Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty Images (Araya Doheny, Amy Sussman, Ben Symons/Peacock)
When one door closes, another one is held open by Alex Cooper. The podcaster is bringing controversial reality stars like Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’s Dakota Mortensen and Demi Engemann and Love Island USA’s Huda Mustafa to Park City, Utah, to compete in “mental and physical challenges.” Unwell Winter Games, a new YouTube series from Cooper’s UnWell Network, premieres on April 6, with an episode airing daily for four episodes total. The network pulled stars from popular franchises like Love Island UK, The Traitors, and The Bachelor — and Anna Delvey will also be there? Hosted by comedian and YouTuber Adam Waheed with commentary from Graydon Cutler (he’s on TikTok making cocktails) and Grace O’Malley (she’s a comedian who used to do a Barstool podcast with Brianna Chickenfry …), the series promises “unfiltered drama,” which is inevitable with this lineup.
The show was originally filmed last winter, which explains Mortensen’s casting. He was recently in the news following a leaked video of his ex Taylor Frankie Paul that resulted in her season of The Bachelorette getting canceled. ABC and Disney pulled her season just days before its premiere after the video of their altercation from three years prior went viral. (While Paul did reach an agreement with law enforcement at the time regarding her arrest, there is currently an open domestic-violence investigation involving both Paul and Mortensen, with allegations of abuse from both sides.) So, the timing for Mortensen to be making his second show debut right as his ex’s is being pulled off the air is rubbing fans the wrong way. “As a company that empowers women, why are we giving abusive men a platform?” asked in a comment on the announcement.
Below, the full cast of the Unwell Winter Games — taglines are Unwell’s own.
Alissa Violet, The OG influencer
Andrew Vetter, The Production Guy/Bartender
Anna Delvey, Scam Queen
Cameron Jerrard, Pro Shit Talker
Dakota Mortensen, Reality TV Personality
Demi Engemann, The Ultimate MomTok Mormon Wife
Dylan Kevitch, Shut Up King
Ekin Su Cülcüloğlu, Love Island’s Pageant Queen
Eyal Booker, Love Island’s British Bombshell
Gleb Savchenko, Dancing With the Stars Heartthrob
Hallie Batchelder, NYC’s Unfiltered “It” Girl
Hannah Stocking, The OG Viner
Huda Mustafa, Love Island Mamacita
Joe Amabile, Grocery Store Joe
Juliette Porter, Siesta Key Siren
Louis Russell, Reality TV Repeat Offender
Niko Emanuilidis, The Dating Daddy
Saraya Bevis, WWE Superstar
Serena Pitt, Bachelor Baddie
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