The first season of Two Ways with Erica Mena was announced in May of 2024, in an instagram post looking for audition picks. The season began filming August 8th of the same year and premiered February 2nd, 2025. This season, unlike other dating shows on Zeus, will include both men and women to compete for Erica Mena's love. Two alternate teaser trailers were dropped on December 22nd, 2024, The trailer for the series dropped on January 26th, 2025, and the airdate was set as February 2nd, 2025.
Background[]
Erica Mena is a video vixen and reality TV star known for Love & Hip Hop. She announced her collaboration with Zeus in Spring of 2024. Upon airing of the first episode, many compared it to Tila Tequila's Shot at Love but was met with positive reception for being new in contrast with Baddies. During the show Erica would invite some guests to help her on challenges. Special guests includes Bambi from Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, Cassie Melinda (Erica's best friend), Prince and Joseline Hernandez.
Cast[]
| Place | Name | Nickname | Hometown | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1° | Chiqui | Master Chiqs | Bronx, New York | Winner |
| 2° | Saiveon Hopkins † | Pussi Breaker | Lincoln, Nebraska | Runner-Up |
| 1° Eliminated | ||||
| 3° | Lou McGhee | Gangsta Bae | Queens, New York | 12° Eliminated |
| 4° | Jardyn Walker | Pee Wee | St. Louis, Missouri | 11° Eliminated |
| 5° | Brea | Cat/Dog | Knoxville, Tennessee | 10° Eliminated |
| 6° | Drenysha Alberti | Closet Freak | Los Angeles, California | 9° Eliminated |
| 7° | Celina Powell | Dick-A-Rella | Miami, Florida | Removed |
| 8° | Jason Laron | Mista Thang | Stone Mountain, Georgia | 8° Eliminated |
| 9° | Ashley Carter | Goldie Loccs | Baltimore, Maryland | 7° Eliminated |
| 10° | Iyana Spatcher | Mee Goes | Atlanta, Georgia | 6° Eliminated |
| 11° | Lamar | Golden Ticket | Austin, Texas | 5° Eliminated |
| 12° | Olijah Davis | Deacan O | San Diego, California | 4° Eliminated |
| 13° | Gypsy Nino | Ratt-a-Tatt | Orlando, Florida | 3° Eliminated |
| 14° | J'Lisa "Gigi" | Puzzy Lipz | Charlotte, North Carolina | 2° Eliminated |
| 15° | Aaron Sloan | Pied Piper | Phoenix, Arizona | Quits |
| 16° | Erric Hall | Trophy D | Detroit, Michigan | Quits |
| 17° | Antonio Garcia | Delaylo | Houston, Texas | Quits |
| 18/19° | Austin Proeh | — | Los Angeles, California | Quits |
| Alec Proeh | - | Los Angeles, California |
Duration of cast[]
| Main Cast | Two Ways with Erica Mena Episodes | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
| Erica | Host. | |||||||||||
| Chiqui | Feat. | WIN. | ||||||||||
| Seven | Feat. | Elim. | Feat. | ELIM. | ||||||||
| Lou | Feat. | Elim. | ||||||||||
| J Rok | Feat. | Elim. | ||||||||||
| Brea | Feat. | Elim. | ||||||||||
| Drei | Feat. | Elim. | ||||||||||
| Celina | Feat. | Rem. | ||||||||||
| Jason | Feat. | Elim. | ||||||||||
| Theory | Feat. | Elim. | ||||||||||
| Yani | Feat. | Elim. | ||||||||||
| Legend | Feat. | Elim. | ||||||||||
| Olijah | Feat. | Elim. | ||||||||||
| Gypsy | Feat. | Elim. | ||||||||||
| GiGi | Feat. | Elim. | ||||||||||
| Turtle | Feat. | Left | App. | |||||||||
| Hollywood | Feat. | Left | ||||||||||
| Antonio | Feat. | Left | ||||||||||
| Alec | Feat. | Left | ||||||||||
| Austin | Feat. | Left | ||||||||||
| Supporting Cast Members | ||||||||||||
| Bambi | Feat. | |||||||||||
| Cassie | Feat. | |||||||||||
| Prince | Feat. | |||||||||||
| Joseline | Feat. | |||||||||||
Key[]
- Key: = "Lover" voluntarily left the competition.
- Key: = "Lover" is eliminated, but returns.
- Key: = "Lover" is eliminated.
Notes[]
- 1 Alec & Austin voluntarily left in episode 2 after a physical altercation with Pied Piper and Pee Wee.
- 2 Delaylo voluntarily left in episode 2 after stating he didn't want his "brand" associated with the nickname he was given.
- 3 Pussi Breaker was eliminated in episode 3, but Erica gives him another chance.
- 4 Hollywood voluntarily left in episode 4 after refusing to do the challenge.
- 5 Turtle voluntarily left in episode 5 after being love tapped by Erica.
- 6 Celina is removed in episode 11 after a heated altercation with Erica and Cassie.
Call Out Order[]
| Order | Contestant | Elimination Round | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||
| 1 | Master Chiqs | Pied Piper | Closet Freak | Pussi Breaker | Dick-A-Rella | Pussi Breaker[1] | Gangsta Bae | Pussi Breaker | Master Chiqs |
| 2 | Pussi Breaker | Gangsta Bae | Mista Thang[2] | Mee Goes | Cat/Dog Goldie Loccs |
Closet Freak | Pee Wee | Master Chiqs | Pussi Breaker |
| 3 | Pee Wee | Master Chiqs | Gangsta Bae | Pee Wee | Master Chiqs | Pussi Breaker | Pee Wee Gangsta Bae |
— | |
| 4 | Gangsta Bae | Trophy D | Pee Wee | Gangsta Bae | Pussi Breaker | Gangsta Bae[3] | Master Chiqs | ||
| 5 | Cat/Dog | Dick-A-Rella | Golden Ticket | Golden Ticket | Closet Freak | Dick-A-Rella | Cat/Dog Closet Freak |
— | |
| 6 | Closet Freak | Mista Thang | Ratt-a-Tatt | Closet Freak | Mee Goes | Cat/Dog | |||
| 7 | Dick-A-Rella | Closet Freak | Master Chiqs | Mista Thang | Gangsta Bae Golden Ticket Master Chiqs |
Pee Wee | Dick-A-Rella | — | |
| 8 | Mista Thang | Cat/Dog | Goldie Loccs | Goldie Loccs | Mista Thang Goldie Loccs |
— | |||
| 9 | Goldie Loccs | Golden Ticket | Dick-A-Rella | Dick-A-Rella | |||||
| 10 | Mee Goes | Goldie Loccs | Pussi Breaker | Master Chiqs | Pee Wee Mista Thang[4] |
Mee Goes Golden Ticket[5] |
— | ||
| 11 | Golden Ticket | Pee Wee | Deacan O | Cat/Dog | |||||
| 12 | Deacan O | Ratt-A-Tatt | Cat/Dog | Deacan O | Deacan O [6] | — | |||
| 13 | Ratt-A-Tatt | Puzzy Lipz | Mee Goes | Ratt-a-Tatt | — | ||||
| 14 | Puzzy Lipz | Deacan O | Puzzy Lipz | Puzzy Lipz [7] | — | ||||
| 15 | Pied Piped | Mee Goes | Pied Piper | — | |||||
| 16 | Trophy D | Pussi Breaker[8] | Trophy D | — | |||||
| 17 | Delaylo | Delaylow | — | ||||||
| 18-19 | Alec | Alec Austin |
— | ||||||
| Austin | |||||||||
Key[]
- Key: = "Lover" voluntarily left the competition.
- Key: = "Lover" is called in the last group at elimination.
- Key: = "Lover" is eliminated.
- Key: = "Lover" is a runner up.
- Key: = "Lover" is chosen by Erica and won.
- Key: = "Lover" is eliminated outside of the Elimination ceremony.
- Key: = "Lover" is removed.
Notes[]
- ↑ Gangsta Bae was originally called down, but was interrupted by Pussi Breaker. Subsequently Pussi Breaker was given the chain.
- ↑ Initially Pied Piper got the eggplant chain, but quit shortly after being slapped by Erica. The chain was then given to Pussi Breaker, but revoked. It was then finally given to Mista Thang.
- ↑ Gangsta Bae was originally called out second but was interrupted and walked off, she came back and was given her chain subequently.
- ↑ Elimination was cancelled before Pee Wee and Mista Thang could be called to receive their chains.
- ↑ Mee Goes and Golden Ticket were eliminated outside of the elimination ceremony
- ↑ Deacan O was eliminated during the elimination ceremony, but not called last.
- ↑ Puzzy Lipz was eliminated during the elimination ceremony, but not called last.
- ↑ Pussi Breaker was initially eliminated but was then given another chance by Erica.
Gallery[]
Controversy[]
On August 13th, 2024, Aaron Sloan "Aaron the Plumber" or nicknamed, "Ninja Turtle" or "Balloon Guy" Took to social media to lash out at Erica Mena, claiming he was attacked and that the network was going to paint him as transphobic and overly emotional. On his rant he detailed his oncoming court case against Erica Mena, where he states he is going to be pressing charges against her. Shortly after this, on August 16th, Erica Mena posted a video to her story where during a taping of a scene for the show, he is taking back his accusations made on social media and retracting his legal actions. Among his accusations (in which he retracted) he called Erica Mena racist, and claimed she had harmed him. He also claimed that the filming network, Zeus, was exploiting him and his emotions. He states he has quit the show prematurely. Shortly after, Celina Powell took to her instagram live story with Ray J and claimed she a fake "spy" contestant and was betrayed by Erica Mena herself, and unfairly sent home.
Episodes[]
| No. in season | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Let the Love Games Begin! | February 2nd, 2025 |
| A group of potential suitors arrive to meet Erica, in hope of becoming her one true love. | ||
| 2 | What's Your Name? | February 9th, 2025 |
| Erica enlists her friend Bambi to help give her love prospects new names. | ||
| 3 | Mixer Mayhem | February 16th, 2025 |
| The men and women gather for a mixer where conflict and fights erupt immediately. | ||
| 4 | Pop That... | February 23rd, 2025 |
| Erica holds a sex toy challenge which leads to a "love tap" gone crazy. | ||
| 5 | Date & Dates | March 2nd, 2025 |
| Erica gets to know her potential mates during dates | ||
| 6 | Gang Bang Bang Bang | March 9th, 2025 |
| Bambi and Erica's friend Cassie hold a "Kissing Gang Bang" challenge. | ||
| 7 | Ride the Bull | March 16th, 2025 |
| Erica's love hopefuls participate in a bull riding challenge. | ||
| 8 | Hola Papi! | March 23rd, 2025 |
| Erica's friend Prince comes to help her choose a potential mate. | ||
| 9 | Liar Liar | March 30th, 2025 |
| Erica's potential lovers are given the opportunity to tell the truth during a lie detector test. | ||
| 10 | Dance (My Clothes) Off | April 6th, 2025 |
| The Puerto Rican Princess Joseline Hernandez, is the special guest as Erica's remaining love hopefuls perform a sensual dance. | ||
| 11 | The Final Four | April 13th, 2025 |
| Erica goes on individual dates with her Final Four contestants. | ||
| 12 | And Then There Were Two | April 20th, 2025 |
| Erica is down to her last two potential lovers and goes on a final date with each. | ||