WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—Gay adult entertainment platform MenCrush launched its new streaming game show series Crush House with a red carpet event, held at Beaches Tropicana nightclub in West Hollywood, on Friday night. (photo gallery)
The festivities were hosted by drag star Manila Luzon, with music from DJ Ryan Kenney. Several of the show’s “Crushes” were also on-hand, turning up the late summer heat, while local LGBTQ influencers, including Dexter Mayfield, Liam Riley and Michael Boston, were on the scene, and fans filled the club to the brim.
Sponsored by sexual health/PrEP resource Mistr, the reality competition features 10 adult content creators, put together in a luxurious Baja California beachside mansion location, who collab and compete for the show’s grand prize—to become the “ultimate MVC” or Most Valuable Crush. The competitors face “challenges, strategies, alliances and betrayals, eliminations—and lots of sex,” according to trailer, but it will take “more than sex” to snag the MVC title and $20,000 prize money.
The first season’s international creator-contestants includes Tim James, Dom King, Austin Ponce, Roxas Caelum, Kyle Krieger, Horse Papo, Rocky Unleashed, Huge Ayax, Victor Vivone and Beau Butler.
GayVN asked Butler, what viewers can expect to see on the first season of show.
“Us just having a fun time,” he said, not wanting to give anything away. Butler, who has nearly 760k followers on Twitter and more than 300k on Instagram, said that he’s never done anything like Crush House before. A show element he said was fun to do were the elimination challenges. His favorite challenge involved ice cream and a blindfold.
“We had to make a banana split, but just directing somebody how to make a banana split while they were blindfolded—it was very different, but it was fun,” described Butler. “Then, we had to vote each other out. It's like Survivor—yes, there was some back-stabbing. Yes, it was very Love Island, like gay, foreign Love Island.”
Prior to the launch event, Crush House show hosts and co-creators Josh Moore and JJ Aussie told GayVN, “Crush House is what happens when reality television stops pretending sex, attraction and social media don’t exist.
“The idea grew out of the creator trips we had already been hosting around the world. We were bringing together big personalities, existing friendships, industry rivals and enormous online followings, and we kept thinking, ‘If cameras captured what really happens on these collab trips, people would be obsessed.’
“After producing our documentary Only Fantasy Island, which went on to reach platforms including Prime Video and Apple TV, we knew this world could support something much bigger. Then, JJ found an incredible private resort in Mexico, called Álvaro (Valiente) at MenCrush, and said, ‘We’ve found the perfect location. Let’s make the show,’” they said.
Vibing off the success of Only Fantasy Island, the new show serves as the main attraction on the MenCrush platform, which offers members access to the show and its cast, as well as documentary content, special promotions, interactive community features, merchandise and a roster of potential Crushes, who may appear on upcoming seasons.
Viewers can find content clips sorted into lifestyle categories, like “Relationship” or “Body & Performance” or “Identity.” Also, a menu of short-form documentaries, profiling creators like 2024 GayVN Best Actor Derek Kage. A collab with underwear retailer Addicted offers a collection of MenCrush branded briefs and jocks. There’s also an initiative for the MenCrush Foundation, which would be funded with 20 percent of profits from the site, to contribute to HIV, LGBTQ+ and sustainability advocacy.
Limited slots are open for early subscribers, who will be designated “Founding Crushers,” and earn exclusive perks.
“Being a Founding Crusher is essentially your permanent receipt that you found us first,” Aussie and Moore explained, “and Season One crowns the Most Valuable Crush—Founding Crushers help decide who becomes unforgettable.
“We don’t want MenCrush to feel like a platform where people simply subscribe, watch and disappear. [Members] are not being treated as anonymous viewers—they are the first members of the community we are building around Crush House and future MenCrush originals. The interactive element matters because reality television no longer ends with the closing credits. The conversation continues through reactions, theories, cast content and the audience choosing who deserves their loyalty.
“We have ten Crushes inside the game, but thousands more watching from outside,” they said. “The viewers may become even more tribal than the cast.”
Episode One of Crush House is streaming now at MenCrush.com. For more and updates, follow MenCrush on X and Instagram.
Photography by Rony AlwinClick here for photo gallery.
Fuente: avn.com
