"Beauty and the Geek" (5.6) recaplet: Gay Greg goes from hot to not

Alas, despite putting up a good fight and providing some of the season's best moments, self-described "Gaysian" Greg was eliminated from Beauty and the Geek this past Tuesday, bringing an end to the reign of the first ever gay contestant on the show.

Before we get all misty-eyed with our favorite Greggie moments, let's get this out of the way: his partner brought him down. Had he not been paired with tantrum-prone Randi, he never would have been sent to the Quiz Show of Doom in the first place. Granted, once he got there, his inability to name three James Bond movies was his own damn fault, but he was put squarely in harm's way by no fault of his own, and that really sucks. Even the other players all admitted that Greg got a raw deal because his partner (whom he didn't pick, remember) couldn't keep her yap shut. Moving on...

From day one, Greg was an out and proud contestant, who had signed up for the show because his gay geekiness kept him from feeling that he really belonged in the gay community or geekdom. Obviously quite sweet and ridiculously huggable, Greg made fast friends with the girls, and later with the fellas as well. Though shy, he proved his skills as a dancer in the talent show (his out-of-left-field moves were probably the highlight of the season thus far) and did better than most of the other teams in this week's firemen challenge, despite being one of the smallest guys in the competition.

Throughout the competition, Greg was put in the curious position of being a gay man asked to participate in challenges clearly designed for straight guys (getting phone numbers from the opposite sex, etc.). But he made it his own and used his own experience to inform his performance, as in the Young and the Restless challenge where he and Randi turned what was supposed to be a sexy prom scene into a gay boyfriend shocker, clearly impressing the judges.

And Greg grew even more at ease. When the players were told what this week's challenge was, Greg even asked if there would be any hot firemen on hand to help, which shows that he had clearly become much more comfortable with himself and his sexuality over the time he spent at the house.

In his exit interview, good sport Greg credited Randi for helping him to not feel afraid to be himself and be loud, and that probably is true, and her partnership did clearly help him come out of his shell. Given that the overriding goal of the show is for the contestants to improve their social skills, it's a shame that Greg's partner's personal issues with other housemates got him sent home, because it was a delight to watch him come into his own, but that's the way the game works. It was also touching to see Greg thank every person in the house before they went in to the elimination room for what they had taught him, which I don't think I've seen before. He will clearly be missed.

Anyway, we'll miss Greg dearly, and to be honest, with him out of the house I don't know that I'll continue to tune in. What do you guys think?