The Challenge: Cast Member Rankings

5. Brooke (Denver)

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Man, Brooke was amazing. She was truly a fantastic casting choice for the sole fact that she was absolutely, 100%, certifiably crazy. But, the good kind of crazy. The BEST kind of crazy. The kind of crazy that provided moments of absolute, unintentional hilarity. Honestly, Brooke could have sat around and done absolutely nothing all season and still made it to the top 5 simply for her two big blowouts. Who could forget when she went to get her nails done and had to walk through the "ghetto" and came home all flustered and when Tyrie and Colie tried to talk her she just goes "If I can't even talk... I just I just!!" and started crying and walked off. It was so absurd and amazing. But the best moment has to be when Brooke when off on either Jenn or Colie in what has to be the best meltdown on RW. "DON'T YOU EVER ******* TALK TO ME LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!!!" and like I feel like it literally was about dishes or something? And it was because Jenn called her a brat, but man Brooke just goes right for it. "You're a *****, just like Colie!" like, damn girl. But I mean, Brooke WAS a brat. She was the child of two therapists and was basically a walking case study. She was also a little princess who was literally afraid to break a nail so of course their job at Outward Bound was horrific for her. She had a nice friendship with Davis that turned sour when Davis made fun of her weird chin thing and wanted to have a threesome, but they were cool in the end. Look, Brooke was ******* amazing and we need another. But there will never be another like her.

4. Brianna (Hollywood)

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Sorry to disappoint as I know a lot of you predicted/hoped Brianna would be number 1. There's no denying that she was a very interesting and dynamic cast member, but the fact is that I had to look up her season to recall some of her best moments which I did not have to do for most of the people at the top. Brianna was great though because she was 100% herself the entire time. She was open and honest with everybody about her pasts and she was honest with people about how she felt about them without coming across like an *******. She started the season with a cute crush on Joey, but the idea of them being together really couldn't have worked. They were both too broken and it just wouldn't have been healthy. Brianna was also a great casting choice because she was put on a season with Kim and Sarah who both came from a very narrow-minded background so Brianna was somebody who could educate them and show them that not everybody has the luxury to live the way they do. She had to become a stripper for financial reasons and she has no qualms about that but she knows deep down they judge her for it so she tries to educate her. It was also hard to watch her struggle with her arrest problems and having to go back and forth to Philly to figure that out. We hadn't really seen that on a RW season before. Brianna was great because she was real and flawed but you could tell she had a good head on her shoulders despite her past. Of course, living with Sarah and Kim proved difficult for her especially when they went on vacation and all their judgements came to a head. And Brianna wasn't afraid to throw down. Remember her argument with Kim after the "let's not get ghetto" comment. Brianna smacking up against the gate is one of the most memorable moments of Hollywood for me. And remember when Dave was getting his *** kicked by some locals and Brianna just straight up threw one of them to the ground? She was loyal and ******. Plus, she actually had a great voice (singing and speaking) and is one of the few music storylines I actually enjoyed watching.

3. Tonya (Chicago)

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Like many people who made the challenge their career, Tonya wasn't really the Challenge Tonya we came to be familiar with on her original season. In fact, she was basically a 180 from what she would become. She was modest, judgmental, and obsessed with her boyfriend. Who seemed like he sucked but whatever. Tonya was always getting into arguments with Aneesa about Aneesa's nakedness and with Theo because in general, Theo was always kind of an *** to Tonya. Remember when her boyfriend came and fought with Theo about his treatment of Tonya? But the thing about Tonya is that she never seemed to really enjoy being there. Like, she was miserable but positive it was weird. She was ALWAYS on the phone talking to her BF. Like honestly it's shocking (and sad) what happened to Tonya bc she was SO different back then. She was also frustrating to watch because she was always such the victim and I felt bad for her but then I'd be like "ugh she's so annoying though". But man, were the roommates mean to her sometimes. Who could forget when they all went on the trip and she decided not to go and they intercut scenes of the roommates making fun of Tonya in the car with her on the phone with her BF in the house alone. And of course the song "WALLA WALLA KIDNEY STONES!" How have I not mentioned the kidney stones yet? She was going to the hospital alllll the time to p*** kidney stones and she just had health issue after issue. To the point that Cara used Tonya as an excuse to get out of Keri's play or whatever because Cara hated it. And Tonya was like "uh **** no you're a liar, tell her you thought it sucked". Good times. And I think I forgot to mention this in Cara's writeup but who could forget when Tonya mistakenly called Cara "Keri". "GET MY ******* NAME RIGHT, TONYA." Good times. It's sad what happened to Tonya, because while aggravating back in the day, she was sweet generally and meant well.

2. Brad (San Diego)

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I already feel like people will disagree with this choice because people kind of turned on Brad after Cutthroat and he's a "nice guy" and people seem to think "nice = boring" on these shows. Well, I say **** the haters because Brad was AMAZING on his season of the RW. He was hilarious, he was drunk, he was loud, he was dramatic, he was hot, he was friendly. He was an ideal RW cast member. He started the show by driving his ******* motorcycle to the house and ended the first episode making out with Frankie (!!) in the hottub. He also had one of the best will they/won't they storylines with Cameran because the two of them were just two drunk, funny, kind of dumb people who couldn't decide if they actually wanted to be together or not. Of course Brad had a girlfriend and of course that just couldn't last. Brad and Cameran's relationship for much of the season consisted of goofy flirting and Cameran hitting Brad in the balls all the time. And of course there was the time Cameran and the girls convinced Brad to show him his *****. His 8 INCH STACKED *****, that he had his girlfriend confirmed for him. "AND I AIN'T EVEN HARD" It was hilarious, and quite frankly the pixilation left nothing to the imagination. Brad and Cameran never really did end up dating but man they had a hot makeout sesh in Greece (again in a hottub, natch). The real love story was between Brad and Randy, though. This is definitely an all-time RW friendship. They were hilarious together. I could honestly watch Brad and Randy dress up as Mario and Luigi and throw shit off the deck all the time and not get sick of it. I'm laughing just thinking about it. And remember when they all snuck in the playboy mansion? And c'mon it's impossible to talk about Brad without talking about his arrest. He basically got arrested for being too drunk, which he managed to prove when the officer described what penal code he was violating. Brad's response? "PENAL CODE? I didn't whip out my *****!!" (not today, at least). Again, it was ******* great. And Robin got arrested the same day!! FREE BRAD!! Look, Brad is proof that it's possible to be a fantastic casting choice without being a psychopath. If I had to compare him to cast members of other eras, I'd say he's a mix of Seattle David and Leroy. I feel like I'm missing things, but man Brad rocked.

1. Paula (Key West)

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After 10 or so seasons on the challenge, most people probably got sick of Paula. I certainly did. I grew to really dislike her towards the middle of her challenge era (I eventually went back to tolerating her by the end), but there's no denying that Paula was a damn fine RW cast member. She had a pretty heartbreaking story arc where she suffered from severe anorexia or bulimia and it was genuinely difficult to watch her struggle. You could see that she was struggling with it simply by looking at her, and apparently it was even worse before the show! She also had a troubled past with her ex-BF. We all remember the Tonya Harding lookin mugshot right?? She also clearly suffered from anxiety issues and was always picking at herself and had been in an abusive relationship prior to the show. It was all just too much. Paula was also always getting hammered. She was getting hammered and not eating, which is a terrible (and potentially deadly) combination. Not only was she getting hammered, but she would get hammered and do stupid shit and inevitably fight with her roommates, namely Johnny. They were always arguing anytime they went out and they just went straight for the lowest of low blows. Johnny would call her out on her anorexia and weight, Paula would call out his tiny ****, and inevitably Paula would end up breaking down bc Johnny's words got to her too much and he eventually always had to apologize. And it's true, he should've apologized but the fact is that Paula did not make it easy to live with her. When she got drunk, she got stupid, incoherent, and messy. And don't even get me started on her baby voice (which sadly never went away). But, Paula made the tough decision to go to therapy and it wasn't easy for her. She didn't want to do it at first but she did and we honestly watched her grow throughout the season. Paula belongs at the top because she shined a light on real issues which we is sadly few and far between on the RW these days. The final episode and her final goodbye letter is truly heartbreaking while also being uplifted. I'm man enough to admit I shed a tear for Paula, but had a big smile on my face ***he was the last person there reflecting on how much she had grown during the season. It's that reason why the Key West finale is one of the best RW goodbye episodes of all time, IMO. Forget what Paula became, and remember how great she was on her season.

Here's how the seasons averaged out:

Las Vegas – 26.85

Chicago – 30.85

San Diego – 33.87

Key West – 36

Hollywood – 36.77

Sydney – 37.25

Denver – 37.71

Paris – 42

Austin – 44.85

Philadelphia – 49.57

I'm honestly shocked Vegas did so well because I'm not a huge fan of that cast or season, but can't deny they were entertaining. Both Vegas seasons have now won for their era, FYI.

How could you not mention Brooke's freakout on Davis after calling her fat?! Smashing lamps and looking like an actual zombie during the aftermath!? 

LOL I knew I forgot to mention one. She's fantastic.

Hey guys! Long time no post but since MTV announced that the Real World is coming back, I thought it would be a great time to bring these rankings back! However, this time I am going to rank Real World SEASONS. I feel like I should mention if the MTV press releases are to be believed, I have high hopes for the new RW seasons and hoping they appear on Netflix. Also hoping it means putting the old seasons on Netflix AND possibly a Road Rules revival if RW is successful. But what can I say, I'm an optimist. (Rooting for a Nashville season! But Atlanta would be sweet too).

NOTE: I know I still need to rank the cast members from RW seasons 1-10 and I will eventually I promise. Also, after Final Reckoning airs, I will update my challenge rankings with everybody who appeared post Exes 2 since that was the last time I did the rankings.

Please note that these rankings are obviously subjective and there may be some bias in there but I am trying my best to do a fair ranking based on what I truly believe to be the ultimate RW ranking (based on how iconic the seasons are, memorable moments, etc.) This is NOT a ranking of my favorites because trust me it would look very different. Feel free to comment with your thoughts! I am going to release these 2 at a time.

Without further ado, here's 32 and 31!

32. Real World Seattle: Bad Blood

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I know it may seem like this is last because it's the most recent season so it's freshest in our minds, but truth is it's last because it's the most recent season and it's NOT the freshest in our minds. I barely remember what happened in this season and it's the newest season. Truth be told, this season just had TOO. MANY. PEOPLE. I'm somebody who likes when the challenges have more cast members but on the RW, it just doesn't work out. They have trouble showing everybody on seasons with only 7 or 8 people (Hi Baya! Hi Simon!) so 14 people is just crazy. Also, they had already done a variation of this "twist" much better on Skeletons. I was really excited for this season because the cast was more diverse than usual but as it turns out, when casting diverse people you still need to cast INTERESTING people. I would've been interested to see how the show played out with just the original cast because once the bad blood came, many of the original people fell into the background. People like Anika and Jordan are super cute and seem like fun, nice girls, but we never got to see even an ounce of their personality because there were just too many people. Also, we've had to accept AYTO cast on the challenges but we did NOT need them on RW. And they decided to have the guinea pig be Mike, who has the body of a 25 year old and the face of a 45 year old. Plus, he was a huge *******. And yet somehow he still wasn't as bad as his bad blood, Peter. Peter might be the biggest piece of shit ever cast on this show (and that's saying something considering Ryan L, Joey R, and Puck exist). The problem with someone like Peter is that while every show needs a villain, he had zero charm or "love to hate" vibe. His relationship with Jenn was truly obnoxious to watch as he just walked all over her. Jenn seemed like a cool chick at first and then by the end I could not stand her. Anna and Katrina may have been annoying or *****y, but they were spot-on about Peter and Jenn and in their own twisted way, tried to help Jenn see the light. But she was too much of a doormat. I'm also baffled that nobody else seemed to think Peter was all that bad until the like final episode? Anyways, let's get to people who actually were good casting decisions - namely Theo. It's easy to make fun of Theo now because he punked out on invasion but truthfully he was a breath of fresh air. He was funny, charming, and real and he wasn't afraid to show his emotions. His initial crush on Tya was sweet and his bad blood with Kassius was legitimate (even if we did get sick of hearing about it). Ultimately, I believed Theo's side of the story but I understood why others believed Kass. Kass, meanwhile, started out kinda cool but by the end of the show I couldn't stand him. And Tya? Was not as good as she could've been. She couldn't decide if she wanted to be the drama queen or the meek one and that fake accent? I can't. As for the other bad blood stuff - we never really actually got much from Anika/Will or Jordan/Lana and Robbie and Jenn seemed pretty cool with each other. Lastly, apparently there was somebody named Kim on this season? Idk. Anyway, I'm happy that RW is coming back because this is NOT how we want the legacy to end.

Season MVP: Theo

31. Real World: San Diego 2

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Initially I thought this was going to be my last place, but I changed my mind last minute. However, let it be known that this is truly a terrible season of RW. It also suffers because it came off the 1-2 punch of LV2 and NOLA2 which are two of the strongest seasons. This season pretty much only consisted of 2 people: Zach and Frank. However, before we get into them let's discuss the others. This is probably the worst group of girls ever cast for the RW. I don't even mean that as an insult because I liked the girls in general, but usually we rely on the women to provide the most interesting parts of RW and these ones just... didn't. I truly believe Alex was a great casting choice and belonged on a different season of the show (an earlier season). She was like transplanted from an earlier RW season where the cast members were more interesting and cool. Unfortunately, that didn't translate to good TV on this season (however, Beggar is a certified bop that I have on my itunes). Priscilla was sweet and cute and super fun, but underage and basically couldn't do shit. Also, she made out with her mom??????? Sam on paper should've been interesting simply because we never had a real butch lesbian before and Sam WAS the most interesting girl on this season but that's a low bar. I felt for Sam during some of her fights with Zach but I also think she needed thicker skin. And then there was Ashley who was truly void of personality. Her whole storyline was just about her relationship with Zach. She had no storyline of her own. I'm convinced she didn't even have the same beliefs as Zach (or at least as extreme) but she's just one of those girls who molds her personality to fit the guy she's dating. Because honestly? In the first few episodes before her and Zach hooked up, she seemed kind of cool. There was also Nate, who was actually more interesting than people give him credit for - he started out being uncomfortable with Frank (even though it was 2011, but whatever) but became friends with him by the end and he was this goofy, fun guy who seemed like he was much deeper than given credit for. While Nate was pretty interesting, the season belonged to Zach and Frank. Frank was the in-your-face gay guy who was too smart for his own good and loved to stir the pot, and Zach was the uber-conservative jock who had no experience with gay people and didn't want any experience. It can't be stated enough that Zach was truly an unbelievable ******* during his RW season. I'm hesitant to throw the word "homophobe" out there but he certainly tread the line AND he made a concerted effort to NOT hang out with the rest of his roommates even when they were all just having fun. He didn't actually seem like he wanted to be on TRW so it was confusing why he signed up. He was NOT part of the crab circle (is that what it was called?). With all of that said, somehow Zach still wasn't as bad as Frank? People tend to rank Zach as the bigger ******* because he was the straight dude who thought gays were icky but you have to consider he was in a house with Frank who was purposely in-your-face and aggressive to the point of being belligerent. In fact, he WAS belligerent. Frank fought with every single person in that house at one point or another and usually started the fight but then played the victim. And, he was intelligent so he knew how to **** with people. Frank had a good heart and he usually made great points (specifically about how Zach and Ashley isolated themselves) but he went about his arguments ALL wrong (remember when he yelled at Priscilla over a haircut??? Or when he got mad at Alex for not liking him back even though he was gay and she had a BF?) Anyways, Frank sucked.

MVP: Frank (ugh)

30 and 29 coming soon!