The blame game is still going on, but Tila Tequila's relationship with A Shot of Love winner Bobby Banhart is over, conveniently clearing the way for Tequila -- who had previously stated she "found love" during the show's first season -- to star in a second season of the hit reality dating series, MTV confirmed Tuesday.
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Prior selecting Banhart, a 25-year-old film student, as A Shot at Love's winner during the show's finale last month, Tequila had told TV Guide she felt like she "found love" during filming and had no intentions of "doing another season."
"I definitely found love," Tequila told TV Guide in the magazine's December 2 issue. "But we can't be seen out together, so we only talk on the phone. It's pretty hard."
However Tequila did leave the door slightly ajar, adding "if this relationship doesn't work out, then I'll definitely go back and look for love again." And according to her, that's what happened.
"[Banhart] called me up recently... and he broke up with me," Tequila told new Total Request Live co-host Lyndsey Rodrigues during Monday night's live broadcast of Tila Tequila's New Year's Eve Masquerade on MTV. "It was definitely a total shock because that's not what I was looking for. I was looking for love and I wasn't expecting him to break up with me."
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Then, shortly before midnight, Tequila revealed the "big announcement" that she'd been teasing throughout the broadcast.
"I have a special New Year's resolution -- for 2008, this time I want to find love for real," Tequila said. "I'm really happy to announce that MTV is going to give me that second chance so I'm taking another Shot at Love and it can't start soon enough because apparently I'm here on New Year's Eve alone."
After her New Year's partying ended, Tequila revealed more about her breakup with Banhart in an early Tuesday morning posting on her MySpace blog.
"The night was amazing except for the fact that Bobby had broken up with me a few days before all of this went down," Tequila wrote.
"I wasn't expecting it at all because I thought I had finally found someone that I was compatible with, but I guess I was wrong. My hectic schedule was really hard on him and we both were getting frustrated, but at the same time... I just wanted to find someone who would understand what a crazy lifestyle I have so it's too bad that things didn't work out between us. With that said I just want to make it known that I still think Bobby is a great guy and I wish him the best."
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But Banhart's telling a different tale. According to him, Tequila was the one who chose to "end" the couple's relationship -- and she did it by never contacting him after the show's finale was filmed.
"She never called me after the last show and no one would give me her number so pretty much I feel like and ass but we are not 2gather," Banhart wrote on his own MySpace blog the day before Tequila's New Year's Eve comments on MTV. "U cant have a relationship bye urself ya know."
While at least one of the parties is obviously lying about the extent of the couple's post-show relationship, Banhart's statement seems to support some of the claims a source "close to the show" had told the New York Post in November, including that Tequila "arrives late," "doesn't talk to any of the contestants between takes" and "complains she has too much going on." Tequila had subsequently denied those allegations in a subsequent MySpace blog posting.
A Shot at Love's 10-episode second season is scheduled to premiere in the spring, according to MTV, and will follow a similar format to the show's first season as Tequila whittles a group of suitors -- including both straight men and gay women -- who will live together and compete against one another in challenges to win her heart.
In addition to A Shot at Love's second season, MTV has signed a mutliseries production commitment with A Shot at Love executive producer SallyAnn Salsano and her 495 Productions.
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"Thanks to the creative talent and vision of Sally Ann Salsano, A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila was one of our big breakout hits for 2007," MTV executive Tony Disanto stated in the network's announcement. "We are now officially expanding our relationship with Sally Ann and her team at 495 Productions and look forward to her next slate of projects including, another Shot At Love, That's Amore, and more great, compelling TV for our viewers. We're thrilled to be in business with her."
That's Amore, a new A Shot at Love reality dating series spin-off starring spurned Italian suitor Domenico Nesci that MTV announced last month -- is expected to premiere early this year.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio