Theo, the cornball of the challenges. Theo was one of the biggest and most well-known characters of the earlier eras of the challenge. He dominated competition. He (and his partner Holly) killed it consistently on BOTSeasons, and all the while Theo was cracking jokes. Yes, Theo’s jokes were mostly incredibly corny and sometimes even eyeroll worthy, but he was a necessity for the challenges. He managed to take the game very seriously without ever taking himself all that serious. He was the alpha male and the clown all at the same time. Plus, usually it was easy to root for him. On the Gauntlet, when Adam L was gung ho about getting rid of the women, specifically Sarah, Theo was one of the few people on her side (okay maybe because the two of them were “doing crosswords” but still). He was also one of the few people who saw through Veronica’s bullshit. Theo competed well in every challenge he appeared in, and he brought something to each show. Whether it was his screaming at Irulan to go home after her brutal Gauntlet or his distaste for the Austin cast on Fresh Meat, he was a major player. Plus, he was also just a player, hooking up with Coral, Sarah, Tonya, and Linette (among others, I’m sure) in each one of his challenges. Theo could be quite annoying, but I miss his presence on the shows.
8. Julie (Extreme Challenge, Battle of the Sexes, Inferno, Inferno 2, Gauntlet 2)
Oh Julie. Julie is the one I meant when I said “unintentionally hilarious”. Look, after RW, EVERYBODY loved Julie. Like, yeah she was always whiney and dramatic (and mormon) but you were genuinely invested in her family life and school situation, and on Extreme Challenge she was a bit more laid back. Sure, she w***till dramatic and overly competitive (her crying about Ayanna’s voteoff and her fight with Emily about running down the wall), but in general she wasn’t at her full JULIE yet. Then, BOTSexes rolled around and she got eliminated first because Melissa didn’t like her (before this, Melissa LOVED Julie. Everyone did! ….Except Emily.) and they had their epic fight on day 1. Okay, so Julie basically just sat there and smiled while Melissa screamed at her, but still. But even then you were sad for Julie! Like WTF so unfair she would’ve kicked *** on the women’s team! Then, the Inferno rolled around and the Julie we know and love (or love to hate) began. Julie spent the majority of the first episode TRYING TO MURDER VERONICA. “Quit molesting my ******, you ******* mormon!” It’s the stuff of Challenge legend and Julie had no remorse. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you Veronica, I just wanted to win $10,000” “SHUT THE **** UP” Cue Julie mocking Veronica’s tears. Then, her feud with Coral. She challenged Coral to a WRESTLING MATCH. “LET’S GO! ON THE LAWN!” She acted like she wasn’t afraid of Coral, but come on she was a little bit. Afterall, as Coral said “One **** alone could kick her ***”. Also, did I mention she peed Coral’s bed as retaliation? Did she not hear Coral, or read her shirt? “Melissa will kill you.”. Inferno was APEX Julie, but she didn’t disappoint in following challenges, like switching the vote to send Veronica into the Inferno. But come on, you can’t talk about Julie without mentioning one of the best quotes of all time “The road to God is straight and narrow, the road to God is straight and narrow, the road to God is straight and narrow”….SPLASH. To be honest, my favorite quote from Julie came after Ace couldn’t drive stick shift. “THE CLUTCH?!?!?! THE ******* CLUTCH?!?!?!!?” Never change, “*** face Julie Mulie”. Never change.
7. Mark (Challenge 98, Battle of the Sexes, Battle of the Sexes 2, Gauntlet 2, Duel 2, Battle of the Exes)
Look guys, I don’t actually think Mark has done all that much special on these shows. Like, he’s always been a solid competitor and all around good guy. He’s gotten into some love triangles and who could forget his upper cut in the Gauntlet 2 van? “GET ME OUT! I GOTTA GET OUT!” But other than that, he really only ranks this high because this guy basically IS RW/RR. There’s a reason they call him the Godfather (or grandfather?? Both work tbh). I just feel that people talk him up more than he’s actually shown. But I can’t deny the guy has presence. He’s incredibly social and a great narrator, specifically on BOTSexes. I think Mark is great because he cares a lot about these shows and the games. He’s as much of a fan as the rest of us, which is why I think he works a lot better as a host. Great competitor, definitely a legend, but I love watching him host because he manages to be fair while asking the questions we want to know. He kicked all kinds of *** hosting way back when with BOTSeasons, also. And man, the guy is in fantastic shape.
7. Aneesa (Battle of the Sexes, Battle of the Sexes 2, Gauntlet 2, Duel, Inferno 3, Duel 2, Rivals, Battle of the Exes, Rivals 2, Free Agents)
Aneesa is a very interesting case because of all the challengers, she has really appeared with every single era of cast members. She’s been doing challenges consistently for over 12 years, which is impressive if not a little sad. But somehow, it’s a lot easier to swallow Aneesa on 4 million of these than it is to swallow say, Paula or Bananas. That’s because she takes breaks and she truly provides something each time, and she reminds you of a time when the challenges were simpler and quite frankly, more fun. Aneesa started out on these shows relatively tame (there were bigger players back then, afterall) but the Gauntlet 2 was a turning point for her. Her feud with Beth was epic and sadly didn’t end in the Beach Brawl we were all hoping for. I mean, Beth literally said she saw Aneesa giving lapdances at a hotel near the airport!! But Aneesa wins that challenge because of her fight with Cara. The most hilarious fight of all time. “OH I think I can say whatever I want because I lost 20 pounds and I’m hot now. SUCK MY **** *****!” She literally told her to suck her ****!!! and of course, “I don’t need a Gauntlet, ***** I will cut you with words!!” If that isnt on her gravestone, then there is no hope for humanity. Aneesa established herself as a true gameplayer on the Duel, where she teamed up with former enemy, Beth, Wes, and random BFF Svetlana (and usless Casey at one point LOL can’t win em all), to take down the more powerful alliance. Poor Aneesa ended up on the other side of an alliance that was comprised by her friends (Robin, Kina, Brad, Derrick, etc) and she had the epic fight/falling out with Rachel. Duel 2 taught us that Aneesa had a secret relationship with Rachel R spanning like 6 years which was kind of WTF for me. Most of Aneesa’s challenges include some sort of strange hookup (Dunbar HJ anybody?), an elimination against Paula, a brand new hairstyle, and a devastating defeat before the final. She just can’t catch a break, but she’s shown tremendous growth on these shows, for the most part. It’s just that she finds herself making a few terrible decisions (like trying to sabotage Emily way back when or trying to kiss Laurel’s *** on Free Agents). I loved how much she wanted to beat Laurel, but it got her to the top of the kill list. Hopefully she wins one of these days. But until then, we have her telling people to suck her **** and calling Trishelle “Trashelle”.
Awww. I thought Julie would be higher. She should have been top 5. She's one of the best females this show has produced in my mind.
Mark...this is a good placment for him. And I agree that people overrate him. Yes he's one of the originals and such but when you really look at these shows he really hasn't done a whole lot.
Aneesa-Good placement for her. Since she is there Tonya has to be #6 because she and Aneesa both Debuted on Battle of the Sexes 1 together.
Theo..He was alright. Good competitior but never really thought much of him. But he did have a few good jokes here and there.
PLEASE let Kenny be at #6. I really don't want to see him in the top 5.
I thought the Mark Long description was pretty spot on.
If Kenny is next that means the only one I got wrong was Julie (I thought it might be Katie).
I thought it would be Katie too.
But Another thing about Mark that got touched on in his description..He is very much a fan of this show as all of us are and I do appreciate and like the fact that an actual castmember loves this show and speak so greatly about it because that is so rare in Reality TV in general I think. I feel like if I ever got to meet him and we spoke about the challenge it would be such a long and good conversation because me and him would BOTH be fans and could speak about it in-depth. It's a good thing.
Like Evan, it’s kind of weird to talk about Kenny knowing all the allegations surrounding him and why he hasn’t appeared in a long time (and won’t ever again), but still there is no denying Kenny’s impact on the challenge. Fresh Meat was the definitive turning point of the challenge, for better or worse. And of all FM, Kenny probably brought the most to the shows to the time. Kenny, along with Evan and Johnny, dominated the challenges in a way that was, and still is, unprecedented. Personally, that was the most frustrating era of the challenges for me. As I said in Evan’s write-up, it was predictable, redundant, and most of all mean spirited. These guys made it to the end by yes, performing well, but also by essentially bullying the rest of the cast. And unfortunately, there was NOBODY who tried to challenge them (except Wes, unsuccessfully). Outwardly, Kenny was probably the “meanest” of the 3 of them, but honestly that was all just part of his schtick. He was cocky “Mr. Beautiful” and most of his one-liners had to do with his looks and the grossness of others (mainly Wes). It sounds horrible on paper, but Kenny knew the role he was meant to play. I think of all the JEK, Kenny truly cared the most for his friends. You could see signs of genuine humanity with Kenny with how he treated Laurel, Cara Maria, among others compared to how others treated them. Honestly, Wes was really the only person Kenny didn’t like, and that’s because Wes decided to start WWIII after Kenny very publicly hooked up with Johanna on the Island. I think Kenny always meant well, even if his whole persona was being a ****. And honestly, the guy made me laugh a lot. At least in the beginning. He was actually funny and the shit he said about himself was so over the top you couldn’t help but like the guy a little. Plus, he was a pretty solid competitor. He never beasted the challenges (until Fresh Meat 2) but he performed well always. The only time he really did poorly was on Rivals, where he just could not compete to save his life, until the incredibly ironic finale where he ended up literally having to carry Wes up a mountain. The Kenny/Wes rivalry is one of the greatest challenge rivalries of all time. There’s literally an entire season dedicated to it (FM2). Do I miss Kenny on these challenges? No, but I can’t deny that he was one of the most major players this game has ever seen.
6. Tonya (Battle of the Sexes, Gauntlet, Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno 2, Fresh Meat, Inferno 3, Island, Ruins)
Honestly, it feels kind of gross to have Kenny and Tonya in the same update, especially since much of this is going to discuss the tragic nature of Tonya’s appearances, but this is just how it ended up. Tonya is one of the saddest cases in the Challenge, IMO. Of all cast members, she did the biggest 180. Tonya started out as this very conservative girl who refused to take off her clothes for a challenge and was BFF with Ellen and volunteered to go home because it was the right thing to do. She also got injured in her first two challenges and was generally just a very nice, conservative girl. Then BOTSexes 2 came and Tonya was a completely different person. She started the season by saying “I’ll eat, drink, suck, blow, anything!! I want that money!” and the new Tonya officially emerged. And man, she did not disappoint. She hooked up with Ace and Theo in the span of an episode, and then got into an intense argument with Tina about lying or something, nobody knows. And of course she put rocks into her mouth to help melt the ice sculpture. “I don’t think Tonya cares what she puts in her mouth..” Inferno 2 was probably the real beginning of the downfall of Tonya, but not quite yet. Inferno 2 was The Mean Girls vs. Tonya. Veronica, Rachel, and Tina lived to make Tonya’s life a living hell that challenge. They didn’t just want to eliminate her, they wanted to tear her down. They’d call her out for posing naked or ************, or whatever they could think of. Tonya did her best to not let it get the best of her, but it eventually did. Hell, even Jamie and Shavonda got on the Tonya hate bandwagon, mainly for the sake of winning but still. It suddenly became cool to hate Tonya (see also: the “I Hate Tonya” game of Inferno 3 and basically any rookie deciding they hated Tonya for the next like 3 challenges). But Tonya perservered on Inferno 2, winning two eliminations and making it to the end. She didn’t do so hot in the final, but hey she did better than Tina so HA karma! But Tonya’s finest achievement came when she threw Beth’s clothes in the pool. “Maybe I’ll have your ******* answer now!!” as she tosses Beth’s designer clothes into the pool. It might be the single greatest challenge moment of all time, but honestly it’s still kind of sad because Tonya essentially did it to fit in with the “cool girls”. It all started about a rumor about Tonya/Mark, where Robin of course decided that Tonya was a *****, because again, it was cool to hate Tonya. Even though she finally won on Inferno 3, it wasn’t an easy challenge for her either, again getting torn down by a new set of “mean girls” (on the good guy team, no less!). Seriously though, is it just me or did girls just come into the challenge every year deciding they hated Tonya for no real reason except thinking “she’s gross” without actually knowing her? I don’t know. After winning, her next few challenges just got sadder and sadder. She spent her brief time on the Island hammered and arguing with Kenny (I think? I forget) and of course the Ruins. Quite frankly, Tonya should have never been cast on the Ruins. She was so clearly not in the right state of mind that it felt like exploitation to have her on that challenge. She was hammered from the get-go, falling down stairs and not realizing that everybody was making fun of her, until she finally realized it and would spend each episode crying. Then came the slap that ended it all. Tonya had a lot of built up animosity towards Veronica after years of torment and it all came to head when Tonya finally ***** slapped V (and HARD). Then, Evan and his goons comforted Tonya as if they hadn’t CAUSED her to snap in the first place. Honestly, Veronica was mostly trying to help Tonya (in her own special way) while Evan and them convinced Tonya otherwise. Now, there are rumors that Veronica said something truly terrible to Tonya that really caused her to snap, but Evan, etc played a part in this whole ordeal, so to watch them “comfort” Tonya was honestly disgusting, especially knowing what we know now. I hope Tonya is happy somewhere, because if anybody needed to get away from the Challenge, it was her.
No more hints, but here are the top 5 guys and girls, can anybody guess the order?
Coral 1st Solid, Veronica must be 2nd she's been part of a lot of the most epic moments (Katie's wrath, Emily's manipulation, Julie "tried" to kill her, Tonya slapped her, Mean Girls, a threesome, Amaya/Veronica's long rivalry and btw she stole stuff from her 2 roommates on her original season). Diem 3rd, Beth 4th and I love Katie so much, but she's been cut early a lot of times and wasn't too relevant on those seasons (FM, Duel 2, BS2), anyways she's so great and her quotes better.
Wes and/or CT 1st, Bananas 3rd, Miz 4th and Derrick 5th is way too high that's Kenny's place.
I'm sorry but the whole Kenny/Wes rivalry was horrid and it never materialized into anything memorable or entertaining. It was mainly just aggressive flirting and I personally think that it was dumb for them to make that weak *** rivalry the selling poing of a whole season. No surprise that that season sucked ***. This is all my opinion of course.
Tonya...She really is one of the sadder challenge stories. I always wished that after The Ruins she would've returned just more more time in a better place and health and just compte and give it all she's got. Just to end her challenge career on a better note but alas that never(and will never) happen. I hope she's doing well in life.
I would put Derrick top 3. I think he beats the Miz and maybe Wes. The last one is iffy and I know the flak I'll get for saying it. But for me, Derrick is (and has been described as) the ultimate underdog. He's not as big as the other guys, and he surely isn't the brightest bulb, but he gives everything he's got in these challenges. As a smaller guy myself, it was tremendous to see him on Gauntlet 2 as the bottom of the human pyramid and then winning as many Gauntlets as he did. But even more so, he is one of how many Road Rules guys that would still be relevant? It's him, Abram, Mark Long...and that's about it. Perhaps it's the fact that I want Road Rules to have a representative in the top 3, but what Diesel lacks in drama persay, he makes up for in heart.
As for the ladies, I think Diem, Beth, and Katie are the 5th, 4th, and 3rd respectively. They're pretty interchangeable, but I gotta put Katie 3rd. How may conflicts has she been in? She's brought it in Gauntlet 1 and in the Ruins...the plunger for gosh sakes! Coral and Veronica, a true battle of Challenge Royalty though...I've always loved Coral, so she would get my vote for sure. Battle of the Seasons was quite the coming out party for her and I never realized how truly spoiled we were when she did Gauntlet 1, Inferno 1, and Sexes 1 in a row. I would hope she comes back for one more, hell have her host it!
Don't care about guys, but Miz that high is ridiculous for me.
Agreed. He didn't do much on these shows. I feel like he's really only this high because of who he became.
He was one of the most popular during his era Seasons 1 - Sexes 2. He had main storylines with Coral and usually a hookup each show.
Coral and him together were great. I will always remember their RW season fights.
Loved their dynamic. I thought it was interesting how they started off as rivals but then became best friends. I liked how they were always shown interacting on every challenge they did together too.
Here's 8-7. I still plan to put number 6 up tonight but my fingers hurt from typing haha
8. Theo V (Battle of the Seasons, Gauntlet, Battle of the Sexes 2, Fresh Meat)
TheoV.png
Theo, the cornball of the challenges. Theo was one of the biggest and most well-known characters of the earlier eras of the challenge. He dominated competition. He (and his partner Holly) killed it consistently on BOTSeasons, and all the while Theo was cracking jokes. Yes, Theo’s jokes were mostly incredibly corny and sometimes even eyeroll worthy, but he was a necessity for the challenges. He managed to take the game very seriously without ever taking himself all that serious. He was the alpha male and the clown all at the same time. Plus, usually it was easy to root for him. On the Gauntlet, when Adam L was gung ho about getting rid of the women, specifically Sarah, Theo was one of the few people on her side (okay maybe because the two of them were “doing crosswords” but still). He was also one of the few people who saw through Veronica’s bullshit. Theo competed well in every challenge he appeared in, and he brought something to each show. Whether it was his screaming at Irulan to go home after her brutal Gauntlet or his distaste for the Austin cast on Fresh Meat, he was a major player. Plus, he was also just a player, hooking up with Coral, Sarah, Tonya, and Linette (among others, I’m sure) in each one of his challenges. Theo could be quite annoying, but I miss his presence on the shows.
8. Julie (Extreme Challenge, Battle of the Sexes, Inferno, Inferno 2, Gauntlet 2)
Julie.png
Oh Julie. Julie is the one I meant when I said “unintentionally hilarious”. Look, after RW, EVERYBODY loved Julie. Like, yeah she was always whiney and dramatic (and mormon) but you were genuinely invested in her family life and school situation, and on Extreme Challenge she was a bit more laid back. Sure, she w***till dramatic and overly competitive (her crying about Ayanna’s voteoff and her fight with Emily about running down the wall), but in general she wasn’t at her full JULIE yet. Then, BOTSexes rolled around and she got eliminated first because Melissa didn’t like her (before this, Melissa LOVED Julie. Everyone did! ….Except Emily.) and they had their epic fight on day 1. Okay, so Julie basically just sat there and smiled while Melissa screamed at her, but still. But even then you were sad for Julie! Like WTF so unfair she would’ve kicked *** on the women’s team! Then, the Inferno rolled around and the Julie we know and love (or love to hate) began. Julie spent the majority of the first episode TRYING TO MURDER VERONICA. “Quit molesting my ******, you ******* mormon!” It’s the stuff of Challenge legend and Julie had no remorse. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you Veronica, I just wanted to win $10,000” “SHUT THE **** UP” Cue Julie mocking Veronica’s tears. Then, her feud with Coral. She challenged Coral to a WRESTLING MATCH. “LET’S GO! ON THE LAWN!” She acted like she wasn’t afraid of Coral, but come on she was a little bit. Afterall, as Coral said “One **** alone could kick her ***”. Also, did I mention she peed Coral’s bed as retaliation? Did she not hear Coral, or read her shirt? “Melissa will kill you.”. Inferno was APEX Julie, but she didn’t disappoint in following challenges, like switching the vote to send Veronica into the Inferno. But come on, you can’t talk about Julie without mentioning one of the best quotes of all time “The road to God is straight and narrow, the road to God is straight and narrow, the road to God is straight and narrow”….SPLASH. To be honest, my favorite quote from Julie came after Ace couldn’t drive stick shift. “THE CLUTCH?!?!?! THE ******* CLUTCH?!?!?!!?” Never change, “*** face Julie Mulie”. Never change.
7. Mark (Challenge 98, Battle of the Sexes, Battle of the Sexes 2, Gauntlet 2, Duel 2, Battle of the Exes)
Mark.png
Look guys, I don’t actually think Mark has done all that much special on these shows. Like, he’s always been a solid competitor and all around good guy. He’s gotten into some love triangles and who could forget his upper cut in the Gauntlet 2 van? “GET ME OUT! I GOTTA GET OUT!” But other than that, he really only ranks this high because this guy basically IS RW/RR. There’s a reason they call him the Godfather (or grandfather?? Both work tbh). I just feel that people talk him up more than he’s actually shown. But I can’t deny the guy has presence. He’s incredibly social and a great narrator, specifically on BOTSexes. I think Mark is great because he cares a lot about these shows and the games. He’s as much of a fan as the rest of us, which is why I think he works a lot better as a host. Great competitor, definitely a legend, but I love watching him host because he manages to be fair while asking the questions we want to know. He kicked all kinds of *** hosting way back when with BOTSeasons, also. And man, the guy is in fantastic shape.
7. Aneesa (Battle of the Sexes, Battle of the Sexes 2, Gauntlet 2, Duel, Inferno 3, Duel 2, Rivals, Battle of the Exes, Rivals 2, Free Agents)
Aneesa.png
Aneesa is a very interesting case because of all the challengers, she has really appeared with every single era of cast members. She’s been doing challenges consistently for over 12 years, which is impressive if not a little sad. But somehow, it’s a lot easier to swallow Aneesa on 4 million of these than it is to swallow say, Paula or Bananas. That’s because she takes breaks and she truly provides something each time, and she reminds you of a time when the challenges were simpler and quite frankly, more fun. Aneesa started out on these shows relatively tame (there were bigger players back then, afterall) but the Gauntlet 2 was a turning point for her. Her feud with Beth was epic and sadly didn’t end in the Beach Brawl we were all hoping for. I mean, Beth literally said she saw Aneesa giving lapdances at a hotel near the airport!! But Aneesa wins that challenge because of her fight with Cara. The most hilarious fight of all time. “OH I think I can say whatever I want because I lost 20 pounds and I’m hot now. SUCK MY **** *****!” She literally told her to suck her ****!!! and of course, “I don’t need a Gauntlet, ***** I will cut you with words!!” If that isnt on her gravestone, then there is no hope for humanity. Aneesa established herself as a true gameplayer on the Duel, where she teamed up with former enemy, Beth, Wes, and random BFF Svetlana (and usless Casey at one point LOL can’t win em all), to take down the more powerful alliance. Poor Aneesa ended up on the other side of an alliance that was comprised by her friends (Robin, Kina, Brad, Derrick, etc) and she had the epic fight/falling out with Rachel. Duel 2 taught us that Aneesa had a secret relationship with Rachel R spanning like 6 years which was kind of WTF for me. Most of Aneesa’s challenges include some sort of strange hookup (Dunbar HJ anybody?), an elimination against Paula, a brand new hairstyle, and a devastating defeat before the final. She just can’t catch a break, but she’s shown tremendous growth on these shows, for the most part. It’s just that she finds herself making a few terrible decisions (like trying to sabotage Emily way back when or trying to kiss Laurel’s *** on Free Agents). I loved how much she wanted to beat Laurel, but it got her to the top of the kill list. Hopefully she wins one of these days. But until then, we have her telling people to suck her **** and calling Trishelle “Trashelle”.
Awww. I thought Julie would be higher. She should have been top 5. She's one of the best females this show has produced in my mind.
Mark...this is a good placment for him. And I agree that people overrate him. Yes he's one of the originals and such but when you really look at these shows he really hasn't done a whole lot.
Aneesa-Good placement for her. Since she is there Tonya has to be #6 because she and Aneesa both Debuted on Battle of the Sexes 1 together.
Theo..He was alright. Good competitior but never really thought much of him. But he did have a few good jokes here and there.
PLEASE let Kenny be at #6. I really don't want to see him in the top 5.
Theo was pretty hot, just remembered this. Great spots for Julie and Aneesa, adore those two <3
Nice update!
I thought the Mark Long description was pretty spot on.
If Kenny is next that means the only one I got wrong was Julie (I thought it might be Katie).
I thought it would be Katie too.
But Another thing about Mark that got touched on in his description..He is very much a fan of this show as all of us are and I do appreciate and like the fact that an actual castmember loves this show and speak so greatly about it because that is so rare in Reality TV in general I think. I feel like if I ever got to meet him and we spoke about the challenge it would be such a long and good conversation because me and him would BOTH be fans and could speak about it in-depth. It's a good thing.
6. Kenny (Fresh Meat, Duel, Inferno 3, Gauntlet 3, Island, Ruins, Fresh Meat 2, Rivals)
Kenny.png
Like Evan, it’s kind of weird to talk about Kenny knowing all the allegations surrounding him and why he hasn’t appeared in a long time (and won’t ever again), but still there is no denying Kenny’s impact on the challenge. Fresh Meat was the definitive turning point of the challenge, for better or worse. And of all FM, Kenny probably brought the most to the shows to the time. Kenny, along with Evan and Johnny, dominated the challenges in a way that was, and still is, unprecedented. Personally, that was the most frustrating era of the challenges for me. As I said in Evan’s write-up, it was predictable, redundant, and most of all mean spirited. These guys made it to the end by yes, performing well, but also by essentially bullying the rest of the cast. And unfortunately, there was NOBODY who tried to challenge them (except Wes, unsuccessfully). Outwardly, Kenny was probably the “meanest” of the 3 of them, but honestly that was all just part of his schtick. He was cocky “Mr. Beautiful” and most of his one-liners had to do with his looks and the grossness of others (mainly Wes). It sounds horrible on paper, but Kenny knew the role he was meant to play. I think of all the JEK, Kenny truly cared the most for his friends. You could see signs of genuine humanity with Kenny with how he treated Laurel, Cara Maria, among others compared to how others treated them. Honestly, Wes was really the only person Kenny didn’t like, and that’s because Wes decided to start WWIII after Kenny very publicly hooked up with Johanna on the Island. I think Kenny always meant well, even if his whole persona was being a ****. And honestly, the guy made me laugh a lot. At least in the beginning. He was actually funny and the shit he said about himself was so over the top you couldn’t help but like the guy a little. Plus, he was a pretty solid competitor. He never beasted the challenges (until Fresh Meat 2) but he performed well always. The only time he really did poorly was on Rivals, where he just could not compete to save his life, until the incredibly ironic finale where he ended up literally having to carry Wes up a mountain. The Kenny/Wes rivalry is one of the greatest challenge rivalries of all time. There’s literally an entire season dedicated to it (FM2). Do I miss Kenny on these challenges? No, but I can’t deny that he was one of the most major players this game has ever seen.
6. Tonya (Battle of the Sexes, Gauntlet, Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno 2, Fresh Meat, Inferno 3, Island, Ruins)
Tonya.png
Honestly, it feels kind of gross to have Kenny and Tonya in the same update, especially since much of this is going to discuss the tragic nature of Tonya’s appearances, but this is just how it ended up. Tonya is one of the saddest cases in the Challenge, IMO. Of all cast members, she did the biggest 180. Tonya started out as this very conservative girl who refused to take off her clothes for a challenge and was BFF with Ellen and volunteered to go home because it was the right thing to do. She also got injured in her first two challenges and was generally just a very nice, conservative girl. Then BOTSexes 2 came and Tonya was a completely different person. She started the season by saying “I’ll eat, drink, suck, blow, anything!! I want that money!” and the new Tonya officially emerged. And man, she did not disappoint. She hooked up with Ace and Theo in the span of an episode, and then got into an intense argument with Tina about lying or something, nobody knows. And of course she put rocks into her mouth to help melt the ice sculpture. “I don’t think Tonya cares what she puts in her mouth..” Inferno 2 was probably the real beginning of the downfall of Tonya, but not quite yet. Inferno 2 was The Mean Girls vs. Tonya. Veronica, Rachel, and Tina lived to make Tonya’s life a living hell that challenge. They didn’t just want to eliminate her, they wanted to tear her down. They’d call her out for posing naked or ************, or whatever they could think of. Tonya did her best to not let it get the best of her, but it eventually did. Hell, even Jamie and Shavonda got on the Tonya hate bandwagon, mainly for the sake of winning but still. It suddenly became cool to hate Tonya (see also: the “I Hate Tonya” game of Inferno 3 and basically any rookie deciding they hated Tonya for the next like 3 challenges). But Tonya perservered on Inferno 2, winning two eliminations and making it to the end. She didn’t do so hot in the final, but hey she did better than Tina so HA karma! But Tonya’s finest achievement came when she threw Beth’s clothes in the pool. “Maybe I’ll have your ******* answer now!!” as she tosses Beth’s designer clothes into the pool. It might be the single greatest challenge moment of all time, but honestly it’s still kind of sad because Tonya essentially did it to fit in with the “cool girls”. It all started about a rumor about Tonya/Mark, where Robin of course decided that Tonya was a *****, because again, it was cool to hate Tonya. Even though she finally won on Inferno 3, it wasn’t an easy challenge for her either, again getting torn down by a new set of “mean girls” (on the good guy team, no less!). Seriously though, is it just me or did girls just come into the challenge every year deciding they hated Tonya for no real reason except thinking “she’s gross” without actually knowing her? I don’t know. After winning, her next few challenges just got sadder and sadder. She spent her brief time on the Island hammered and arguing with Kenny (I think? I forget) and of course the Ruins. Quite frankly, Tonya should have never been cast on the Ruins. She was so clearly not in the right state of mind that it felt like exploitation to have her on that challenge. She was hammered from the get-go, falling down stairs and not realizing that everybody was making fun of her, until she finally realized it and would spend each episode crying. Then came the slap that ended it all. Tonya had a lot of built up animosity towards Veronica after years of torment and it all came to head when Tonya finally ***** slapped V (and HARD). Then, Evan and his goons comforted Tonya as if they hadn’t CAUSED her to snap in the first place. Honestly, Veronica was mostly trying to help Tonya (in her own special way) while Evan and them convinced Tonya otherwise. Now, there are rumors that Veronica said something truly terrible to Tonya that really caused her to snap, but Evan, etc played a part in this whole ordeal, so to watch them “comfort” Tonya was honestly disgusting, especially knowing what we know now. I hope Tonya is happy somewhere, because if anybody needed to get away from the Challenge, it was her.
No more hints, but here are the top 5 guys and girls, can anybody guess the order?
CT, Derrick, Johnny Bananas, The Miz, Wes
Beth, Coral, Diem, Katie, Veronica
1. Coral Miz
2. Beth Johnny Bananas
3. Diem CT
4. Veronica Wes
5. Katie Derrick
My only issue with this ranking is that Nick Brown isn't on TOP 10.
My guess:
1. Coral CT
2. Veronica Johnny Bananas
3. Beth Miz
4. Diem Wes
5. Katie Derrick
Men
Women
Coral 1st Solid, Veronica must be 2nd she's been part of a lot of the most epic moments (Katie's wrath, Emily's manipulation, Julie "tried" to kill her, Tonya slapped her, Mean Girls, a threesome, Amaya/Veronica's long rivalry and btw she stole stuff from her 2 roommates on her original season). Diem 3rd, Beth 4th and I love Katie so much, but she's been cut early a lot of times and wasn't too relevant on those seasons (FM, Duel 2, BS2), anyways she's so great and her quotes better.
Wes and/or CT 1st, Bananas 3rd, Miz 4th and Derrick 5th is way too high that's Kenny's place.
Diem should be next IMO
For the Men..
1.CT
2.Wes
3.Mike(Back to New York)
4.Backpack
5.Derrick(X-TREME)
For the Women
1.Veronica
2.Coral
3.Katie
4.Beth
5.Diem
I'm sorry but the whole Kenny/Wes rivalry was horrid and it never materialized into anything memorable or entertaining. It was mainly just aggressive flirting and I personally think that it was dumb for them to make that weak *** rivalry the selling poing of a whole season. No surprise that that season sucked ***. This is all my opinion of course.
Tonya...She really is one of the sadder challenge stories. I always wished that after The Ruins she would've returned just more more time in a better place and health and just compte and give it all she's got. Just to end her challenge career on a better note but alas that never(and will never) happen. I hope she's doing well in life.
5. Diem
4. Beth
3. Katie
2. V
1. Coral even tho im not too fond of her.
5. Derreck
4. Miz
3. Bananas
2. CT
1. Wes
1. CT
2. Bananas
3. Wes
4. Miz
5. Derrick
1. Veronica
2. Coral
3. Beth
4. Diem
5. Katie
5 Miz Katie
4 Derrick Diem
3 Wes Verantula
2 Bananas
1 CT
Final 2 girls is a toss up for me, but maybe Beth as 1.
Diem actually might be higher, she was always the highlight when she was on.
1. Coral
2. Beth
3. Katie
4. Veronica
5. Diem
Don't care about guys, but Miz that high is ridiculous for me.
For me Veronica and Coral are top two and then there is a huge dropoff.
THIS, is not even close.
1. Coral
2. Veronica
3. Beth
4. Diem
5. Katie
4 and 5 are interchangeable for me though.
Agreed. He didn't do much on these shows. I feel like he's really only this high because of who he became.
Coral and him together were great. I will always remember their RW season fights.
I would put Derrick top 3. I think he beats the Miz and maybe Wes. The last one is iffy and I know the flak I'll get for saying it. But for me, Derrick is (and has been described as) the ultimate underdog. He's not as big as the other guys, and he surely isn't the brightest bulb, but he gives everything he's got in these challenges. As a smaller guy myself, it was tremendous to see him on Gauntlet 2 as the bottom of the human pyramid and then winning as many Gauntlets as he did. But even more so, he is one of how many Road Rules guys that would still be relevant? It's him, Abram, Mark Long...and that's about it. Perhaps it's the fact that I want Road Rules to have a representative in the top 3, but what Diesel lacks in drama persay, he makes up for in heart.
As for the ladies, I think Diem, Beth, and Katie are the 5th, 4th, and 3rd respectively. They're pretty interchangeable, but I gotta put Katie 3rd. How may conflicts has she been in? She's brought it in Gauntlet 1 and in the Ruins...the plunger for gosh sakes! Coral and Veronica, a true battle of Challenge Royalty though...I've always loved Coral, so she would get my vote for sure. Battle of the Seasons was quite the coming out party for her and I never realized how truly spoiled we were when she did Gauntlet 1, Inferno 1, and Sexes 1 in a row. I would hope she comes back for one more, hell have her host it!
Thinking about it, yeah Coral & Veronica HAVE to be the top two. Then Beth/Katie (interchangeable), then Diem.
Yeah.Coral and Veronica really need to be top 2. Katie and Beth, while impactful, aren't as dynamic as those 2 were.
Loved their dynamic. I thought it was interesting how they started off as rivals but then became best friends. I liked how they were always shown interacting on every challenge they did together too.
Pages