A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila

For the second season, see A Shot at Love II with Tila Tequila.

A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila
Created byRiley McCormick
Developed bySallyAnn Salsano
Directed byScott Jeffress
StarringTila Tequila
Opening theme"I Love U"
Ending theme"I Love U"
ComposerTila Tequila
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes12
Production
Executive producerSallyAnn Salsano
Running time60 minutes (including commercials)
Production company495 Productions
Original release
NetworkMTV
ReleaseOctober 9 (2007-10-09) –
December 23, 2007 (2007-12-23)
Related

A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila is an American reality television dating game show similar to the TV show The Bachelor.[1] It premiered on October 9, 2007 on MTV starring Tila Tequila.[2] The series consists of a bisexual-themed reality dating show where 16 heterosexual men and 16 lesbian 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.[3][4] A Shot at Love II premiered on April 22, 2008.[5][6][7]

Ratings

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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 Ryan (August 27, 2007) and tied with Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County (August 15, 2007).[8]

The first season finale had 6.2 million viewers, which at the time was MTV's most watched series telecast.[9]

Criticism and controversy

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The show was the subject of a heated online debate. An article critical of the show appeared on The Christian Post on September 13, 2007.[10] 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.[11] Criticism of the show has come from at least three conservative media organizations: Culture and Media Institute,[12][13] Media Research Center[14] and Parents Television Council, which named two episodes of the show the "Worst Cable Content of the Week".[15][16]

Fox News and others stated that Tequila had a steady boyfriend and that the show was a sham,[17] and that she is not bisexual. They cite New York Post's Page Six article.[17][18][19] In 2007, Tequila responded to the claims made by Fox and denied them stating "I find it absolutely absurd that they would even make such an ignorant statement,"[20] but in 2018 (11 years later) she admitted that the Fox News report was true and that she indeed had a boyfriend while the show was being filmed and aired, stating that she was never actually gay or bisexual, and described her presence on the show as being "gay for pay".[21]

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."[22][23][24]

Tequila offered her own reasoning for why they broke up:

We couldn't see each other for 2 months after [the finale], and we only talked on the phone. Just naturally, people kind of move on with their lives. We tried our best to keep in touch and keep it going, but after a while, all of this camera stuff, he just couldn't handle it. [sic][25]

Spin-offs, supplements, seasons 2 and 3

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  • 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 MTV starring Ryan Stout. The show's debut averaged a 2.85 rating.
  • A Shot at Love II with Tila Tequila – 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 Hills mansion (the same one as the second season of Rock of Love with Bret Michaels). It was planned to be aired after That's Amore![26] 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.[5][6]
  • That's Amore! – Nesci's third spin-off featured former contestant Ashley as his consigliere. It premiered on MTV on March 2, 2008.[26][27][28]
  • A Double Shot at Love – A third season spin-off premiered on December 9, 2008, with the Ikki Twins replacing Tila Tequila as the host.
  • Double Shot at Love (2019 TV series) – A fourth season Jersey Shore hybrid spinoff was announced for a 2019 premiere, with DJ Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino as the hosts.

Episodes

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  • 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)[2]

Contestants

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The following table lists the roster of contestants for each episode, ordered based on Tila's call-out order.[29][30]

# 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 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 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

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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.[31] Episode 1
Rami Could not remember him.[31] 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.[31] Episode 1
Eddie Respects his virginity, but felt he is also too innocent.[32] Episode 2
Marcus Connected at first, but caused too much drama.[32] Episode 2
Rob Will make some woman happy someday, but not her.[33] Episode 3
Alex Did not feel they had a connection.[33] Episode 3
Eric Did not think they would make it as a couple.[33] Episode 3
Ashley McNealy Seemingly fell in love with her too quickly; she felt something was not right about him.[34] Episode 4
Michael B. Reason not stated in episode. Episode 5
Steven Connected more with the other people in the house than himself.[35] Episode 6
Domenico Connected more with the other people in the house than himself, but credited him for his personality.[36] 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.[37] Episode 8
Women
Name Reason for elimination Episode eliminated
Scout Did not remember her.[31] Episode 1
Ellie Too shy.[31] Episode 1
Chaos Did not connect with her.[31] Episode 1
Brenda Reason not stated in episode. Episode 1
Keasha Felt that she is "a demolition project".[31] Episode 1
Lala   Did not like having men competing and being around them.[32] Episode 2
Steffanie There for two days and still did not know her.[32] Episode 2
Grace Did not feel they would be a good fit.[32] Episode 2
Krystal Did not click with her.[33] Episode 3
Rebecca Kissed Brandi while in the house and seems to have objections with monogamy.[33] Episode 3
Sara Beautiful girl, but just did not have that connection she was looking for.[34] Episode 4
Ashli Did not want to put her in a position where she felt uncomfortable.[38] Episode 5
Vanessa Romanelli 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.[35] Episode 6
Brandi Ryan   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.[36] Episode 6/7
Amanda Ireton Had a deeper connection with Bobby and Dani, or as Tila said, "There's no more keys left."[39] Episode 9
Dani Mentioned loving Dani, but being in love with Bobby.[40] Off screen, said she eliminated Dani to make sure their friendship "never ended" like dating show romances usually do.[41] Episode 10

Amanda Ireton

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Among the contestants, the comedian and television personality Amanda Ellen Soloman Ireton after the show went on to appear on other MTV television shows Hang Over Show and That's Amore,[42] WETV's Secret Lives of Women, CCTV's The Rack, and Entertainment Television's The Soup and Extra.

She hosted CBS's reality show Big Brother – The reunion special as an interviewer. She starred in Karmina's The Kiss music video.[43] Furthermore Ireton was MTV's columnist and video blogger for A Shot at Love 2.[42]

DVD release

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A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila – The Complete Uncensored First Season was released on April 15, 2008.[44] The DVD contains the ten episodes, the reunion listed as episode 11, but does not contain the special episode "One Shot Too Many". It also includes some extended and deleted scenes.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "MTV Orders 10 Episodes of A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila". Movieweb.com. October 10, 2007. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007.
  2. ^ a b "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila". MTV. Archived from the original on October 4, 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2007.
  3. ^ "A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila: Under The Covers Episode Summary". MTV. Archived from the original on December 23, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
  4. ^ Jon, Lafayette (September 6, 2007). "MTV Greenlights Tila Tequila Dating Show, Debuts Oct. 9". TVWeek. Archived from the original on August 29, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Tila Tequila Takes Another Shot at Love". VH1. Archived from the original (Blog) on January 4, 2008. Retrieved January 2, 2008.
  6. ^ a b Adalian, Josef (January 1, 2008). "MTV gives Tila Tequila another shot – Entertainment News, TV News, Media – Variety".
  7. ^ "newswire article". CNN. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008.
  8. ^ "'Tila Tequila' courts 1.8 million". The Hollywood Reporter. October 11, 2007. Archived from the original on October 26, 2007. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  9. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (December 20, 2007). "It's Tequila with a twist". The Hollywood Reporter. 402: 1–2. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  10. ^ Nathan Black (September 13, 2007). "MTV to Air Bisexual Dating Reality Series". Christian Post.
  11. ^ Nathan Black (October 2, 2007). "MySpace 'Queen' Tila Tequila: I Made Amends with God". Christian Post.
  12. ^ Knight, Robert (October 11, 2007). "Tila Tequila: the Latest in MTV Sexploitation". Culture and Media Institute. Archived from the original on November 13, 2007.
  13. ^ Knight, Robert (October 22, 2007). "An Army of Three? Army Recruiting Goes Astray". Culture and Media Institute. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007.
  14. ^ Bozell, L. Brent III (November 30, 2007). "Tila Tequila, MTV's Latest Poison". Media Research Center. Archived from the original on December 17, 2007. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
  15. ^ "I Am A Child Of Television: Who Does The PTC Hate THIS Week?". blogspot.com. December 6, 2007.
  16. ^ "Worst Cable Content of the Week". parentstv.org. Archived from the original on February 2, 2008.
  17. ^ a b "Report: 'Bisexual' MTV Star Tila Tequila Is Straight". Fox News. November 30, 2007. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2007.
  18. ^ "Tila Tequila Possibly Outed As... Straight". Archived from the original on December 2, 2007.
  19. ^ "Tila Tequila Outted As a Fake Bisexual". Archived from the original on December 3, 2007.
  20. ^ "Tila's Hot Spot". Archived from the original on January 22, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2007.
  21. ^ Nguyen, Thien (March 19, 2018). "Confession: I WAS NEVER BISEXUAL OR HOMOSEXUAL AT ALL!!! SURPRISE!!". Personal Blog. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019.
  22. ^ Chicago Tribune, 1/3/08, Section 1, page 14 "As 'Shot' misses, Tequila aims anew"
  23. ^ "Tila Tequila and Bobby Banhart break up, MTV renews 'A Shot at Love' – Reality TV World – News, information, episode summaries, message boards, chat and games for unscripted television programs". Reality TV World. Archived from the original on May 2, 2010. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
  24. ^ "Tila Tequila Breaks Up With Bobby Banhart". Theinsider.com. January 1, 2008. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
  25. ^ "Tila Tequila: The Real Reason Love Ended in Heartache". ExtraTV.com.
  26. ^ a b "Shot At Love Casting!". Archived from the original on November 30, 2007.
  27. ^ "MTV finds Amore". TVGuide. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007.
  28. ^ "MTV gives Domeico Nessi his own show". Hollyscoop.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008.
  29. ^ "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila Cast". MTV. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2007.
  30. ^ "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila Episode May The Best Sex Win". MTV. Archived from the original (summary) on October 12, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.
  31. ^ a b c d e f g Stated on air, MTV, October 9, 2007, episode one.
  32. ^ a b c d e Stated on air, MTV, October 16, 2007, episode two.
  33. ^ a b c d e Stated on air, MTV, October 23, 2007, episode three.
  34. ^ a b Stated on air, MTV, October 30, 2007, episode four.
  35. ^ a b Stated on air, MTV, November 13, 2007, episode six.
  36. ^ a b Stated on air, MTV, November 20, 2007, episode seven.
  37. ^ Stated on air, MTV, November 27, 2007, episode eight.
  38. ^ Stated on air, MTV, November 6, 2007, episode five.
  39. ^ Stated on air, MTV, December 4, 2007, episode nine.
  40. ^ Stated on air, MTV, December 18, 2007, episode ten.
  41. ^ Explained on her MySpace page, MySpace, December 19, 2007.
  42. ^ a b "Exclusive Interview: Amanda Ireton from 'A Shot at Love'". Buddy TV. Archived from the original on December 1, 2009. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  43. ^ "Karmina – Calling you back" (in Japanese). TaTa音乐网. Retrieved January 28, 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  44. ^ "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila DVD news: Box Art & Extras for A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila – The Complete Uncensored 1st Season". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2008.
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