A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila
Encyclopedia
A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila is an American
reality television
dating game show
similar to the TV show The Bachelor. It premiered on October 9, 2007 on MTV
starring Tila Tequila. The series is a bisexual
-themed reality dating show where 16 straight
males and 16 lesbian
-identified female contestants live in Tequila's house and compete for her attention and affection. The contestants were not aware of Tequila's bisexuality until the end of the first episode, after ten contestants had been eliminated. The remaining contestants, both male and female, then shared the same home for the remainder of the series. The ten episode series is produced by 495 Productions and MTV. A Shot at Love II
premiered on April 22, 2008.
(August 27, 2007) and tied with Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County
(August 15, 2007).
The first season finale had 6.2 million viewers, which at at the time was MTV's most watched series telecast.
on September 13, 2007. Tequila wrote a response in her blog on September 28, 2007, criticizing churches for "bashing" the gay community while thanking God for saving her life. Criticism of the show has come from the Culture and Media Institute, Media Research Center
and Parents Television Council
, which named two episodes of the show the "Worst Cable Content of the Week".
Fox News and others stated that Tequila had a steady boyfriend and that the show was a sham, and that she is not bisexual. They cite New York Post
's Page Six article. Tequila stated:
On December 30, 2007, the winning contestant of the season, Bobby Banhart, posted a message on MySpace
stating, "She never called me after the last show and no one would give me her number."
Tequila offered her own reasoning for why they broke up:
Tequila later came out as a lesbian
(as opposed to a bisexual) and stated that she wanted to pick Dani Campbell
but the producers made her pick Bobby.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
dating game show
Dating game show
Dating game shows are television game shows, some say reality game shows, that incorporate a dating system in the form of a game with clear rules. Human matchmaking is involved only in selecting the game's contestants - usually for amusement value as opposed to any concern for their happiness or...
similar to the TV show The Bachelor. It premiered on October 9, 2007 on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
starring Tila Tequila. The series is a bisexual
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
-themed reality dating show where 16 straight
Heterosexuality
Heterosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, physical or romantic attractions to persons of the opposite sex";...
males and 16 lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
-identified female contestants live in Tequila's house and compete for her attention and affection. The contestants were not aware of Tequila's bisexuality until the end of the first episode, after ten contestants had been eliminated. The remaining contestants, both male and female, then shared the same home for the remainder of the series. The ten episode series is produced by 495 Productions and MTV. A Shot at Love II
A Shot at Love II with Tila Tequila
A Shot at Love II with Tila Tequila is an American reality television dating game show. It is the follow-up season to A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila. The series is a bisexual-themed dating competition where 15 straight males and 15 lesbian females live in a house with Tila Tequila and compete for...
premiered on April 22, 2008.
Ratings
The show debuted at No. 1 in its time period across all of cable in the network's target demographic of persons 18-34, averaging a 2.0 rating. It became MTV's second highest-rated series premiere for the year, behind Life of RyanLife of Ryan
Life of Ryan is a reality show following the life of pro skateboarder Ryan Sheckler. Each episode is 22 minutes long and follows Ryan, his family, and friends through the various twists and turns of life as a skater. Most episodes were filmed in and around the Sheckler household in San Clemente,...
(August 27, 2007) and tied with Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County
Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County
Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County, also known simply as Newport Harbor, is the replacement show of MTV's Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. Just like its predecessor, the show documents the lives of several teenagers living in Newport Beach, California, a beachside community located in...
(August 15, 2007).
The first season finale had 6.2 million viewers, which at at the time was MTV's most watched series telecast.
Criticism and controversy
The show was the subject of a heated online debate. An article critical of the show appeared on The Christian PostThe Christian Post
The Christian Post is a pan-denominational, Evangelical Christian newspaper based in Washington, D.C..Launched initially as an online publication, the newspaper was founded in 2000 to deliver news, information, and commentaries relevant to Christians across denominational lines and to bring greater...
on September 13, 2007. Tequila wrote a response in her blog on September 28, 2007, criticizing churches for "bashing" the gay community while thanking God for saving her life. Criticism of the show has come from the Culture and Media Institute, Media Research Center
Media Research Center
The Media Research Center is a content analysis organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, founded in 1987 by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III...
and Parents Television Council
Parents Television Council
The Parents Television Council is a U.S. based advocacy group founded by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995 using the National Legion of Decency as a model...
, which named two episodes of the show the "Worst Cable Content of the Week".
Fox News and others stated that Tequila had a steady boyfriend and that the show was a sham, and that she is not bisexual. They cite New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
's Page Six article. Tequila stated:
On December 30, 2007, the winning contestant of the season, Bobby Banhart, posted a message on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
stating, "She never called me after the last show and no one would give me her number."
Tequila offered her own reasoning for why they broke up:
Tequila later came out as a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
(as opposed to a bisexual) and stated that she wanted to pick Dani Campbell
Dani Campbell
Dani Campbell is an American reality television participant who became notable in the lesbian community as a symbol of self-assurance, causing Curve to call her "the first lesbian girl next door," and the Miami Herald to declare her South Florida's "most eligible lesbian." She was the runner-up in...
but the producers made her pick Bobby.
Spin-offs, supplements, seasons 2 and 3
- A Shot at Love: The Hangover is a supplementary show that shows clips and interviews guests as a recap to the show. It premiered on November 13, 2007 on MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
starring Ryan StoutRyan StoutRyan Matthew Stout , is an American stand-up comedian and television host.-Early life:Ryan Stout was born in Cleveland and grew up in El Paso, Texas, and graduated from J.M. Hanks High School in 2000. He attended The College of Santa Fe as a Theater Arts major , but left the school after his first...
. The show's debut averaged a 2.85 rating. - A Shot at Love II with Tila TequilaA Shot at Love II with Tila TequilaA Shot at Love II with Tila Tequila is an American reality television dating game show. It is the follow-up season to A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila. The series is a bisexual-themed dating competition where 15 straight males and 15 lesbian females live in a house with Tila Tequila and compete for...
- The second season premiered on April 22, 2008, and follows the same bisexual-bachelorette formula. The premiere date was announced on Tila Tequila's Spring Break Fantasy Couple. It is set in a Hollywood HillsHollywood HillsThe Hollywood Hills is an affluent and exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the southeastern Santa Monica Mountains. It is bound by Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west, Vermont Avenue to the east, Mulholland Drive to the north, and Sunset Boulevard to the south.-Hollywood Hills...
mansion (the same one as the second season of Rock of Love). It was planned to be aired after That's Amoré!That's Amore! (TV series)That's Amore! is a reality television show that aired on MTV in early 2008. It is a spin-off of MTV's A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila. The show stars Domenico Nesci, a 5-foot-3-inch Italian who had been a contestant on A Shot at Love. One of the other contestants from the previous show, Ashley...
Tequila announced at her Masquerade party, Tila Tequila's New Year's Eve Masquerade, that MTV greenlit her for a second season. During the Masquerade, she revealed that she and Bobby parted ways, which prompted suspicion that she would be the bachelorette during season two of A Shot at Love. News articles confirmed this. - That's Amore!That's Amore! (TV series)That's Amore! is a reality television show that aired on MTV in early 2008. It is a spin-off of MTV's A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila. The show stars Domenico Nesci, a 5-foot-3-inch Italian who had been a contestant on A Shot at Love. One of the other contestants from the previous show, Ashley...
- Nesci's third spin-off featured former contestant Ashley as his consigliereConsigliereConsigliere is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The word was popularized by Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather , and its film adaptation...
. It premiered on MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
on March 2, 2008. - A Double Shot at LoveA Double Shot at LoveA Double Shot at Love is an American reality television dating game show which first aired weekly on MTV from December 9, 2008 to February 3, 2009. It is a spin-off of A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila...
- A third season spin-off premiered on December 9, 2008, with the Ikki TwinsIkki TwinsErica "Rikki" Mongeon and Victoria "Vikki" Mongeon better known by the stage name the Ikki Twins are identical twin models, and television personalities...
replacing Tila Tequila as the host.
Episodes
- Ep. 1 Surprise! I Like Boys and Girls (May The Best Sex Win-title on DVD and iTunes) (first aired October 9, 2007)
- Ep. 2 Can't We All Just Get Along? (Fight For Love-title on DVD and iTunes) (first aired October 16, 2007)
- Ep. 3 Under the Covers (first aired October 23, 2007)
- Ep. 4 A Broken Heart (first aired October 30, 2007)
- Ep. 5 I Always Get What I Want (first aired November 6, 2007)
- Ep. 6 The Cat Fight (first aired November 13, 2007)
- Ep. 7 A Second Chance? (first aired November 20, 2007)
- Ep. 8 Welcome To The Family (first aired November 27, 2007)
- Ep. 9 Three's A Crowd (first aired December 4, 2007)
- Special: One Shot Too Many (originally aired December 11, 2007)
- In the week after Episode 9 aired and the week before Episode 10 aired, there was a special episode titled One Shot Too Many. Instead of being a regular episode, it was flashbacks and never before seen footage of events of the previous weeks of the show.
- Ep. 10 I Choose...(This Is Real-title on DVD and iTunes) (first aired December 18, 2007)
- Special: The Final Round (first aired December 23, 2007)
Contestants
The following table lists the roster of contestants for each episode, ordered based on Tila's call-out order.| # | |Contestants | |Episodes | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | ||||||||||
| 1 | Alex | Alex | Alex | Ashli | Ryan | Dani | Amanda | Amanda | Bobby | Dani | Bobby | ||||||||
| 2 | Amanda Amanda Ireton Amanda Ellen Soloman Ireton is a comedian and television personality who was one of the original cast of MTV's hit reality series A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila.-Career:Most taken from Amanda Ireton's official web site.... |
Amanda | Amanda | Bobby | Amanda | Ryan | Bobby | Dani | Dani | Bobby | Dani | ||||||||
| 3 | Ashley | Ashley | Ashley | Ryan | Ashli | Brandi | Ryan | Bobby | Amanda | Amanda | |||||||||
| 4 | Ashli | Ashli | Ashli | Amanda | Michael B. | Domenico | Dani | Ryan | Ryan | ||||||||||
| 5 | Bennie | Bobby | Bobby | Vanessa | Domenico | Amanda | Domenico | Domenico | |||||||||||
| 6 | Bobby | Brandi | Brandi | Dani | Brandi | Steven | Brandi | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Brandi | Dani | Dani | Ashley | Vanessa | Vanessa | Vanessa | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Brenda | Domenico | Domenico | Sara | Steven | Bobby | Steven | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Chaos | Eddie | Eric | Michael B. | Dani | Michael B. | |||||||||||||
| 10 | Dani Dani Campbell Dani Campbell is an American reality television participant who became notable in the lesbian community as a symbol of self-assurance, causing Curve to call her "the first lesbian girl next door," and the Miami Herald to declare her South Florida's "most eligible lesbian." She was the runner-up in... |
Eric | Krystal | Domenico | Bobby | Ashli | |||||||||||||
| 11 | Domenico | Grace | Michael B. | Steven | Ashley | ||||||||||||||
| 12 | Eddie | Krystal | Rebecca | Brandi | Sara | ||||||||||||||
| 13 | Ellie | Lala | Rob | Rebecca | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Eric | Marcus | Ryan | Eric | |||||||||||||||
| 15 | Grace | Michael B. | Sara | Alex | |||||||||||||||
| 16 | Greg | Rebecca | Steven | Krystal | |||||||||||||||
| 17 | Keasha | Rob | Vanessa | Rob | |||||||||||||||
| 18 | Krystal | Ryan | Marcus | ||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Lala | Sara | Steffanie | ||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Lance | Steven | Grace | ||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Marcus | Steffanie | Eddie | ||||||||||||||||
| 22 | Michael B. | Vanessa | Lala | ||||||||||||||||
| 23 | Michael R. | Keasha | |||||||||||||||||
| 24 | Rami | Brenda | |||||||||||||||||
| 25 | Rebecca | Chaos | |||||||||||||||||
| 26 | Rob | Ellie | |||||||||||||||||
| 27 | Ryan | Scout | |||||||||||||||||
| 28 | Sara | Greg | |||||||||||||||||
| 29 | Scout | Lance | |||||||||||||||||
| 30 | Steven | Michael R. | |||||||||||||||||
| 31 | Steffanie | Rami | |||||||||||||||||
| 32 | Vanessa | Bennie | |||||||||||||||||
- Contestants surviving elimination in the first two episodes are arranged alphabetically, while eliminated contestants are arranged based on the order Tequila announced that their shot at love had ended.
- The contestant was eliminated.
- The contestant won a date with Tequila.
- The contestant won a date with Tequila, but was eliminated.
- The contestant left of his/her own accord.
- The contestant won the competition.
Eliminations
The following table explains Tequila's reasons for asking each contestant to leave.- Some reasons were not stated in the episode in which they aired.
Men Name Reason for elimination Episode eliminated Bennie Cute, but not her type. Episode 1 Rami Could not remember him. Episode 1 Michael R. Reason not stated in episode. Episode 1 Lance Reason not stated in episode. Episode 1 Greg Too focused on sex; she was looking for more than that. Episode 1 Eddie Respects his virginity, but felt he is also too innocent. Episode 2 Marcus Connected at first, but caused too much drama. Episode 2 Rob Will make some woman happy someday, but not her. Episode 3 Alex Did not feel they had a connection. Episode 3 Eric Did not think they would make it as a couple. Episode 3 Ashley Seemingly fell in love with her too quickly; she felt something was not right about him. Episode 4 Michael B. Reason not stated in episode. Episode 5 Steven Connected more with the other people in the house than himself. Episode 6 Domenico Connected more with the other people in the house than himself, but credited him for his personality. Episode 7 Ryan Felt that his and her paths were too different, and that his family was too traditional and she could not fit into that lifestyle. Episode 8 Women Name Reason for elimination Episode eliminated Scout Did not remember her. Episode 1 Ellie Too shy. Episode 1 Chaos Did not connect with her. Episode 1 Brenda Reason not stated in episode. Episode 1 Keasha Felt that she is "a demolition project". Episode 1 Lala Did not like having men competing and being around them. Episode 2 Steffanie There for two days and still did not know her. Episode 2 Grace Did not feel they would be a good fit. Episode 2 Krystal Did not click with her. Episode 3 Rebecca Kissed Brandi while in the house and seems to have objections with monogamy MonogamyMonogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...
.Episode 3 Sara Beautiful girl, but just did not have that connection she was looking for. Episode 4 Ashli Did not want to put her in a position where she felt uncomfortable. Episode 5 Vanessa Reason not stated in episode. In the following episode, however, due to her physical attack on Brandi during eliminations in Episode 6, it was alluded that she was not the right person. Episode 6 Brandi Left on Episode 6 in the heat of the moment after Vanessa's attack. Came back on Episode 7. However, she was not accepted back into the house because of the feeling that her return would jeopardize the show's integrity for the other contestants and the fear that she would walk out on Tila again. Episode 6/7 Amanda Amanda IretonAmanda Ellen Soloman Ireton is a comedian and television personality who was one of the original cast of MTV's hit reality series A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila.-Career:Most taken from Amanda Ireton's official web site....Had a deeper connection with Bobby and Dani, or as Tila said, "There's no more keys left." Episode 9 Dani Dani CampbellDani Campbell is an American reality television participant who became notable in the lesbian community as a symbol of self-assurance, causing Curve to call her "the first lesbian girl next door," and the Miami Herald to declare her South Florida's "most eligible lesbian." She was the runner-up in...Mentioned loving Dani, but being in love with Bobby. Off screen, said she eliminated Dani to make sure their friendship "never ended" like dating show romances usually do. Episode 10