The Challenge and The Real World alum Davis Mallory has been outspoken about his sexuality through the years before going public with his new girlfriend, Rachel Vaughan.
Mallory publicly came out as gay during his 2007 appearance on The Real World: Denver.
“As a boy growing up in Georgia with a very religious family and community, being gay was not at all what I wanted to be,” he later told Out magazine in 2018. “I came out to my peers in my junior year of college on a study abroad trip in Europe. I had finally fallen in love for the first time that summer, with a man and I felt feelings I had never felt before for a woman.”
Nearly seven years later, Mallory announced via Instagram that “God pulled [him] out of that lifestyle” in 2024.
“He started speaking to me in my dreams and showing me the spiritual warfare that I was going through,” he said in a 2025 social media video. “Every time I returned to sin, I would have a nightmare.”
Mallory revealed in September 2026 that he was in a relationship with Vaughan, captioning their social media debut, “It’s crazy what love can do.”
Keep scrolling to read Mallory’s candid comments about his sexuality:
Realizing His Sexuality
Mallory told Out magazine in October 2018 that he first had a “suspicion” that he was gay at the age of 15.
“As a boy growing up in Georgia with a very religious family and community, being gay was not at all what I wanted to be. My heroes were country stars like Tim McGraw and the Atlanta Braves. I had a strong masculine dad who raised me to be tough. My perception of what it meant to be gay was effeminate.”
Years later, Mallory came out to his friends after falling in love with a man.
Applying for ‘The Real World’
Mallory joined The Real World: Denver with hopes of expanding positive queer representation.
“I went onto the show with the hopes of making a positive representation of what it meant to be a gay man, as I needed this type of role model for myself to be comfortable being both gay and a man,” he told Out in 2018. “I hope that I was able to do this for those who saw me on the show, and for many years I have continued to receive heartfelt messages from viewers who said my story encouraged them to come out to their own family.”
Falling in Love With a Man
During his tenure on The Real World, Mallory opened up about his experience coming out.
“I’m in love with him,” he said in a confessional during the 2007 series. “I’ve never been as passionate about anyone as I am with PJ.”
He shared footage from the reality TV show via Facebook in 2020, writing, “Being back in Denver is reminding me of being 22 and freshly coming out on @mtv @realworld. Happy National Coming out day, y’all.”
‘God Pulled Me Out’
Mallory announced via Instagram in September 2025 that he no longer identified as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“[God] started speaking to me in my dreams and showing me the spiritual warfare that I was going through,” Mallory said at the time, revealing the dreams began manifesting in 2024. “Every time I returned to sin, I would have a nightmare that my car was being broken into. I had a nightmare [where] I gave [the car’s] title to someone else. I was giving my identity to someone else while my car was sliding backwards, so he was just showing me these really strong visual dreams, these images of what sin was doing in my life.”
Nearly one later, Mallory had another epiphany after visiting the Arise House.
“[God] said with that prophecy would come acts of healing and words of wisdom,” he stated. “I really didn’t know what that meant. [Then,] I saw someone get water baptized that day, and my friend who was with me said, ‘Davis, when were you water-baptized?’ I go, ‘I don’t remember.’”
