically, he would never be the same again.

Jake's parents sent flowers but didn't visit him the entire time he was in the hospital. Alyssa got to the hospital immediately after the accident, but Jake ignored her. At one point, he rudely demanded that she give him a handjob while he was stuck in the hospital bed. Instead, she gave him a blowjob. Even after that, he still didn't talk to her.

Alyssa went into therapy and became aware of the emotional trauma she suffered when her dad walked out on her mom, causing her a lifetime of low self-esteem. As a result, Alyssa perceived her value to men only as a sexual object, exacerbated when Alyssa was in front of an audience; their attention was the lone affirmation of her desirability. But there was always a wound, a big pothole-sized wound, that she was trying to fill. Alyssa needed to deal with these issues before she could become a better person.

For the next year, Alyssa nursed Jake. She prepared his meals, assisted with his basic needs, monitored his medications, and helped with his housekeeping. The blowjob became a daily ritual. Alyssa didn't ask for anything in return and went home to her own apartment each night. During this time, they read books together and developed a deeper connection. So when Jake suddenly said "I love you" to Alyssa, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. They eventually decided, in a delightfully absurd twist, to remarry one another.

Julia: Where is she now?

Julia never became a famous actress. Julia did rack up a handful of TV and movie credits; however, they were usually the kind of minor roles and bit parts that required nudity or simulated sex.

I found it ironic, given her incessant complaining during the show that she wasn't physically attracted to Tyrone, that Julia got into a relationship with a UFC fighter who bore a striking resemblance to him. Like Tyrone, the man she ended up with was built like King Kong and had the same pitch-dark skin, broad nose, flared nostrils, and wide lips. They've had five children and live together but are not married. After her second baby, Julia decided to quit acting altogether.

Even though she never landed the role that would put her on the path to stardom, Julia became an Instagram influencer, amassing a vast following for pictures of her with her brood of picture-perfect mixed-race kids. The idyllic images she posts of her family make motherhood look so easy!

My (sort of) happily ever after.

While we were in pre-production, I spent a lot of time working with Eugene and realized that I was especially interested in the business end of TV development. So, I went to Columbia Business School to get an MBA. However, when I finished, I never went back to the entertainment industry. Instead, I was recruited to a hedge fund. In only a few years, I made more money than most people make in a lifetime.

I've had to do some pretty shady and sketchy things since I started working on Wall Street, yet nothing as unethical as when I worked with that small group of people in Hollywood!!

Living in New York City, I met and married a cute English guy with a sexy accent and an aristocratic background. Unfortunately, just after our third anniversary, something happened that made me almost believe in karma. I had memorized my husband's passcode and went onto his iPhone 11 Pro to send myself a photo from our vacation. To my complete surprise, the browser was open, and there were multiple tabs of amateur interracial cuckold videos and stories about wife sharing on Literotica. I was so unbelievably angry and upset! How could my husband have these abnormal and disgusting thoughts?!

"What's this?" I asked him contemptuously.

My husband, Alfie, looked panic-stricken and snatched his phone out of my hands. He hissed, "Megan, this is private," and refused to discuss it any further. Very much unlike me, I decided to drop it.

I have since found out that it's a secret fantasy for a lot of men. As I learned more, I thought back to the TV production and questioned the motives behind the genesis of this reality show. How many of the producers were aware of this not much talked about sexual fantasy? Were they covertly tapping into this aspect of the male sexual psyche and using it as an angle to attract viewers?

With a great deal of trepidation, I told my husband about my time in Hollywood and played the DVD for him. Snuggling against him on the Ligne Roset Togo modular sofa in the living room of our Brooklyn brownstone, we watched the first week of the canceled reality series. My husband was immediately entranced by the show.

Alfie asked, "How many of these marriages survived the show?"

I answered, "Two of them. Eric and Naomi split up right after the pilot wrapped."

"Two out of three ain't bad," my husband grinned, "You called Denise the Homewrecker-In-Chief because she kept talking the contestants into doing things they wouldn't normally have done; it doesn't sound like she actually wrecked marriages!"

It was too painful a memory for me to elaborate and tell him anything more about what happened. I asked carefully, "Do you think our marriage would have survived the show?"

"Of course it would have!" Alfie answered firmly, "Not that I would have been happy to see you with another man, but it would have been interesting to see how you got on with him. But your talents were better utilized elsewhere. You were absolutely brilliant as the show host!"

As we got into bed, Alfie still wanted to talk about the show. He mused, "I think the show was ahead of its time. Did you know that Temptation Island originally came out in 2001 but was canceled because it was too controversial? But then when they brought it back in 2019, it was a huge hit."

"Yes, I was aware of that," I answered, a bit coldly. "You think the timing is right for Wild or Domesticated?"

"Everything's changed because of the global pandemic, the world is a different place now, and I think America is ready for this sort of entertainment."

I laughed, "Well, we certainly weren't ready at the time! Apparently, one TV exec said reality shows have to walk a fine line between just enough exploitation, scandal, and controversy for good ratings, but not so much that the TV execs get hauled before a congressional committee. He wasn't so sure our production had stayed on the right side of that line."

My husband responded angrily, "That TV executive was probably more concerned that having an African-American as the picker would trigger a racial backlash! But after everything that's happened this past year, look at how quickly things are changing. This show couldn't be more timely. What if our partners spent a week with someone of a different race or culture, a person with whom they never would have had the opportunity to meet and marry? As a nation, if we had more intermingling, could we achieve greater unity and equity?"

I sighed, "That's very sweet, babe, but I still don't think you understand this country."

Alfie reverted to the topic of the show relaunch. He concluded, "Overall, I found the series to be quite entertaining, even suspenseful at times. Remember my mate from Oxford, the one you met at Cassandra's party? He's currently working at Netflix. I should pitch him on the concept and see what he says."

I didn't know how I felt about any of this. My mind went back to the person I used to be and how much the show changed me forever. I said warningly, "I dunno, it seems like everyone who was involved in that production ended up damaged by the experience in one way or another."

In fact, the former cast and crew had a string of bad luck recently. Levett disappeared on a trip to Bangkok in March 2020, and Tyrone was murdered outside a convenience store in Milwaukee in the middle of this summer's crime wave. The case hasn't been solved yet, but police assumed it was a gang-related shooting.

More than anything, I was scared that we were dissolving the line between fantasy and reality. I didn't want to go to where this conversation was leading. I now fully understood that my own husband might not have been all that upset if I had been a contestant on the show! Instead, he'd love to see me fool around with another man! It's so strange to think about. Picturing me getting fucked by another man, maybe even a Black man, actually turns him on!

You want to know a secret?

Kinda turns me on too.