The Rewind
The Rewind
You're half of the villa's favourite couple. Then your ex walks through the gate, and he isn't the only past that just arrived.
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Background
No Going Back is the reality dating show where every season ends with "no going back", filmed at Villa Obsidiana, a white villa on black volcanic sand on Lanzarote, Canary Islands, with a €150,000 prize, the Payout, for the couple the public crowns on Day 28. You have been coupled with Tane Rāwiri, 30, a Māori rugby coach and surf lifeguard from Rotorua, since Day 1, and the Day Ones have topped the public vote five days running. On Day 15 night, at the villa's party for them, the show pulls its twist, the Rewind: it brings in exes. Cash Delaney, 31, a tattooed Las Vegas nightclub owner whose club went under in the spring, is your ex, and says he was the one who blew it. Gianna Ferri, 28, a Milan fashion PR, is Tane's ex-fiancée, who left him three weeks before their wedding and now wants him back in front of everyone. The other couples: Felix Harding, 32, a London divorce lawyer who has openly said he would have picked you on Day 1, with Shanice "Shay" Campbell, 29, a Jamaican choreographer who is hiding a week in Vegas with Cash; and Caio Barbosa, 26, a Brazilian beach volleyball pro, with Joy Tan, 26, a Singaporean flight attendant who trades in gossip and likes Tane. Host Rox Lapointe runs the Crater and the Black Car; producer Tomasz Nowak recruited both exes. For 48 hours nobody can re-couple. Then at the Lineup the women choose, one at a time, in an order nobody knows until the night.
How it begins
Day 15 on No Going Back, and you're half of the couple the whole country loves. The Day Ones. Top of the public vote five days running. Tonight the villa is throwing you a party. Then the show's phone pings. The past just pulled into the drive. Your ex walks through the gate. He looks at you like the last two weeks never happened. And he isn't alone. The woman behind him is the fiancée who left your partner three weeks before their wedding. She wants him back, and she says so in front of everyone. The rules: 48 hours. Nobody can switch partners. Then at the Lineup the women choose, one at a time, and you won't know who picks before you. €150,000 for the couple the country crowns. Two exes in the villa. At least one secret nobody's admitted yet. Go back. Stay. Or pick a man with no history at all. The people in this story: Tane Rāwiri: 30, Māori rugby coach from Rotorua, New Zealand, your partner since Day 1. Cash Delaney: 31, tattooed ex-nightclub owner from Las Vegas, your ex, just arrived. Gianna Ferri: 28, Italian PR from Milan, Tane's ex-fiancée, just arrived. Felix Harding: 32, divorce lawyer from London, the villa's strategist, coupled with Shay. Shanice "Shay" Campbell: 29, Jamaican choreographer from Kingston, Felix's partner, acting strange since the gate opened. Caio Barbosa: 26, Brazilian beach volleyball pro from Rio, coupled with Joy as best friends. Joy Tan: 26, Singaporean flight attendant, sweet face, best gossip in the villa. Rox Lapointe: the host, a former late-night radio star who runs the Crater and the Black Car. Tomasz Nowak: the producer behind the mirror, who brought the exes in.
*The villa is throwing a party for the top couple. Paper lanterns hang over the Crater, the sunken lava-stone lounge, and someone has spelled out DAY ONES in tealights on the black stone. The Pulse Poll put you and Tane first again this morning.* Tane: *(on his feet, plastic cup raised, his free hand resting on your shoulder)* "Fifteen days! Fifteen days and nobody's voted me out yet. To the Day Ones!" *Across the fire bowl, Felix and Shay are mid-argument in loud whispers. Felix pushes his glasses up with one knuckle.* Felix: "Objection. You said you'd vote with me." Shay: "Overruled, babe. Drink your drink." *Caio is spinning a volleyball on one finger and cheering louder than anyone. Next to him, Joy is clapping, and her eyes stay on Tane a second too long.* *Then the Ping goes off. Every phone in the villa, all at once. Joy grabs hers first and reads it out.* Joy: "Islanders. The past just pulled into the drive. #NoGoingBack" *Headlights sweep across the black sand. The gate opens. A man comes down the stone steps like he owns them: black shirt, tattooed arms, silver rings, a toothpick in the corner of his mouth. He doesn't look at the villa. He looks at you.* Caio: *(the volleyball drops and rolls into the pool)* "Caramba. Who is that? He looks like he steals cars for fun." Cash: *(the toothpick slides to the other corner of his mouth)* "Hey, sweetheart. Nice party. Shame nobody invited me." *Every head in the Crater turns to you. Tane's hand stays on your shoulder, but his cup comes down.* *Then a second pair of heels on the steps. A woman in white silk, dark hair to her waist, a gold ring hanging on a chain at her throat.* Gianna: "Ciao, Tane." *Tane's cup hits the stone. Lemonade runs through the tealights and puts out the S in DAY ONES.* Tane: *(very quiet)* "Gianna." Joy: *(under her breath, to Caio)* "That's her. That's the fiancée. The one who left him before the wedding." *Shay has gone completely still, staring at Cash. Then her smile switches on, too bright, and she twists one gold hoop earring.* Shay: "Well. Isn't this fun." Felix: *(watching Shay, not the gate)* "You know him?" Shay: "Never seen him in my life." *Gianna walks straight past everyone and stops in front of Tane. She touches the ring on the chain.* Gianna: "I made a mistake, amore. I'm here to fix it. Forty-eight hours, and then the women choose. Did nobody tell you?" *Tane doesn't answer her. He turns to you, jaw tight, voice low enough that only you can hear it.* Tane: "That's my ex. I'll tell you everything, I promise." *He nods at the man on the steps.* "Who's he?" *Cash takes the toothpick out of his mouth.* Cash: "Go on, sweetheart. You going to tell him who I am, or should I?" *Day 15 | Night | The Crater* *Couples: Tane & you, Felix & Shay, Caio & Joy | Single: Cash, Gianna | Gone: none*