In many ways, Michael and Jessica just seemed like your regular, everyday couple: down-to-earth and comfortable with one another, they were sweet, gracious and just excited to be part of the great swinging experiment going on in the mansion. But in other ways, there wasn’t anything regular about them at all. I mean, what man repeatedly and convincingly announces that the only woman he ever fantasizes about is the one on his arm? Okay, maybe there are some out there who do that (I could see, say, Michael, of Michael and Holli fame, also convincingly making such a claim – could it be a Michael thing.) But what guy seems as fulfilled as can be watching his girl have her fantasies come true? I say Jessica’s sitting in the catbird seat.

Christine and David were exactly what I imagined when I first envisioned newbie couples descending on a group of wizened swingers: two people who had been together seemingly forever, whose sex life had perhaps fallen by the wayside as responsibilities, kids, careers, and life had taken precedence. And yet they turned out to be entirely different than what I’d expected. I figured, by the seventh time around, I had figured out what was what so I felt safe assuming that he was sort of pushing her into it and that the entire episode would end badly. But, as they say, “assuming” makes an “ass” out of “u” and “mi” – er, me. Christine, as it turned out, was far more open-minded than I would have ever expected her to be. By making the most of the experience, she not only learned a lot about herself but also taught the rest of us a few things. Was I the only one taking mental notes?

I felt immediately protective of Sabrina when I met her: not because she was young, though she was, and not because she talked about how it took her a long time to get comfortable, always implying – if not stating -- that Anthony was better than her at dealing with other people. She was just so vulnerable and open while, ironically enough, remaining concerned that she wasn’t vulnerable and open. Yet I thought she and Anthony had one of the strongest relationships of all the couples that came through the house. While many of the other ones were clearly hot for each other or in situations that worked, Sabrina and Anthony were, it was always clear, in it for the long haul. A figurative Mack truck could come and descend on their relationship – which, as it turns out, sort of happened while they were in the Swing house – and they’d do whatever they had to in order to clear away the wreckage and move on. It’s merely frosting on the cake, in my opinion, that they’d know each other’s body parts anywhere (you’re just going to have to watch the episode to find out what that means!)

If I went out seeking people who have had the polar opposite life experiences than I have, I might have found Daryl and Nikki, a sweet couple who’d been together since they were kids and hailed from a small town in Northern California. Nikki stepped into the house tentatively and kept her sexuality pretty much under wraps – so much so that I actually felt a little bit like I was invading her boundaries when I quizzed her about what she hoped to experience while she was there.
Daryl was an immediate jokester and had quite specific ideas about what he wanted to have happen and I couldn’t help but think he’d perhaps pressured his wife into a trip to the swing house and the mother of four just went along with it because getting to spend the night in a luxurious manse away from responsibility sure sounded like a nice vacation.

Kimberly and Michael are the newbie couple. They’re from Boca Raton, very cute and have great energy. Also @CNKISS from Utah and @2SEXYASSETS from Las Vegas joined the cast; the energy has spiked big time now that we finally have a great group of residents who are full swap swingers. Clayton and I really connected with the Kimberly (who also had the hots for Megan and Garren), Nicoleta was very into Michael, we hope the cameras got it all! The weather has been overcast and cool, which makes the outdoor scenes a challenge. It’d also been dampening the vibe in the house. But with the new cast members things have changed and tonight should be a lot of fun! The theme this evening is Casino Night, so the girls got to dress up elegantly for the first time (and most likely the last!) and the guys were styled. We thought we’d nail the theme, with Nicoleta in her gold dress and Scott in full tuxedo, and then Garren comes down wearing only a bow tie; damn, okay, he wins the evening. We played “truth or dare”, filled with sexy interactions which naturally leads to an orgy in the downstairs red room.