Who's who of E!'s 'House of Villains' and how they earned that reality TV moniker

It’s time for the tough guys and girls to get a little love in E!’s new reality series, House of Villains, because with a cast full of bad apples there are no heroes to root for.

With Joel McHale serving as host, E! has brought together 10 notorious reality show villains to live together under one roof while vying for a $200,000 prize and the title of “America’s Ultimate Supervillain.” Each week they will compete in a Battle Royale challenge with the winner getting to put up three potential castmates for elimination, and then the house votes to eliminate one of the three.

From the unfaithful to the unfair to the unabashed, here is a look at the cast of the inaugural season of House of Villains, premiering Thursday on E!.

Anfisa Arkhipchenko, 90 Day Fiancé

The Moscow, Russia, native was first introduced on Season 4 of 90 Day Fiancé in August 2016, along with her eventual husband Jorge Nava, whom she met on Facebook. The pair had a rocky relationship that was well-documented, and it was her many rage-filled actions toward him that earned her villain status, including disabling his phones, physically striking him, keying his car and kicking him out of his own apartment. The pair divorced in 2020.

Johnny “Bananas” Devanzio, The Challenge

After being introduced to the world in 2006 on MTV’s The Real World in Key West, Johnny “Bananas” Devanzio soon began participating in The Challenge, a competition show featuring reality stars taking part in tough physical and mental challenges.

Despite winning seven times across 20+ seasons on The Challenge, Devanzio’s tactics have made him public enemy No. 1, with the icing on the villain cake coming in 2016 during The Challenge: Rivals III, when he refused to share the $275,000 prize money with his winning partner, Sarah Rice.

Abishek “Shake” Chatterjee, Love Is Blind

While competing on the second season of Netflix’s Love Is Blind in 2022, Abishek “Shake” Chatterjee climbed to villainous heights via some remarks he made about fiancé Deepti Vempati behind her back. While talking to another castmate about Vempati he said, “I’m not physically attracted to her, man. It feels like I’m with my aunt or something.”

Chatterjee, a veterinarian, went on to double-down on the comments during the show’s reunion and beyond.

Jonny “Fairplay” Dalton, Survivor

Jonny “Fairplay” Dalton first began his villain streak during Survivor: Pearl Islands in 2003, the show’s seventh season, when he pulled off what host Jeff Probst called: “The greatest lie in Survivor history.” It involved Dalton pretending that his grandmother had died during filming. He would go on to finish third for the season, and while his fellow castmates didn’t find out until later, his villainy was building in real time as America was in on the lie.

Dalton, who also appeared on Survivor: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites in 2008, has had public feuds with people like Danny Bonaduce and Probst to go with an all-around checkered past. He’s also been involved in the world of professional wrestling as a heel, both before and after his rise to fame on Survivor.

Bobby Lytes, Love & Hip-Hop Miami

Viewers first met Bobby Lytes when VH1’s Love & Hip-Hop: Miami — the fourth installment in the Love & Hip-Hop franchise — launched in 2018. The rapper is the first openly gay cast member in the franchise and has built a resumé as a villain during his run on the show with things like a friendship falling out, a big break-up and frequent fighting with cast members. He kicked up the villain behavior on social media with comments about his crush, Lil Nas X, and by calling out Nicki Minaj’s fans.

Corinne Olympios, The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise

It didn’t take long for Miami business owner Corinne Olympios to get on the bad side of fans and fellow contestants during Season 21 of The Bachelor in 2017. Her sexually aggressive approach toward bachelor Nick Viall involved going topless during a bridal-themed photo shoot on a group date, her mention of having a “platinum vagina” and instructing a clearly uncomfortable Viall to “grab my boobs” in front of other castmates while in the pool. Despite all that, she made it to hometown dates and finished fourth. She would go on to stir up some drama as well on Bachelor in Paradise after insinuating that she was a victim of a sexual crime and later correcting herself and apologizing.

Omarosa Manigault Newman, The Apprentice

The first ever season of The Apprentice in 2004 is where Omarosa Manigault Newman first became a villain and a star. She was fired by Donald Trump during the tenth episode, but would later return in the finale to throw one of her teammates — Kwame Jackson — under the bus and keep him from winning. She would go on to stir the pot again on Celebrity Apprentice in 2008 and All-Star Celebrity Apprentice in 2013.

Newman kept ties with Trump, re-teaming with him for her own dating reality show in 2010 — called The Ultimate Merger — and again when she worked as an aide for then-President Trump in 2016.

Tiffany “New York” Pollard, Flavor of Love

Tiffany Pollard starred in the first two seasons of VH1’s Flavor of Love in 2006-2007, where she competed for the heart of rapper Flavor Flav — who gave her the nickname “New York” — but finished runner-up both times. She became known for butting heads with pretty much all of her fellow castmates, referring to herself as the “HBIC” or “head b**** in charge” and offering up plenty of eye rolls, smirks and other facial reactions that have lived on in meme form. She was also spat on by another castmate named Pumkin, ended up getting her own dating show spinoff called I Love New York in 2007 and appeared as a house guest on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016.

Jax Taylor, Vanderpump Rules

Tom Sandoval may be the first villain that comes to mind when someone mentions Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules these days, but the show's first and main villain for years was Jax Taylor, who starred in the show’s first eight seasons. And that’s because of his philandering ways, cheating on early girlfriend Stassi Schroeder with her best friend at the time, Kristen Doute, and later cheating on his now-wife, Brittany Cartwright. Plus he was busted for stealing sunglasses in Hawaii back in 2016.

Tanisha Thomas, Bad Girls Club

While the title and premise of Bad Girls Club promoted villain-esque behavior, Tanisha Thomas stood out in the cast during the show’s second season because she wasn’t afraid to pull hair — or punches — during fights with some of the other women. Some credit her for helping popularize the phrase “pop off,” something she has proven to be very good at.

House of Villains premieres Thursday, Oct. 12 at 10 p.m. on E!.