Davis Mallory has apparently entered a new chapter, and this one comes with a girlfriend, a romantic Instagram carousel and a very different story about his sexuality than the one audiences first knew him for.
The MTV alum, who first appeared on The Real World: Denver in 2007 before becoming a The Challenge regular, hard launched his relationship with Rachel Vaughan on Aug. 30. Because apparently nothing says “new era” quite like a carousel full of loved-up photos.
“It’s crazy what love can do,” the 43-year-old captioned the post, adding to his partner, “I love you.”
The post marks Mallory’s first public reveal of Vaughan after he announced last year that he no longer identified as gay. For longtime viewers, the update is particularly striking because his sexuality was once a central part of his reality-TV story.
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From The Real World to a very different chapter
When Mallory arrived on The Real World: Denver, he was introduced to viewers as a gay man navigating his identity while coming from a conservative Southern religious background. His time on the show became part of the story he continued to discuss years later.
In 2020, he looked back on that period while celebrating National Coming Out Day, sharing a clip from the series on Facebook and writing, “Being back in Denver is reminding me of being 22 and freshly coming out on @mtv @realworld happy National coming out day ya’ll.”
That makes his more recent account of his life especially notable. He has now described his sexuality as something that changed after roughly two decades of identifying as gay.
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In 2025, the “Baptized” singer-songwriter spoke about that change while appearing at the Arise House of Prayer and Worship in Hawaii.
Mallory says faith changed how he saw his identity
During the speech, Mallory connected his religious upbringing and family history to the way he understood his identity.
“I was just raised in the church,” Mallory explained in a video capturing his speech. “My parents divorced when I was 10 years old, and honestly I didn’t have a father figure.”
He also revisited his years in reality television, describing them as part of a much longer personal journey.
“I lived a gay lifestyle for about 20 years. I was on a television show, The Real World, and I came out as a gay Christian,” he continued. “But God really pulled me out of that lifestyle a year ago.”
Mallory, who appeared on three seasons of The Challenge before his final appearance in 2011, then described what he believes were subconscious signs that helped him understand his life differently.
The nightmare that Mallory says meant something more
Mallory recalled a recurring dream involving his car being broken into and moving backward.
“I would have a nightmare that my car was being broken into. I had a nightmare that I gave my title to someone else.”
For Mallory, however, the dream was not simply about a missing car title. He interpreted the imagery as a reflection of what was happening with his identity.
“I was giving my identity to someone else while my car was sliding backwards,” the DJ remarked, noting a belief that God “was just showing me these really strong visual dreams, these images of what sin was doing in my life.”
Now, with his relationship with Vaughan officially out in the open, Mallory is presenting another version of his life to the public — one that looks considerably different from the story viewers first encountered nearly two decades ago.
And while reality TV taught us long ago that a cast member’s life can change dramatically between seasons, Mallory’s latest chapter is less about a reunion special and more about how he understands himself now.
Source: ENews!