So we all know who the last ones will be but how will they be ranked by wutzrenzi, what will he have to say about them, and will we agree? I'm all aquiver at seeing the rest of this list. There have been some truly great female competitors on the Challenges over the years and that's always a good thing.
I really want to see wutzrenzi's rundown on the final female competitors but when I messaged him a while back, he said he'd been very busy with other things and would get back to it as soon as possible. This is a busy time of year for everyone so hopefully after the first of the year, he can finish his list. I've loved reading his reasons for the rankings and like you, NOLA, this forum has made me very nostalgic. I love the earlier Challenges and I miss when there were so many good and well-rounded female competitors on them. I've had my fill of the current drama queens who don't offer anything on the field but have made their mark by stirring up all kinds of in-house drama and catfights... uninspired, boring, and really played out.
Let's tap back into this. Disclaimer: Dirty 30 - Total Madness are not reflected in this countdown.
Quick refresher: All results were based on a poll I put out to the board, all commentary is my opinion/facts from the show as best as I can remember/research.Let's respect it and have fun with it!
AVG: 7.92 Ruthie Alcaide is one of the most popular cast members from one of the most popular seasons in Real World history. Ruthie made her mark on the very first episode of The Real World: Hawaii (1999), where she drank her way to the hospital shortly after meeting her new roommates, with her entering an alcohol treatment program following shortly. On the Challenge, Ruthie was sober, mature, and well known as an unafraid *** kicker who emerged as a leader during her first two Challenges. Keeping a sober head in the game not only made her a substantial ***et to her teams in the Golden age but made her a serious threat during her final days. It is surprising how well she did in the polls. At least voters and lurkers of vevmo have not forgotten about her. They just do not make underdogs in such a small package like this anymore.
The first female beast: Ruthie did not come to her first challenge to work on her tan or drink down some tequila, she was motivated to win. Battle of the Sexes proved at times that with every win, the women could be just ***trong as the men, if not stronger and Ruthie embodied that. The female team may not have had a fighting chance at winning any of their missions had Ruthie not pulled outstanding performances. She was often the last remaining female or individual overall left standing and proved that she was strong in the air, above and below water. With The Challenge upping their formatting of the show, Ruthie became the first competitor on this entire series to have consecutive standout performances during missions at the time - I'm talking before your Alton's, Landon's, CT's and Evelyn's. Due to drama and the constant drama and cattiness of the show, the ladies suffered a losing streak in the second half of Battle of the Sexes. With the final of Ellen, Lori and Ruthie though, there was hope. Sadly they could not pull off the win. However, there is still some debate that had the guys not copy the girls' puzzle in order to progress in the final, Ruthie could have been a new female champ. She may not have won her first Challenge but at least she went home with winning a car, some movie p***es (in giant check form) and bragging rights of a couple of Ion Lifesavers.
Anti-politician: The political aspect of the game was not her thing and neither was the drama that unfolded with it. Ruthie being such a good of a competitor meant that she would be in the position of power to determine other girls' fates. That power put her on the verge of tears almost every time she had to send a friend home, even if they had no business being there (Gladys). Ruthie did not play a personal game, but she certainly played with heart and emotion. Most notably during Rachel's vote-off, Ruthie along with Ellen took all the heat for Emily's manipulative decisions and shady move because she was nowhere near to be found. It was an eye opener to the direction this evolving game would take.
She came back two seasons later for the second installment of Sexes and got another taste of how catty females can be on The Challenge. This team was stacked with great personalities but was in fact even worse politically and competitively than the one prior. Ruthie, along with Coral and Rachel were top performers on their team but somehow Ruthie found herself exiting before Tina and missing the final over Arissa. Politics, formatting, and a dysfunctional team would do that to you.
Natural Leader: Gauntlet 2's format and theme brought upon one of the biggest twists the show has seen thus yet. Team members had to fight each other in the Gauntlet to stay in the game, but most of all, to stay you must go through your permanent team captain until dethroned. The position built a lot of tension and resentment amongst teammates and tons of stress for whoever was in the team captain position. And who else better than Ruthie to put in that position? She was well known as an unafraid *** kicker who emerged as a leader during her two turns in the Battle of the Sexes challenges. Why not? However, as the game got more challenging Ruthie found herself getting an earlier than expected boot.
Short but mighty: Ruthie known for being small but mighty and someone unafraid to overcome the odds was forced to face Beth in a Gauntlet with the hopes that she could pull off a win. Not realistic given the game that was played, Beth destroyed Ruthie in a devastating lost in Reverse Tug of War. Ruthie later made her reemergence on The Duel 2. Still a challenge beast, but now a threat you would want gone or someone you want to use to get rid of your threats given the nature of the new individual installments. Come on now, did you not remember her performance in "All Shook Up" mission dominating girls twice her size? When Ruthie found herself in a Duel for the first time this season, the whole Duel 2 house was in for a shock when Kimberly defeated Ruthie in Back Off, a game with speed and physical contact. Leaving viewers sad to see Ruthie leave yet again because she is at a disadvantage and competitors happy they don't have to see her in a final. Weight helped Beth and height likely helped Kimberly, but after dominating performance in team and individual missions, everyone expected Ruthie to overcome those differences. The expectations were high but she wasn't able to pull those off and we haven't seen her since.
Ruthie's third and fourth challenges proved that you can still be a fierce competitor, but small size is proven to be a disadvantage in this new game that we know of and continuously evolving. Ruthie doesn't get enough recognition as a Challenge legend, but she is the prime example of "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." We still know Ruthie to be one of the challenges first underdogs and beasts.
AVG: 7.68 Paula's favoritism from her Real World season found its way onto the Challenge. However, her contributions to the series have been on two different sides of the spectrum. On one side: She was the female protege of the JEK alliance that dominated that era only to be viciously backstabbed. On another: She became one of the top confessional queens, after your Coral's and before your Devyn's and a sudden two-time champ after a long journey to get to that point. Paula was on a journey to victory after being the first person to appear on ten seasons at the time. No one came into the Challenge more desperate than ever to get a win they cried their eyes out every season after coming up short.
Cracked Walnut: Where do we start? It was a tough-tough start for Paula in the beginning. Like her fellow Key West roommates, Paula saw an early boot on her first season The Duel. We saw some heart as she went toe to toe against Aneesa in the brutal "Roller Derby" mission and then their pole wrestle battle that ultimately sent her home. She came into her second season Inferno 3, getting her pay back by sending home an injured Aneesa, making their rivalry a promising one to watch but probably the only interesting thing Paula contributed at the time. Paula made the final on her second season and lost. Then you have Gauntlet 3. Paula was a part of the mob that carried out operation "trim the fat" but found themselves dethroned because of Big Easy's failure...or the mob's failure to get rid of him instead of being convinced he would perform in the final. Paula cried and growled as the Rookie's ascended their flag as the actual winners of the season.
Paula feels "really ****** over": Paula morphed into the paranoid and emotionally dependent competitor as we know of. Starting with The Island, her most essential Challenge to date, Paula followed her boys all the way to the finals yet again but there was a 'gotcha!' moment. The turning point in Paula's Challenge career was due to one ballsy move by Evelyn which would ultimately make them rivals. The Island was ruled by the alliance of Kenny, Johnny, Derrick, Paula, Dunbar, and Johanna. Then Evelyn takes the first shot at the alliance by taking Johnny's key early on after weeks of humiliation which he eventually earned back. From then on, it has been a battle all season that Paula witnessed on the sideline until she got the short end of the stick. Evelyn wins the final face off. Kenny and Bananas were able to get through Evelyn's head to convince her to let Bananas stay, and that way they will put together a super team of Derrick, Kenny, Johnny, and Evelyn to sail away to an easy victory. This obviously does not include their #1 girl Paula. Evelyn took out Dunbar and chooses to boat-buddy with the JK alliance blindsiding the hell out of Paula. However, Bananas insisted that Paula was never part of the final plan despite her being under their wing the entire time. The final boat was supposed to include Dunbar, so her boys not selecting her never violated any so-called agreement. She thought there was something there that was not. Paula freaks out on Kenny for giving Evelyn a spot in the obviously, stacked, winning teams boat leaving Paula to be partnered with Jenn, Robin & Ryan who stood no chance. Paula watched the boys and Evelyn grab their check out of the treasure chest on the island. Once her team arrived, Paula stormed past everyone and goes immediately to sit in the treasure chest and cries about being made a mockery of. Her friends stole $75,000 from her and she was not going to forget about this moment the next two seasons. Her paranoia was on an all-time high after one of the biggest backstabs in Challenge history.
A walnut stuck between a she ll and a hard place: Paula enters the second installment of the Duel in a better position this time around. Only because she found herself under the boys yet again, but she messed that up quickly. Paula had multiple guys she kept her word to, Ryan, MJ, Dunbar, and Evan. The turning point here happened within the second round where Paula was supposed to follow orders and save MJ in the line-up but chose her "partner" Dunbar instead. This places MJ in the duel, who selected Ryan as his opponent and puts Evan in a tight spot because the whole house thought she went rouge by playing her own game. Individuality, we love to see it. But this was too soon for a player like Paula. Paula became the talk of the house for quite some time and Evan had to cut ties, leaving her with a powerless Dunbar. Instead of keeping her head in the game, she found herself in two triangles, a love triangle with herself, Dunbar and rookie Kimberly and a political triangle with Evan and Dunbar. Paula was a hot mess, became super whiny, argued with everyone, paranoid about her placement and relationships in the game and ultimately found herself in the duel defeated by her kryptonite Aneesa yet again. Paula went home not liking the person the game was turning her into and was still damaged by Johnny and Kenny's betrayal.On Fresh Meat II, Paula was unable to prove herself as a competitor, and ended up on the end of the totem of her alliance with Kenny, in a totally polarized house. Early boot for her. On Cutthroat, Paula assisted power couple Brad & Tori for the entire season, using Brandon and Camila as scapegoats. No Kenny or Evan and you would think she had a shot at the big W, right? Nope. Paula proved that truthfully, politically, she does not matter. Her one time she had to enter the Gulag was before the finale and she lost - disqualified to be exact.
It is a marathon not a race: 2011 sparks a weird turn in Challenge history...things were looking up for Paula (until Laurel dragged the living crap out of her, but that was a Laurel moment so stay tuned). After years and years of getting screwed, paranoia and desperation, Paula was finally in a good place in the game. This next season is Rivals and producers came up with this masterful plan to get Paula a win by pairing her with Evelyn. Kidding, I guess. Paula and Evelyn were certainly a legit rival after how The Island went down. Paula proved that you need to make mistakes to learn how to finally play The Challenge. After three seasons without getting to the final, Paula broke all her curses by winning Rivals. We saw total domination in missions from the duo, lack of drama between the two, and Bananas even made it up by helping her navigate through Rivals and get her first win. Exes is the next new hit series introduced to The Challenge and Paula was paired with Dunbar. Not the kind of player that will get you another win. Paula and Dunbar had one power moment where they put in Rookies Emily & Ty, and that's where her storyline would revolve around: Hooking up with Ty and ******* off Emily. Paula was eventually sent packing pretty early again.Of course, her journey did not stop here, Paula sure knows how to pick rivals. Rivals 2 had another dominant pairing like Paula & Emily. Paula hooking up with Emily's ex and partner Ty the whole season of Exes made this come about, or should I say a rivalry entirely based around the fact that Paula was afraid to compete against Emily because she was strong. Whatever the case may be, she found herself another superior competitor that helped Paula earn her second gold win on Rivals 2.
Fortunately, that would be Paula's last. Like most current champs fail to do, she bowed out gracefully on top. Before there was Sarah, there was Paula, who was cursed by The Challenge Gods. Technically Paula's early career was quite impressive, making the final on The Inferno 3 and The Gauntlet 3. But once she became too dependent on her JEK alliance, super whiny and entitled, she relied on their friendship to advance in the game only to get screwed over multiple challenges. Paula is known for making questionable game moves, placing her trust in the wrong people, being able to dish it but could not take and then freaking out about the game round to round. She later turned her career around thanks to strong partnerships that helped boost her competitiveness and her main contribution became a solid narrator and confessional queen.
Essential Season(s): The Island, Duel II, Cutthroat, Rivals, Exes, Rivals II
Emily debuted on The Challenge as potentially someone competitors new and old would have to look out for. Emily went onto serve as a good reminder to her competitors that you can politic all you want, but if you can't back it up on the field you're not getting past this Alpha. No rookie initiation, no 8 season stretches until she got her first win. Emily Schromm stepped onto to scene ready to dominate the female competition and her record and performances highlight just that.
Taming Ty: Emily first debuted on the milestone 20th season, Cutthroat. Emily was a promising rookie but there was some baggage that she got off the plane with. Emily had a relationship with her housemate--and future two-time teammate--Ty on RW: D.C. The two were attached at the hip for two seasons and since Emily was not the most confrontational person, her story revolved around him. Ty actually made her Challenge character more dynamic. Emily was insistent that there would be "no more hooking up with Ty," so that at least told us to expect her and Ty to have some unfinished business. Emily ended up on a blue team of misfits that included Ty, Theresa, Jenn, Eric, and crazy queen Katie Doyle. Katie was the weakest player on her team, but she was also the most veteran female. Emily, though, did not have many friends in the game other than Ty. Even though this was not a pair challenge, Ty's actions could have easily impacted Emily's game. Katie and Emily got into after Katie was voted into her first Gulag and freaked out on her. Ty, in trying to defend Emily, got into his own fight with Katie and eventually threatened to hit Katie. This rubbed people the wrong way and it would only be the start of where Emily would have to be Ty's calm. Ty liked to argue and provoke people, so it did not stop there. In two separate instances, the guys in the house were joking around and things got "gay" or whatever. Ty was visibly angry and eventually challenged Brandon to a fight which ultimately made them Rivals. Then in another instance Emily got into a playful argument with Ty that involved her spraying him with shaving cream, in which he retaliated by throwing a plant onto her bed, then threw the bed on the ground, and then apparently tried to crush Emily underneath it. The two were one of the most dysfunctional exes to step foot onto the show and their experience on their first challenge as rookies proved it. Thankfully, Ty did not put Emily in too bad of a position, as she was able to excel to the final despite the attention he was bringing.
And then there were two: Over the course of season and some twists that came along their way, Blue Team was down to just two players. Derrick, as the only male left, was officially eliminated in the Gulag, and even though Jenn was not in one yet, Emily offered to go into her second Gulag. In the elimination ring Emily had size advantage, was cool, calm, and collected leaving her opponents panicking m complaining and asking Emily to take it easy on them (Paula). After winning the final female Gulag, and losing Derrick, meant that the final Blue Team consisted of just Emily and Jenn. This was the second female duo to ever compete against a team(s) in the final with no male partners. This also meant that they were severely disadvantaged. Jenn and Emily got off to an early lead, making it to the first checkpoint first but it only went downhill from there. The two lost their lead and stayed in third for the remainder of the final. Great effort but Emily would not be leaving her debut with a win under her belt.
Dome Queen: Producers were not done with Emily and Ty's relationship, the two came back as a pair on the first installment of this new format of a season. More dysfunction, yay! Emily was obviously the stronger of the pair. Ty's emotional instability and ability to drop the ball at challenges would be something to fear about. That became the theme of their journey: Will Ty hold Emily back? Well, he did not, he pulled his weight despite his insecurities for the most part. Ty was determined to prove he was not actually weaker than his female partner and the two went on to win impressive Domes against veteran teams. But that did not mean that Emily was not happy that her team was being scapegoated, the competitor in her was often agitated at being a target.
Then here came Paula coming to **** shit up. Emily and Paula had a rivalry both on and off the field. Initially the ladies wanted each other gone for game purposes, Paula and Dunbar voted Ty and Emily into their first Dome and Emily would target Paula any chance she got during daily challenges. What made matters worse was that Paula and Ty hit it off in the house, hooked up all season. While Emily often questioned if Paula was just a distraction to Ty, viewers questioned whether her resentment of Ty's relationship with Paula was personal or purely strategic.
"Are you sure this isn't racist?":Yup... it happened. We can move on now... Okay, no. By the middle of the season Ty and Emily were imploding. After a cast night out at the bar, Emily and Camila returned to the house and decided to do an impersonation of the obnoxious and handsy, 'It' couple of the year, Ty and Paula. Emily pulls one of the most left field moves in challenge history, especially coming from the least likely person you would expect in drama. While Camila wore some trashy makeup to mimick Paula, Emily was convinced to mock Ty (in blackface) by smearing nutella across her face and a '00s Ne-Yo fedora hat. Unfortunately, Emily and Camila misread the room - that shit wasn't funny. As soon as they came out for their grand performance Ty was visibly offended and hurt by Emily's actions and wanted to go home. After being flipped out on Emily relieves that she "never even heard of blackface," a claim which, given her sheltered upbringing in what everyone called "a religious cult," and apologized as soon as she realized how upset Ty was by her racially insensitivity and betrayal. Ultimately the rest of the cast talked Ty into staying and the next morning he accepted Emily's apology. Ty and Emily were both emotionally spent for the remainder of the season but put their feelings aside to become the third finalists of the season in that epic finale.
Ma'am, have you seen you?: After a season break, Emily returns to Rivals 2 more Alpha than ever. Emily was paired with her biggest rival of her challenge career (after Katie of course lol), Paula. As unfair of a pairing this was to their competition the two did have history as they faced off against each other in physical eliminations where Emily defeated Paula and Emily held a grudge against Paula for sending her into the Dome onto of hooking up with her former boo which she felt was interfering with her relationship with Ty. Even though Emily had her concerns about Paula's game - she did fall down some pegs after winning with Evelyn - there was no doubt these two were going to steamroll the girl's side. Emily's focus was on the game and the game only, we did not get an ounce of drama from her as she skated to the final and went out on top.
Many competitors and viewers rank Emily among one of the stronger female competitors of modern time. Emily has beasted daily's, has never lost an elimination round and Rivals 2 would go onto being her first win after her third try. Pretty impressive. Emily had her sheer fair of hook-ups, drama and a controversial moment but she proved mainly that while there may be more dominating personalities and political players in the house, winning a competition is where it all matters. Emily kept the female side interesting from the competitive standpoint during her short-lived challenge career. It is upsetting to challenge viewers that she never had the opportunity to shine on an individual format because she would have killed it. She retired too soon, but definitely will go down as an elite and successful contestant outside of this show.
I miss Paula now, it's been awhile but her narrative ended perfectly. Ruthie was a beast, I remember reading somewhere that Rachel said the only girl she was worried about on Duel 1 was her. I def would have loved to see her again. I am in the camp that says Ruthie, Ellen, and Lori would have won sexes if they would have knocked down the puzzle. emily is another one I'm shocked never came back, it'd be easy money for her lol
these are so well written and researched! Thank you <3
I miss Paula now, it's been awhile but her narrative ended perfectly. Ruthie was a beast, I remember reading somewhere that Rachel said the only girl she was worried about on Duel 1 was her. I def would have loved to see her again. I am in the camp that says Ruthie, Ellen, and Lori would have won sexes if they would have knocked down the puzzle. emily is another one I'm shocked never came back, it'd be easy money for her lol
these are so well written and researched! Thank you <3
Call me crazy but I honestly think Paula is going to come back in the next couple years. Her third child is getting older and she's been posting little videos of her working out on her Snapchat story pretty much every day. I know she's associated with Bananas, but to see her come back wouldn't be surprising to me. Emily is in the same boat as CJ, Joss, and Landon to me, very athletic but also very boring with no storylines so production went elsewhere for casting.
I miss Paula now, it's been awhile but her narrative ended perfectly. Ruthie was a beast, I remember reading somewhere that Rachel said the only girl she was worried about on Duel 1 was her. I def would have loved to see her again. I am in the camp that says Ruthie, Ellen, and Lori would have won sexes if they would have knocked down the puzzle. emily is another one I'm shocked never came back, it'd be easy money for her lol
these are so well written and researched! Thank you <3
Call me crazy but I honestly think Paula is going to come back in the next couple years. Her third child is getting older and she's been posting little videos of her working out on her Snapchat story pretty much every day. I know she's associated with Bananas, but to see her come back wouldn't be surprising to me. Emily is in the same boat as CJ, Joss, and Landon to me, very athletic but also very boring with no storylines so production went elsewhere for casting.
I don't think production went elsewhere for Emily just like they didn't for CJ and Landon and haven't for Joss (yet). She declined and moved on, it's not like they weren't asking, and still are if I remember correctly.
I never ever EVER want to see Paula again. She was horrid and a JEK enabler and if she were to ever come back she'd be right up Backpack's *** and the show does not need that.
Thanks for the update, wutzrenzi! Can't wait to see your takes on 3, 2, and 1.
I doubt we'll see Paula again but I would secretly love to see her come back just one more time, pretend to be Johnny's lackey again, and then screw the living hell out of him right before the final! Even though she brought on her own misfortunes for ever trusting JEK, it would be delightful to see the tables turned. She seems to have matured quite a bit (marriage and kids probably) and hopefully she's not drinking like she used to. If BMP/MTV ever decides to do a throwback Challenge (I know the odds are slim to none... or none to none), she would be an obvious casting choice.
I never ever EVER want to see Paula again. She was horrid and a JEK enabler and if she were to ever come back she'd be right up Backpack's *** and the show does not need that.
It's happening, I just updated recently. But I'm just taking my time. I plan on doing a redux now that we have more ladies and want to do a male one. It won't take a long as I'm doing now because commentary won't be as extensive.
In early seasons people may remember Rachel for being a part of the legendary "mean girls" and side-kicking with Veronica on multiple seasons. More recent challenge fans Rachel may be known for establishing herself as a retired fierce competitor. Everyone talks about elite this and elite that, but if there was a Mount Rushmore she would be the first Alpha female to ever do it, actually be a dynamic character and ready to experiment with some heteroflexible girls. The show may not have seen the necessity of female competitors like Jodi, Laurel, Evelyn, Emily, to name a few, if it weren't for Rachel's display of fierceness and intimidation.
The game is ugly, this inner circle is ugly: If you watched her Road Rules Campus Crawl season you knew that she would take The Challenge by storm as a fresh face, but no one could have predicted how competitive this show would become back then. Her first season was "Battle of the Sexes," and Rachel had potential to be one of the strongest girls on her team. We were never going to see that potential because Emily was the biggest ***** ever who saw her as a threat and cancer to the women team. Since Emily had a personal vendetta against Veronica, who Rachel had developed a friendship with, she found herself in the cross hairs of their beef. Due to the nature of the game, and this being the first vote-off season of the TV series, Rachel's elimination happened to be the first ever blindside in Challenge history. This is the iconic moment where Emily convinced Ellen and Ruthie to throw out any protocol to eliminate the bottom scoreboard competitor and vote off Rachel instead. The girls were on a losing streak, and Melissa voting off Julie round one really set the tone for future women's Inner Circles and the voting became an instance where anyone could go home. As a rookie, Rachel was very vocal about how some of the women did not want to be there and that is what initially singled her out as a negative person in the team according to certain contestants. Emily saw this as an opportunity to amplify that and take her shot. A couple of names were thrown out during the Women Inner Circle, but they decided to give an injured Tonya the Ion Life Saver that would stop her from going home. Emily brings up her decoys that she knew would be shut down by Ruthie and Ellen. Emily then goes on to say Rachel's name, justifying that she's unfocused and not a team player. Once she planted that seed, Ellen piled on by calling her a shady player and has High School bad girl tendencies. Emily glee's joy because she was able to pull off this dirty move, Rachel wasn't too high in the standings at the time but useful than Amaya, Christina, Aneesa or Tonya just to name a few. Women's Inner Circle decision and Ellen steps up to produce a long-winded speech, only to say Rachel's name finally. The house was shook and so were viewers everywhere. The guys team were extremely critical and the girls team were in shock, knowing that they ****** up. Rachel's boot caused outrage, she broke down to deliver a speech and Emily delivered the shadiest liner, mouthing off silently, for her to "wrap things up." After the announcements, Rachel storms off to give Ellen a piece of her mind, telling her she doesn't mind being sent home but she objects to the idea that she's not a team player, saying she's done nothing but work things out. We then send off Rachael with the iconic "This game is ugly! The Inner Circle is ugly! And I don't want to be a part of it anymore." quote that would change the way Challengers played in the next couple of seasons - possibly all seasons to come after.
Mean Girls ***emble: Turns out Rachel wasn't exactly what Emily projected her to be. Rachel's next season was Gauntlet which was a smooth sailing win to her first championship. She was arguably the top female on her team and did not see any eliminations which is common for her challenge career and for alpha females to follow because everyone feared her. Have you seen the statue? Those abs? Rachel may not have been a top personality, but she had her fair of hook-ups and involvement game drama. Her friendship with Veronica blossomed so much this season and even did business together with their T-shirt line. Her memorable moments on Gauntlet was being a part of the mob that voted in Katie and Sarah who was voted into 5 eliminations. She was also involved in the infamous threesome with Veronica and Abram, the first openly (and probably only) threesome on the show.
On Battle of the Sexes 2, Rachel was dominant physically and was a natural leader. However, the nature of having an all females team made her to be perceived as catty by default, but they all were. Rachel had serious unwarranted concerns about contestant Angela, like how she was treated as a rookie, which ultimately sent Angela packing almost the same way Rachel was on her first season. Unfortunately, Rachel saw another early exit this season despite being someone you would want to run a final with because her alliance of Veronica, Coral and sometimes Tonya was exposed. She also played a bad political move where she just screwed herself by revealing her cards and being cocky. She was going to be a captain with Sophia and Katie, but when she implied that Katie was going to be voted out if the girls lost, Katie dropped out, Tonya took her place and Katie spearheaded her vote off. Rachel came in too hot and could have easily helped the females team if she saw the end-game.
On The Inferno 2, Rachel was part of the Mean Girls trio with Tina and Veronica. Again, she wasn't the most vocal or cruelest of the bunch, I mean Tina's loud *** overpowered them, but she certainly earned her position. Rachel proved in her previous seasons she was a lowkey savage. Rachel just had her strength to back up her mean girl persona, but she also contributed to the bullying of Tonya all season and was the one that suggested that Tonya dump all of Beth's belongings in the pool. Rachel was the sneaky one of the bunches that shouldn't be forgotten!
The first Alpha Female: Rachel was a staple of The Challenge during the early and mid 2000's. After Inferno 2 she was one of the first of her era to go on a 5 season hiatus, only to come back to one of the worst Challenges in Challenge history. On The Island she got voted out very quickly because she had no friends and Bananas was extremely intimidated by her. When Abram basically quit the show after the second faceoff, Rachel tried to rally the votes against Bananas but fell a couple of votes short, and the move backfired when she lost the next faceoff to Kellyanne and was voted off over Robin. We were robbed out of her OG veteran friends this season and the opportunity to see Rachel go head to head with Evelyn, another dominant lesbian female emerging from the show.
Rachel came on the next season, which ultimately saved the show, Duel II, and proved that she thrives when she actually gets a chance to compete individually. Partnered with Mark Long throughout most of the season, Rachel dominated both in pairs and individual challenges and did not see a single elimination because of it. She had a surprise rookie, Brittini, on her tail but she was almost given a shoo-in win. Jodi may have been the first individual female winner of this show but Rachel paved the way and got the win she deserved.
The Heteroflexible Storylines: Then came the emergence of what we see on The Challenge today. During the JEK era and specifically on Duel 2, Rachel became the first female competitor to have unclear relations with a Lesbian and a female competitor we thought was heterosexual, but suddenly became attracted to the most dominant women in the house. It was the birth of the Heteroflexible Love Triangle storyline of the show! Rachel's love triangle with heteroflexible Jenn and Aneesa became a pivotal storyline on The Island and Duel 2. Sorry Nicole, Rachel did it first. It all started on The Island where Rachel had a fling with Jenn which she furthered their connection throughout Jenn's stay on Duel 2, all while Aneesa was in the background fuming at both competitors who she thought were teasing her. However, Rachel was just relentless and could care less about Aneesa's feelings. Still nowhere near as ******* as Nicole Z for example.
Feminist Warrior: The two quick relationships and tension got Rachel paired with Aneesa on the first installment of Exes. Super unfair to have unisex pairs compete against the one female pair, but Rachel and Aneesa were probably the only duo that would be able to pull this off. I mean Evelyn and Brooke could never. Rachel and Aneesa were able to work together, but feelings lingered for a long time before they had the chance to explode. The challenges were somewhat fair enough for Rachel and Aneesa to have a decent show and there were quite a few times when they had a chance of winning. In fact, their presence required the creation of challenges that were different from the challenges we've seen in the past because they had to be more of an equalizer. She was in a slightly better position than The Island due to some old school castings like Mark, Robin, and Abram. But that wasn't enough, she couldn't get past her biggest rival on the challenge to date, Bananas. He called her a snake, holding a grudge from their previous season together and they got into a verbal altercation. Imagine being paired with Aneesa and STILL being a threat to a big muscular man? Unfortunately, Rachel saw her first eliminations ever and after winning one Dome, Aneesa and Rachel were finally defeated by Paula and Dunbar in the "Banded Together" Dome. This season would be Rachel's last as she finally settled down and started a family bowing out, still with a great record other female competitor are still trying to match.
Rachel's decade-long MTV history started in 2002 when she appeared on Road Rules. On The Challenge she was a part of the best duo friendships in challenge history, most brutal alliances and teams in challenge history and became one of the pioneers of what we call elite competitors, and the show may not have seen girls like her had they not given her this platform to compete.
Essential Season(s): Battle of the Sexes, Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno 2, The Island, Duel II, Battle of the Exes
Results confirm that Kellyanne was probably one of the most exciting or anticipated debuts since Svetlana this era. Kellyanne had a pretty good following and fanbase way back when. She was a star among many stars from her season of the Real World, so we knew she would be perfect for the challenge. For someone that has been a part of some of the worst seasons in challenge history, she sure was involved in a lot of the better-entertaining moments. During Kellyanne's early days she was a confrontational rookie that didn't submit to Veterans, she was a great competitor but still managed to be in the center of drama and main storylines, and continued to remain on fans minds as they awaited for her return. Kellyanne was the total package.
Surviving a Rotten Banana: Everyone knows the infamous Evelyn vs Johnny beef and the Paula blindside, but Kellyanne was one of the first to go toe-to-toe Johnny. Boredom kicked in on the island, and Kellyanne and Johnny's season long beef started over something stupid as accusing Kellyanne of stealing food. Johnny would poke fun whenever he could and went on a series of derogatory rants towards Kellyanne, most notably calling her an "anorexic *****" and that she needed to take "Robin's prescriptions." Kellyanne being the courageous loudmouth she is, would bark back with insults towards Johnny that we rarely see the day where someone snaps back at the guy. The lines were drawn in the sand and Kellyanne would go onto trying to lead a crusade consisting of Rachel, Jenn, Robin, Ashli, and Evelyn to take out Johnny, which he called them the "band of ******** misfits." This would not be the last of their arguments, they get into another one over food again but this time she stabs at the table with a knife and goes apeshit using a crazy voice to try to scare him away from bullying.
Kellyanne knew when it was her time to go into the Face Off, votes were going for her anyway, so she volunteered herself. This was round three and Kellyanne was brave enough to go against veterans Rachel and Robin. The Face Off was an endurance, balancing challenge where the ladies had to sit on one pole with their legs extended and resting on another pole. They had to hold it for as long as they could. Kellyanne, shorter than the rest, thought she was screwed but she was severely underestimated. Robin bows out early leaving Rachel and Kellyanne, who manage to hold on for two hours until Rachel's hand finally slips off and Kellyanne is victorious. By beating one of the top female performers of all time she proved that she was a contender and wasn't going down without a fight. But Johnny still had tricks up his sleeve. Cohutta was taken down and Kellyanne was led on to be worried about getting her key taken by her best friend Evelyn. Ev of course, did not steal her key but Kellyanne had every right to speculate since Johnny was in talks of the ridiculous plan. Right before the final Face Off we saw Ryan earn his right to steal a key and he goes for Kellyanne (Johnny was of course psyched). The ladies were upset how unfair it would be for Ryan to take Kellyanne's key rather than Dunbar's but he justifies this move by saying he couldn't turn on Bananas and Dunbar would just go into the next Face-Off and win and take it back from him. Kellyanne loses the last Face Off and her journey was put to an end.
Kellyanne comes back on The Ruins, set on a team that was destined for failure, but as one of the clear front women on her team if she could survive the eliminations she would definitely make the final, and that's what she did.
The Wes Effect: Kellyanne couldn't have chosen a better person to romance with given what she witnessed on The Island between Kenny and Johanna. Kellyanne found herself in the center of one of the biggest love squares and rivalries of all time. Let's break it down: Kellyanne and Cohutta were a showmance on their Real World Sydney season, on The Island they were flirtatious even though they decided after Sydney to just be friends and had a great dynamic on their show back together. Wes and Johanna were the second biggest couple in Real World at the time, then broke up after The Duel. Johanna being Wes' ex who he thought he was going to marry, had a showmance with Kenny all season long on The Island. Wes and Kellyanne then become a romance off the show and entered The Ruins with their exes Cohutta and Johanna and Wes' exes' ex Kenny. MTV DID THAT with this lineup! Cohutta moved on and even shipped Wes and Kellyanne, but Wes insisted that he OBSESSED with her during Cohutta's stay. Because Wes was salty at what happened on The Island, Kellyanne and Wes spent their stay further stroking Wes' ego and isolating themselves from their teams. The first round of Wes & Kellyanne vs the whole house started with... Darrell! Darrell talked a lot of crap about Kellyanne in order to get under Wes' skin by saying she slept with everyone in the house. Kellyanne being the one to never back down gets in his face and Wes being onto Darrell's strategy, (fake) challenges Darrell to a fight while Kellyanne eggs it on. However, it was Johanna giving the pep talk to Wes and diffused the situation. Johanna and Wes often had deep dialogues while Kellyanne and Wes were just shown parading around. Kellyanne found herself attached to the house's biggest nemesis but stood by her man in no fear.
Battle of the Best Friends: Kellyanne & Evelyn found themselves in the same target position because they were both considered the strongest women on their respective teams. After failing to get Wes out sooner, Champions strategized to handicap Wes where it really hurts and that was by either getting rid of his girlfriend or his female ally. It's the infamous The Ruins deliberation, which will be covered in Evelyn's bit, so moving along... Kellyanne was unphased by her nomination, Evelyn was an absolute wreck, and it was besties duking it out in the ultimate battle. But not really. The Champions thought that they could get rid of Kellyanne and it would show Wes that they were serious, and he'd come back and play hard for them. But no one expected Evelyn to do the unthinkable and throw the elimination for Kellyanne to succeed in the game. Once Wes was officially out of the game after losing to Cohutta, Kellyanne was able to fly under the radar social game wise until she saw another elimination beating Veronica. Kellyanne and Sarah managed to survive such a failed team becoming the only Rookie finalists on a first ever 2-person team. The girls lost of course but put up a great fight on a season that was unbalanced since day one. Evelyn quitting helped give us more weeks of Kellyanne fandom and opportunities to see her compete that we probably wouldn't have seen in such a long time considering this would be Kellyanne's last Challenge of this decade.
Still the Fan-Favorite: The moment that almost got Kellyanne cancelled was one of her last stand out moments on the show. A night out at the bar, Aneesa and Nany bonded over the fact that they both thought Kellyanne was phony. Kellyanne overhears and being the confrontational person, she is, confronts Aneesa and things get ugly. Aneesa tosses a drink in Kellyanne's face, Kellyanne was unbothered but Aneesa still salty came back and the two oldest women in the house drunkenly fight with insults about each other's age. This is where we got the "it's because of her black skin" comment which obviously angered Aneesa. Back at the house Kellyanne cried and was comforted by Mitch who assured her that she was still a fan favorite. Due to Kellyanne's poor wording and being a drunken mess, it was the perfect opportunity to edit her to look like a complete racist and this moment didn't exactly win her any fans. However, Aneesa and Kellyanne confirmed that her response to Aneesa's "you look old" comment was basically her saying "is it because black don't crack?" We'll move on with an eyebrow raised... Next round, Kellyanne nominates herself to go into The Pit for the blue team in order to spare herself the embarrassment of getting nominated. She beats Nany anyway and returns to the worst team in Challenge History.
Tension rises with the blue team as the season progresses. Bananas being her enemy for years wanted to keep Kellyanne safe because of her male bloodline being a pawn to his game. During the Too Clingy challenge the plan for the red team to throw missions so that Kellyanne would not be in jeopardy. The red team still wins after being exposed for throwing the mission because the blue team is just that pathetic. Jamie calls out Kellyanne because he got a whiff that she wanted to throw the mission for blue and promised to target Kellyanne's back and that's what she had. Blue team took the opportunity, even Bananas who she should have seen coming and Jenna was her opponent. The elimination Spun Out, a bit of a carnival game and a little bit luck-based and Jenna pulled an upset eliminating Kellyanne from the game. This would not be the last of her as I stated before but her appearance on Rivals 3 is nothing to write home about, sadly.
Kellyanne checks off so many boxes: she's attractive, a proven tough competitor, delivers drama, hooks up, provides interesting relationships and is a fearless female voice going toe-to-toe with JEK. Though not having a championship under her belt Kellyanne knew the game tradition but was always determined and refused to back down from experienced veterans or fierce competition.
Essential Season(s): The Island, The Ruins, Bloodlines
Unlike most of the people on this list, you always seem to know what you're going to get when it comes to Nany. Her trajectory hasn't really changed, she's predictable. But that's okay because somehow, we're still entertained season after season. Nany's best known for hooking up with unseasoned rookies, being the life of the party, being in drunken blowouts with the top female personalities, and being her own worst enemy in most aspects of the game if it isn't social. Nany is no champ, but she's proven to have potential. If there's anything we can count on is for Nany to bring the drama, make us laugh at her political downfalls and how much she psychs herself out. Nany has been such a pivotal personality in the recent era of The Challenge that you probably forgot that her first show was Battle of the Seasons (2012), didn't it feel like she was on these things before then? Well, she was able to establish a name for herself this season.
Nany's Kryptonite: On Nany's debut season she was put on a team with her best pal Dustin and two seasoned veterans making their long awaited comeback, Alton & Trishelle, all to form Team Vegas. The team being split meant that Vegas had some slight advantages, one being experience, another being strength, and the fact that there wasn't any bad blood between cast members that have never met. However, their weaknesses of this team was also the fact that not all of the members have met which could impact their chemistry. Team Vegas had made a pack that the women would do all the politics and the men would be there to guide the women through victory in the daily's. Alton and Trishelle have been out of the challenge world for so long, Dustin having no influence and Nany being a rookie would be a huge handicap. Politics would be what made Vegas crumble. Trishelle directed her energy to Sarah who she thought was manipulating Alton into a showmance that would throw his game off. Alton and Dustin bumped heads with the Alpha newbies of the house and Nany also had her involvement in house drama. Then there was this weird moment where Vegas could not determine who to vote in during elimination. Trishelle screwed up in a mission, her team was expecting her to throw herself in but she refused to unless she knew Dustin would be her partner because Alton might throw the elimination round so he could go home. When the team had to announce the male and female participants, Nany shockingly stepped up and her fate was sealed when Alton volunteered as well. Alton and Nany lost in what was rumored to be an elimination Alton was going to throw. Nany wasn't calling any shots after all, the guys didn't allow the females to play their game with their alliances but Nany only proved she had heart to at least step into what would be her kryptonite. She won her first elimination with Dustin but we see that eliminations are not her thing, Nany's elimination record is weird because most of her losses are wonky or she just doesn't have the hard standout skills or confidence to push through.
Nany can hang: Nany's 3rd Challenge, Free Agents, would actually be Nany's most impressive season yet. Nany was in competition with more middle of the road to top tier players this time on an individual Challenge and still performed well. The season had a new twist with the Draw and random teams each round where Nany was on the winning team five times and avoided elimination altogether due to the kill card twist, heading straight to the final. She didn't just skate by, Nany proved countless times that despite not being this big crossfit athlete, she could partake in house shenanigans but also perform when it counts and is easy to work with. It's Nany's first final. She performs well until the second stage of the game, where it's night time and the cast has to stay up all night and ride 25 miles on a stationary bike. Nany reached her breaking point because she's freezing and her complaining and failure to stay committed to the task cost her some time. Laurel and Nany were neck & neck, even reached the final task of climbing a volcano about the same time. We learned that Nany was just 8 minutes away from being a Challenge champ, losing to the Alpha female Laurel who was her game to lose from the start.
Pop off Queen: Nany was a trainwreck on her Real World season so without a doubt she would be a drama magnet on her debut season, Battle of the Seasons (2012). One night on a bus home from the club, Camila calls out Jemmye, they're held back from a potential scuffle and Knight steps in to try and cool down the situation in the old fashion Knight night way that escalated it even more and the situation escalates even more when Nany gets involved to defend her friend Camila. This would result in Knight later taking the Tonya route by throwing Nany's laundry into the pool as a "joke." Once Nany found out, she was rightfully angry along with the housemates, which prompted Knight to take it even further to toss Nany's suitcase into the pool as well. Nany gets support in keeping her cool by her Real World brother Dustin. This proved how ride or die they were for each other and not causing much commotion. What would actually get Nany to pop off? Frank. Team Las Vegas was in the super alliance with Cancun and San Diego, they systematically took down Fresh Meat and Austin and failed to get rid of Brooklyn, Alton's temper tantrums caused a great deal of frustration among the cast and put a target on their backs with Frank and Zach taunting Alton and Dustin for the remainder of the season. Then came fight night: One night Nany and Derek got into a fight about who was the better friend and Frank had to get involved. Not a problem for Nany, she went toe to toe with them and it caused a ripple of fights where Marie interfered to defend Nany, Derek pushed Robb, then Marie pushed Derek down, Derek fell to the ground and Sam fell into a plant. Dustin steps into Round 2 to defend Nany who falls out with Frank again after his failed attempt to reconcile. Frank drops some low-blows and Nany never backs down. We love a good Challenge fight and we love a woman that doesn't back down.
The Helpless Showmantic: Nany being the flirtatious player off the field quickly developed a reputation for herself amongst viewers and catty females on the show. In more recent Challenges we see Nany with a new fling, mostly unseasoned rookies who get sent home early or have girlfriends at home. On Rivals 2 Nany hooked up with Marlon, do you all remember that? It was so random, perhaps it was an early stage of polidicking but held no political dis/advantage to it. Later in the season Nany was seen dancing with a single CT, which prompted Diem to make an alleged rap in which she called Nany a ****. On Free Agents, Nany had a thing for the Southern Charm Cohutta. The two were a showmance during his stay where they got married and threw bachelor and bachelorette parties. Johnny Reily was her stripper, and what do you normally do at bachelor/ette parties? You "cheat." While Cohutta didn't show too much disappointment, this drama carried over into the next season. Nany entered Battle of the Exes 2 with Johnny's ex-girlfriend, Averey. The two were attached at the hips in Portland but their relationship had crumbled by Free Agents and Averey got to watch the makeout session go down on national TV. Nany found herself backed into a corner as Averey was supported by an army; Diem, Nia and former friend Theresa. The roomies would be shown multiple times bashing Nany. Theresa being a part of the crew would be the set-up for one of the most short lived but biggest female rivalries this era.
We Hate Nany Club: Now onto the moments that got Nany this bad rap on Challenges. Nany and Theresa had a strong friendship over the course of their challenges together, Free Agents more specifically, they even won a duo mission together against competitors Devyn, Jessica, Cara and Laurel. On Exes 2, it was a totally different energy. Theresa blindsided Nany by being the ringleader of the "We hate Nany" room. After winning a daily mission Johnny and Nany had the privilege of integrating teams they could send into the Dome and Nany took her shot at calling Theresa out on her shit talking and things got heated and emotional. Theresa showed no remorse as she cried during their verbal altercation and it was the end of their friendship but beginning of their rivalry. Rounds later, Wes and Theresa manage to win the power couple and the battle was on, Bananas and Nany would be the obvious targets to send into the Dome after Bananas and Nany failed to take the first shot when they had the power. Wes and Theresa send Bananas and Nany to go against Leroy and Nia. After being neck-and-neck for most of their heat of "Strung Out," Nany got caught on a piece of wood, buckled under pressure, Nia edged her out, and Leroy dominated sending Bananas and Nany packing before Bananas could even compete. Theresa won this round, but little did she know Nany would be headed straight to Ex-ile, one of the games first biggest twist as we know of today. Bananas and Nany competed in an online Ex-ile tournament with eliminated pairs, victorious for three rounds in a row until they were brought back for the final battle in a "super twist" that was finally revealed to the cast. Bananas and Nany pull off their last victory against Zach and Jonna, granting them reentry into the game. This is the most success Nany has had "elimination" wise. Once Bananas and Nany reentered the game, Theresa went from being the head ***** in charge to being at the bottom of the politics, even worse position than she was before Nany left. Bananas and Nany received help to target and throw Wes and Theresa into the Dome, sending them into elimination against Leroy and an irate Nia. Leroy and Nia were victorious, sending Wes and Theresa home. Nany took this round...but then Nia ****** up and got herself ejected from the game before the final elimination. Theresa and Leroy having a fling on Rivals 2 meant that Theresa could be brought back to replace Nia and allow Leroy to remain in the game. Theresa came back during the most convenient time, because it meant she had to compete against Nany and the ladies would settle it once and for all. The final Dome is X-Battle where two people wrestle an X from each other. It was a battle indeed that came down to the girls! Nany and Theresa got into an ugly battle, tons of commotion and dirty plays from both ladies. It was almost a full blown fight, but like typical Nany, she had no more fight in her and lost to her nemesis Theresa who came back and went off to the final.
What about your friends?: Another downfall to Nany's game is that she's too loyal to players she calls her friends. A loyal ally to the top competitors will get you far in this game, but it also can get you cut loose if you're viewed disposable, or to a lesser extent just get into a tiff that impacts your friendship. Nany's loyalty, friendship and position on the totem pole has been tested over the course of her Challenge career, some may have even cost her the game. On Rivals 2, Frank and Bananas were put in a position where they had to pick between Aneesa and Diem, Emily and Paula & Jonna and Nany to go against last place losers Cooke and Cara Maria. Frank goes back on his promise to not say their name and votes Jonna and Nany in anyway, and they lose in the crapshoot elimination, "Snapper." Nany's friendship was tested multiple times with Camila. On Free Agents, during a night out to celebrate Cohutta's birthday, Camila and CT get into it over a bar tab, Nany tries to defend Camila but gets wrongfully Camilinated in the process. It was just an entertaining drunken fight but the two clashed again in another season, Bloodlines, when Camila accuses Nany of backstabbing her by voting for her sister Larissa, which she did not. On Bloodlines we also saw that Bananas wasn't such a good friend to her, and that for the second time Aneesa's relationship with Bananas holds precedent to his fling and friendship with Nany. On Exes 2, Nany cried early on about lingering feelings for Bananas. So on Bloodlines Nany was crushed by Bananas' vote for her to go into the pit that ultimately sent her home. We then learn that Bananas didn't want his girlfriend to see him going out of his way to defend Nany (fear they're still off-screen flinging). Flashforward to Rivals 3, we then see that her friendship with Bananas didn't hold precedence over his rivalry, enough to his differences aside with Wes, make a deal and see his friend succeed in the game. But he had no problem voting her in three times because she was attached to his biggest enemy. W
Nany certainly proved herself as a solid competitor during the Free Agents and proved that she could possibly win one of these days. She comes close to the final every season. Is she on the path to being the Paula of this era and finally win after 8 seasons? Who knows. In the meantime, Nany provides the healthy drama we deserve from this show. She's one of the biggest fan favorites that redefined the party girl trope in more recent years, but sadly there were girls that were a little more crazier and had more impact in the actual game itself with wins under their belt.
Essential Season(s): Battle of the Seasons (2012), Free Agents, Exes II, Bloodlines
so glad you're continuing this! and that Kellyanne write-up makes me SO BITTER we only saw her 4 times, and on shit seasons. she's the Andrea Boehlke of The Challenge. would have been so great for her to accept Exes 1 with Wes. ugh, we were robbed. at the very least she should've been used to replace Sylvia after her medical DQ on Vendettas.
also Nany lost to Laurel by eight MINUTES, not seconds. still ridiculously close but not THAT close.
so glad you're continuing this! and that Kellyanne write-up makes me SO BITTER we only saw her 4 times, and on shit seasons. she's the Andrea Boehlke of The Challenge. would have been so great for her to accept Exes 1 with Wes. ugh, we were robbed. at the very least she should've been used to replace Sylvia after her medical DQ on Vendettas.
also Nany lost to Laurel by eight MINUTES, not seconds. still ridiculously close but not THAT close.
Ugh, KellyAnne. I stan her forever for being (along with Ev) the only females of the era to go against the grain and fight JEK. Everyone else was fine being a puppet. She really was the total package back in the day and I'm upset we weren't shown much of her on her comeback. I'm willing to bet she's still equally as entertaining, if Dee being completely edited it shows us anything it's the power of the edit.
Goddess Rachel <3 my all time favorite cast member and def my number 1. I still hold out hope we would see her again...hoping the OG challenge works out and she's on it. What an amazing write up about her!!! <3
So we all know who the last ones will be but how will they be ranked by wutzrenzi, what will he have to say about them, and will we agree? I'm all aquiver at seeing the rest of this list. There have been some truly great female competitors on the Challenges over the years and that's always a good thing.
Can I bump this thread for an update?
I'm getting nostalgic with all those descriptions. Missing all the old seasons and the old drama. I think the newer seasons are too self-aware.
I really want to see wutzrenzi's rundown on the final female competitors but when I messaged him a while back, he said he'd been very busy with other things and would get back to it as soon as possible. This is a busy time of year for everyone so hopefully after the first of the year, he can finish his list. I've loved reading his reasons for the rankings and like you, NOLA, this forum has made me very nostalgic. I love the earlier Challenges and I miss when there were so many good and well-rounded female competitors on them. I've had my fill of the current drama queens who don't offer anything on the field but have made their mark by stirring up all kinds of in-house drama and catfights... uninspired, boring, and really played out.
I'm here, I'm here. Still finishing this!
Let's tap back into this. Disclaimer: Dirty 30 - Total Madness are not reflected in this countdown.
Quick refresher: All results were based on a poll I put out to the board, all commentary is my opinion/facts from the show as best as I can remember/research.Let's respect it and have fun with it!
04. Ruthie -
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The first female beast: Ruthie did not come to her first challenge to work on her tan or drink down some tequila, she was motivated to win. Battle of the Sexes proved at times that with every win, the women could be just ***trong as the men, if not stronger and Ruthie embodied that. The female team may not have had a fighting chance at winning any of their missions had Ruthie not pulled outstanding performances. She was often the last remaining female or individual overall left standing and proved that she was strong in the air, above and below water. With The Challenge upping their formatting of the show, Ruthie became the first competitor on this entire series to have consecutive standout performances during missions at the time - I'm talking before your Alton's, Landon's, CT's and Evelyn's. Due to drama and the constant drama and cattiness of the show, the ladies suffered a losing streak in the second half of Battle of the Sexes. With the final of Ellen, Lori and Ruthie though, there was hope. Sadly they could not pull off the win. However, there is still some debate that had the guys not copy the girls' puzzle in order to progress in the final, Ruthie could have been a new female champ. She may not have won her first Challenge but at least she went home with winning a car, some movie p***es (in giant check form) and bragging rights of a couple of Ion Lifesavers.
Anti-politician: The political aspect of the game was not her thing and neither was the drama that unfolded with it. Ruthie being such a good of a competitor meant that she would be in the position of power to determine other girls' fates. That power put her on the verge of tears almost every time she had to send a friend home, even if they had no business being there (Gladys). Ruthie did not play a personal game, but she certainly played with heart and emotion. Most notably during Rachel's vote-off, Ruthie along with Ellen took all the heat for Emily's manipulative decisions and shady move because she was nowhere near to be found. It was an eye opener to the direction this evolving game would take.
She came back two seasons later for the second installment of Sexes and got another taste of how catty females can be on The Challenge. This team was stacked with great personalities but was in fact even worse politically and competitively than the one prior. Ruthie, along with Coral and Rachel were top performers on their team but somehow Ruthie found herself exiting before Tina and missing the final over Arissa. Politics, formatting, and a dysfunctional team would do that to you.
Natural Leader: Gauntlet 2's format and theme brought upon one of the biggest twists the show has seen thus yet. Team members had to fight each other in the Gauntlet to stay in the game, but most of all, to stay you must go through your permanent team captain until dethroned. The position built a lot of tension and resentment amongst teammates and tons of stress for whoever was in the team captain position. And who else better than Ruthie to put in that position? She was well known as an unafraid *** kicker who emerged as a leader during her two turns in the Battle of the Sexes challenges. Why not? However, as the game got more challenging Ruthie found herself getting an earlier than expected boot.
Short but mighty: Ruthie known for being small but mighty and someone unafraid to overcome the odds was forced to face Beth in a Gauntlet with the hopes that she could pull off a win. Not realistic given the game that was played, Beth destroyed Ruthie in a devastating lost in Reverse Tug of War. Ruthie later made her reemergence on The Duel 2. Still a challenge beast, but now a threat you would want gone or someone you want to use to get rid of your threats given the nature of the new individual installments. Come on now, did you not remember her performance in "All Shook Up" mission dominating girls twice her size? When Ruthie found herself in a Duel for the first time this season, the whole Duel 2 house was in for a shock when Kimberly defeated Ruthie in Back Off, a game with speed and physical contact. Leaving viewers sad to see Ruthie leave yet again because she is at a disadvantage and competitors happy they don't have to see her in a final. Weight helped Beth and height likely helped Kimberly, but after dominating performance in team and individual missions, everyone expected Ruthie to overcome those differences. The expectations were high but she wasn't able to pull those off and we haven't seen her since.
Ruthie's third and fourth challenges proved that you can still be a fierce competitor, but small size is proven to be a disadvantage in this new game that we know of and continuously evolving. Ruthie doesn't get enough recognition as a Challenge legend, but she is the prime example of "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." We still know Ruthie to be one of the challenges first underdogs and beasts.
Essential Season(s): Sexes, Sexes 2, Gauntlet 2, Duel 2
Era Standing:
04. Paula -
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Cracked Walnut: Where do we start? It was a tough-tough start for Paula in the beginning. Like her fellow Key West roommates, Paula saw an early boot on her first season The Duel. We saw some heart as she went toe to toe against Aneesa in the brutal "Roller Derby" mission and then their pole wrestle battle that ultimately sent her home. She came into her second season Inferno 3, getting her pay back by sending home an injured Aneesa, making their rivalry a promising one to watch but probably the only interesting thing Paula contributed at the time. Paula made the final on her second season and lost. Then you have Gauntlet 3. Paula was a part of the mob that carried out operation "trim the fat" but found themselves dethroned because of Big Easy's failure...or the mob's failure to get rid of him instead of being convinced he would perform in the final. Paula cried and growled as the Rookie's ascended their flag as the actual winners of the season.
Paula feels "really ****** over": Paula morphed into the paranoid and emotionally dependent competitor as we know of. Starting with The Island, her most essential Challenge to date, Paula followed her boys all the way to the finals yet again but there was a 'gotcha!' moment. The turning point in Paula's Challenge career was due to one ballsy move by Evelyn which would ultimately make them rivals. The Island was ruled by the alliance of Kenny, Johnny, Derrick, Paula, Dunbar, and Johanna. Then Evelyn takes the first shot at the alliance by taking Johnny's key early on after weeks of humiliation which he eventually earned back. From then on, it has been a battle all season that Paula witnessed on the sideline until she got the short end of the stick. Evelyn wins the final face off. Kenny and Bananas were able to get through Evelyn's head to convince her to let Bananas stay, and that way they will put together a super team of Derrick, Kenny, Johnny, and Evelyn to sail away to an easy victory. This obviously does not include their #1 girl Paula. Evelyn took out Dunbar and chooses to boat-buddy with the JK alliance blindsiding the hell out of Paula. However, Bananas insisted that Paula was never part of the final plan despite her being under their wing the entire time. The final boat was supposed to include Dunbar, so her boys not selecting her never violated any so-called agreement. She thought there was something there that was not. Paula freaks out on Kenny for giving Evelyn a spot in the obviously, stacked, winning teams boat leaving Paula to be partnered with Jenn, Robin & Ryan who stood no chance. Paula watched the boys and Evelyn grab their check out of the treasure chest on the island. Once her team arrived, Paula stormed past everyone and goes immediately to sit in the treasure chest and cries about being made a mockery of. Her friends stole $75,000 from her and she was not going to forget about this moment the next two seasons. Her paranoia was on an all-time high after one of the biggest backstabs in Challenge history.
A walnut stuck between a she ll and a hard place: Paula enters the second installment of the Duel in a better position this time around. Only because she found herself under the boys yet again, but she messed that up quickly. Paula had multiple guys she kept her word to, Ryan, MJ, Dunbar, and Evan. The turning point here happened within the second round where Paula was supposed to follow orders and save MJ in the line-up but chose her "partner" Dunbar instead. This places MJ in the duel, who selected Ryan as his opponent and puts Evan in a tight spot because the whole house thought she went rouge by playing her own game. Individuality, we love to see it. But this was too soon for a player like Paula. Paula became the talk of the house for quite some time and Evan had to cut ties, leaving her with a powerless Dunbar. Instead of keeping her head in the game, she found herself in two triangles, a love triangle with herself, Dunbar and rookie Kimberly and a political triangle with Evan and Dunbar. Paula was a hot mess, became super whiny, argued with everyone, paranoid about her placement and relationships in the game and ultimately found herself in the duel defeated by her kryptonite Aneesa yet again. Paula went home not liking the person the game was turning her into and was still damaged by Johnny and Kenny's betrayal.On Fresh Meat II, Paula was unable to prove herself as a competitor, and ended up on the end of the totem of her alliance with Kenny, in a totally polarized house. Early boot for her. On Cutthroat, Paula assisted power couple Brad & Tori for the entire season, using Brandon and Camila as scapegoats. No Kenny or Evan and you would think she had a shot at the big W, right? Nope. Paula proved that truthfully, politically, she does not matter. Her one time she had to enter the Gulag was before the finale and she lost - disqualified to be exact.
It is a marathon not a race: 2011 sparks a weird turn in Challenge history...things were looking up for Paula (until Laurel dragged the living crap out of her, but that was a Laurel moment so stay tuned). After years and years of getting screwed, paranoia and desperation, Paula was finally in a good place in the game. This next season is Rivals and producers came up with this masterful plan to get Paula a win by pairing her with Evelyn. Kidding, I guess. Paula and Evelyn were certainly a legit rival after how The Island went down. Paula proved that you need to make mistakes to learn how to finally play The Challenge. After three seasons without getting to the final, Paula broke all her curses by winning Rivals. We saw total domination in missions from the duo, lack of drama between the two, and Bananas even made it up by helping her navigate through Rivals and get her first win. Exes is the next new hit series introduced to The Challenge and Paula was paired with Dunbar. Not the kind of player that will get you another win. Paula and Dunbar had one power moment where they put in Rookies Emily & Ty, and that's where her storyline would revolve around: Hooking up with Ty and ******* off Emily. Paula was eventually sent packing pretty early again.Of course, her journey did not stop here, Paula sure knows how to pick rivals. Rivals 2 had another dominant pairing like Paula & Emily. Paula hooking up with Emily's ex and partner Ty the whole season of Exes made this come about, or should I say a rivalry entirely based around the fact that Paula was afraid to compete against Emily because she was strong. Whatever the case may be, she found herself another superior competitor that helped Paula earn her second gold win on Rivals 2.
Fortunately, that would be Paula's last. Like most current champs fail to do, she bowed out gracefully on top. Before there was Sarah, there was Paula, who was cursed by The Challenge Gods. Technically Paula's early career was quite impressive, making the final on The Inferno 3 and The Gauntlet 3. But once she became too dependent on her JEK alliance, super whiny and entitled, she relied on their friendship to advance in the game only to get screwed over multiple challenges. Paula is known for making questionable game moves, placing her trust in the wrong people, being able to dish it but could not take and then freaking out about the game round to round. She later turned her career around thanks to strong partnerships that helped boost her competitiveness and her main contribution became a solid narrator and confessional queen.
Essential Season(s): The Island, Duel II, Cutthroat, Rivals, Exes, Rivals II
Era Standing:
04. Emily S.
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Emily debuted on The Challenge as potentially someone competitors new and old would have to look out for. Emily went onto serve as a good reminder to her competitors that you can politic all you want, but if you can't back it up on the field you're not getting past this Alpha. No rookie initiation, no 8 season stretches until she got her first win. Emily Schromm stepped onto to scene ready to dominate the female competition and her record and performances highlight just that.
Taming Ty: Emily first debuted on the milestone 20th season, Cutthroat. Emily was a promising rookie but there was some baggage that she got off the plane with. Emily had a relationship with her housemate--and future two-time teammate--Ty on RW: D.C. The two were attached at the hip for two seasons and since Emily was not the most confrontational person, her story revolved around him. Ty actually made her Challenge character more dynamic. Emily was insistent that there would be "no more hooking up with Ty," so that at least told us to expect her and Ty to have some unfinished business. Emily ended up on a blue team of misfits that included Ty, Theresa, Jenn, Eric, and crazy queen Katie Doyle. Katie was the weakest player on her team, but she was also the most veteran female. Emily, though, did not have many friends in the game other than Ty. Even though this was not a pair challenge, Ty's actions could have easily impacted Emily's game. Katie and Emily got into after Katie was voted into her first Gulag and freaked out on her. Ty, in trying to defend Emily, got into his own fight with Katie and eventually threatened to hit Katie. This rubbed people the wrong way and it would only be the start of where Emily would have to be Ty's calm. Ty liked to argue and provoke people, so it did not stop there. In two separate instances, the guys in the house were joking around and things got "gay" or whatever. Ty was visibly angry and eventually challenged Brandon to a fight which ultimately made them Rivals. Then in another instance Emily got into a playful argument with Ty that involved her spraying him with shaving cream, in which he retaliated by throwing a plant onto her bed, then threw the bed on the ground, and then apparently tried to crush Emily underneath it. The two were one of the most dysfunctional exes to step foot onto the show and their experience on their first challenge as rookies proved it. Thankfully, Ty did not put Emily in too bad of a position, as she was able to excel to the final despite the attention he was bringing.
And then there were two: Over the course of season and some twists that came along their way, Blue Team was down to just two players. Derrick, as the only male left, was officially eliminated in the Gulag, and even though Jenn was not in one yet, Emily offered to go into her second Gulag. In the elimination ring Emily had size advantage, was cool, calm, and collected leaving her opponents panicking m complaining and asking Emily to take it easy on them (Paula). After winning the final female Gulag, and losing Derrick, meant that the final Blue Team consisted of just Emily and Jenn. This was the second female duo to ever compete against a team(s) in the final with no male partners. This also meant that they were severely disadvantaged. Jenn and Emily got off to an early lead, making it to the first checkpoint first but it only went downhill from there. The two lost their lead and stayed in third for the remainder of the final. Great effort but Emily would not be leaving her debut with a win under her belt.
Dome Queen: Producers were not done with Emily and Ty's relationship, the two came back as a pair on the first installment of this new format of a season. More dysfunction, yay! Emily was obviously the stronger of the pair. Ty's emotional instability and ability to drop the ball at challenges would be something to fear about. That became the theme of their journey: Will Ty hold Emily back? Well, he did not, he pulled his weight despite his insecurities for the most part. Ty was determined to prove he was not actually weaker than his female partner and the two went on to win impressive Domes against veteran teams. But that did not mean that Emily was not happy that her team was being scapegoated, the competitor in her was often agitated at being a target.
Then here came Paula coming to **** shit up. Emily and Paula had a rivalry both on and off the field. Initially the ladies wanted each other gone for game purposes, Paula and Dunbar voted Ty and Emily into their first Dome and Emily would target Paula any chance she got during daily challenges. What made matters worse was that Paula and Ty hit it off in the house, hooked up all season. While Emily often questioned if Paula was just a distraction to Ty, viewers questioned whether her resentment of Ty's relationship with Paula was personal or purely strategic.
"Are you sure this isn't racist?": Yup... it happened. We can move on now... Okay, no. By the middle of the season Ty and Emily were imploding. After a cast night out at the bar, Emily and Camila returned to the house and decided to do an impersonation of the obnoxious and handsy, 'It' couple of the year, Ty and Paula. Emily pulls one of the most left field moves in challenge history, especially coming from the least likely person you would expect in drama. While Camila wore some trashy makeup to mimick Paula, Emily was convinced to mock Ty (in blackface) by smearing nutella across her face and a '00s Ne-Yo fedora hat. Unfortunately, Emily and Camila misread the room - that shit wasn't funny. As soon as they came out for their grand performance Ty was visibly offended and hurt by Emily's actions and wanted to go home. After being flipped out on Emily relieves that she "never even heard of blackface," a claim which, given her sheltered upbringing in what everyone called "a religious cult," and apologized as soon as she realized how upset Ty was by her racially insensitivity and betrayal. Ultimately the rest of the cast talked Ty into staying and the next morning he accepted Emily's apology. Ty and Emily were both emotionally spent for the remainder of the season but put their feelings aside to become the third finalists of the season in that epic finale.
Ma'am, have you seen you?: After a season break, Emily returns to Rivals 2 more Alpha than ever. Emily was paired with her biggest rival of her challenge career (after Katie of course lol), Paula. As unfair of a pairing this was to their competition the two did have history as they faced off against each other in physical eliminations where Emily defeated Paula and Emily held a grudge against Paula for sending her into the Dome onto of hooking up with her former boo which she felt was interfering with her relationship with Ty. Even though Emily had her concerns about Paula's game - she did fall down some pegs after winning with Evelyn - there was no doubt these two were going to steamroll the girl's side. Emily's focus was on the game and the game only, we did not get an ounce of drama from her as she skated to the final and went out on top.
Many competitors and viewers rank Emily among one of the stronger female competitors of modern time. Emily has beasted daily's, has never lost an elimination round and Rivals 2 would go onto being her first win after her third try. Pretty impressive. Emily had her sheer fair of hook-ups, drama and a controversial moment but she proved mainly that while there may be more dominating personalities and political players in the house, winning a competition is where it all matters. Emily kept the female side interesting from the competitive standpoint during her short-lived challenge career. It is upsetting to challenge viewers that she never had the opportunity to shine on an individual format because she would have killed it. She retired too soon, but definitely will go down as an elite and successful contestant outside of this show.
Essential Season(s): Cutthroat, Exes, Rivals 2
Era Standing:
I miss Paula now, it's been awhile but her narrative ended perfectly. Ruthie was a beast, I remember reading somewhere that Rachel said the only girl she was worried about on Duel 1 was her. I def would have loved to see her again. I am in the camp that says Ruthie, Ellen, and Lori would have won sexes if they would have knocked down the puzzle. emily is another one I'm shocked never came back, it'd be easy money for her lol
these are so well written and researched! Thank you <3
Call me crazy but I honestly think Paula is going to come back in the next couple years. Her third child is getting older and she's been posting little videos of her working out on her Snapchat story pretty much every day. I know she's associated with Bananas, but to see her come back wouldn't be surprising to me. Emily is in the same boat as CJ, Joss, and Landon to me, very athletic but also very boring with no storylines so production went elsewhere for casting.
I don't think production went elsewhere for Emily just like they didn't for CJ and Landon and haven't for Joss (yet). She declined and moved on, it's not like they weren't asking, and still are if I remember correctly.
Phew. I did feel bad for Paula but she was pretty insufferable towards the end of her Challenge career. I don't think we'll see her again personally.
I never ever EVER want to see Paula again. She was horrid and a JEK enabler and if she were to ever come back she'd be right up Backpack's *** and the show does not need that.
Thanks for the update, wutzrenzi! Can't wait to see your takes on 3, 2, and 1.
I doubt we'll see Paula again but I would secretly love to see her come back just one more time, pretend to be Johnny's lackey again, and then screw the living hell out of him right before the final! Even though she brought on her own misfortunes for ever trusting JEK, it would be delightful to see the tables turned. She seems to have matured quite a bit (marriage and kids probably) and hopefully she's not drinking like she used to. If BMP/MTV ever decides to do a throwback Challenge (I know the odds are slim to none... or none to none), she would be an obvious casting choice.
What happened to this..
It's happening, I just updated recently. But I'm just taking my time. I plan on doing a redux now that we have more ladies and want to do a male one. It won't take a long as I'm doing now because commentary won't be as extensive.
03. Rachel R. -
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In early seasons people may remember Rachel for being a part of the legendary "mean girls" and side-kicking with Veronica on multiple seasons. More recent challenge fans Rachel may be known for establishing herself as a retired fierce competitor. Everyone talks about elite this and elite that, but if there was a Mount Rushmore she would be the first Alpha female to ever do it, actually be a dynamic character and ready to experiment with some heteroflexible girls. The show may not have seen the necessity of female competitors like Jodi, Laurel, Evelyn, Emily, to name a few, if it weren't for Rachel's display of fierceness and intimidation.
The game is ugly, this inner circle is ugly: If you watched her Road Rules Campus Crawl season you knew that she would take The Challenge by storm as a fresh face, but no one could have predicted how competitive this show would become back then. Her first season was "Battle of the Sexes," and Rachel had potential to be one of the strongest girls on her team. We were never going to see that potential because Emily was the biggest ***** ever who saw her as a threat and cancer to the women team. Since Emily had a personal vendetta against Veronica, who Rachel had developed a friendship with, she found herself in the cross hairs of their beef. Due to the nature of the game, and this being the first vote-off season of the TV series, Rachel's elimination happened to be the first ever blindside in Challenge history. This is the iconic moment where Emily convinced Ellen and Ruthie to throw out any protocol to eliminate the bottom scoreboard competitor and vote off Rachel instead. The girls were on a losing streak, and Melissa voting off Julie round one really set the tone for future women's Inner Circles and the voting became an instance where anyone could go home. As a rookie, Rachel was very vocal about how some of the women did not want to be there and that is what initially singled her out as a negative person in the team according to certain contestants. Emily saw this as an opportunity to amplify that and take her shot. A couple of names were thrown out during the Women Inner Circle, but they decided to give an injured Tonya the Ion Life Saver that would stop her from going home. Emily brings up her decoys that she knew would be shut down by Ruthie and Ellen. Emily then goes on to say Rachel's name, justifying that she's unfocused and not a team player. Once she planted that seed, Ellen piled on by calling her a shady player and has High School bad girl tendencies. Emily glee's joy because she was able to pull off this dirty move, Rachel wasn't too high in the standings at the time but useful than Amaya, Christina, Aneesa or Tonya just to name a few. Women's Inner Circle decision and Ellen steps up to produce a long-winded speech, only to say Rachel's name finally. The house was shook and so were viewers everywhere. The guys team were extremely critical and the girls team were in shock, knowing that they ****** up. Rachel's boot caused outrage, she broke down to deliver a speech and Emily delivered the shadiest liner, mouthing off silently, for her to "wrap things up." After the announcements, Rachel storms off to give Ellen a piece of her mind, telling her she doesn't mind being sent home but she objects to the idea that she's not a team player, saying she's done nothing but work things out. We then send off Rachael with the iconic "This game is ugly! The Inner Circle is ugly! And I don't want to be a part of it anymore." quote that would change the way Challengers played in the next couple of seasons - possibly all seasons to come after.
Mean Girls ***emble: Turns out Rachel wasn't exactly what Emily projected her to be. Rachel's next season was Gauntlet which was a smooth sailing win to her first championship. She was arguably the top female on her team and did not see any eliminations which is common for her challenge career and for alpha females to follow because everyone feared her. Have you seen the statue? Those abs? Rachel may not have been a top personality, but she had her fair of hook-ups and involvement game drama. Her friendship with Veronica blossomed so much this season and even did business together with their T-shirt line. Her memorable moments on Gauntlet was being a part of the mob that voted in Katie and Sarah who was voted into 5 eliminations. She was also involved in the infamous threesome with Veronica and Abram, the first openly (and probably only) threesome on the show.
On Battle of the Sexes 2, Rachel was dominant physically and was a natural leader. However, the nature of having an all females team made her to be perceived as catty by default, but they all were. Rachel had serious unwarranted concerns about contestant Angela, like how she was treated as a rookie, which ultimately sent Angela packing almost the same way Rachel was on her first season. Unfortunately, Rachel saw another early exit this season despite being someone you would want to run a final with because her alliance of Veronica, Coral and sometimes Tonya was exposed. She also played a bad political move where she just screwed herself by revealing her cards and being cocky. She was going to be a captain with Sophia and Katie, but when she implied that Katie was going to be voted out if the girls lost, Katie dropped out, Tonya took her place and Katie spearheaded her vote off. Rachel came in too hot and could have easily helped the females team if she saw the end-game.
On The Inferno 2, Rachel was part of the Mean Girls trio with Tina and Veronica. Again, she wasn't the most vocal or cruelest of the bunch, I mean Tina's loud *** overpowered them, but she certainly earned her position. Rachel proved in her previous seasons she was a lowkey savage. Rachel just had her strength to back up her mean girl persona, but she also contributed to the bullying of Tonya all season and was the one that suggested that Tonya dump all of Beth's belongings in the pool. Rachel was the sneaky one of the bunches that shouldn't be forgotten!
The first Alpha Female: Rachel was a staple of The Challenge during the early and mid 2000's. After Inferno 2 she was one of the first of her era to go on a 5 season hiatus, only to come back to one of the worst Challenges in Challenge history. On The Island she got voted out very quickly because she had no friends and Bananas was extremely intimidated by her. When Abram basically quit the show after the second faceoff, Rachel tried to rally the votes against Bananas but fell a couple of votes short, and the move backfired when she lost the next faceoff to Kellyanne and was voted off over Robin. We were robbed out of her OG veteran friends this season and the opportunity to see Rachel go head to head with Evelyn, another dominant lesbian female emerging from the show.
Rachel came on the next season, which ultimately saved the show, Duel II, and proved that she thrives when she actually gets a chance to compete individually. Partnered with Mark Long throughout most of the season, Rachel dominated both in pairs and individual challenges and did not see a single elimination because of it. She had a surprise rookie, Brittini, on her tail but she was almost given a shoo-in win. Jodi may have been the first individual female winner of this show but Rachel paved the way and got the win she deserved.
The Heteroflexible Storylines: Then came the emergence of what we see on The Challenge today. During the JEK era and specifically on Duel 2, Rachel became the first female competitor to have unclear relations with a Lesbian and a female competitor we thought was heterosexual, but suddenly became attracted to the most dominant women in the house. It was the birth of the Heteroflexible Love Triangle storyline of the show! Rachel's love triangle with heteroflexible Jenn and Aneesa became a pivotal storyline on The Island and Duel 2. Sorry Nicole, Rachel did it first. It all started on The Island where Rachel had a fling with Jenn which she furthered their connection throughout Jenn's stay on Duel 2, all while Aneesa was in the background fuming at both competitors who she thought were teasing her. However, Rachel was just relentless and could care less about Aneesa's feelings. Still nowhere near as ******* as Nicole Z for example.
Feminist Warrior: The two quick relationships and tension got Rachel paired with Aneesa on the first installment of Exes. Super unfair to have unisex pairs compete against the one female pair, but Rachel and Aneesa were probably the only duo that would be able to pull this off. I mean Evelyn and Brooke could never. Rachel and Aneesa were able to work together, but feelings lingered for a long time before they had the chance to explode. The challenges were somewhat fair enough for Rachel and Aneesa to have a decent show and there were quite a few times when they had a chance of winning. In fact, their presence required the creation of challenges that were different from the challenges we've seen in the past because they had to be more of an equalizer. She was in a slightly better position than The Island due to some old school castings like Mark, Robin, and Abram. But that wasn't enough, she couldn't get past her biggest rival on the challenge to date, Bananas. He called her a snake, holding a grudge from their previous season together and they got into a verbal altercation. Imagine being paired with Aneesa and STILL being a threat to a big muscular man? Unfortunately, Rachel saw her first eliminations ever and after winning one Dome, Aneesa and Rachel were finally defeated by Paula and Dunbar in the "Banded Together" Dome. This season would be Rachel's last as she finally settled down and started a family bowing out, still with a great record other female competitor are still trying to match.
Rachel's decade-long MTV history started in 2002 when she appeared on Road Rules. On The Challenge she was a part of the best duo friendships in challenge history, most brutal alliances and teams in challenge history and became one of the pioneers of what we call elite competitors, and the show may not have seen girls like her had they not given her this platform to compete.
Essential Season(s): Battle of the Sexes, Battle of the Sexes 2, Inferno 2, The Island, Duel II, Battle of the Exes
Era Standing:
03. Kellyanne -
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Results confirm that Kellyanne was probably one of the most exciting or anticipated debuts since Svetlana this era. Kellyanne had a pretty good following and fanbase way back when. She was a star among many stars from her season of the Real World, so we knew she would be perfect for the challenge. For someone that has been a part of some of the worst seasons in challenge history, she sure was involved in a lot of the better-entertaining moments. During Kellyanne's early days she was a confrontational rookie that didn't submit to Veterans, she was a great competitor but still managed to be in the center of drama and main storylines, and continued to remain on fans minds as they awaited for her return. Kellyanne was the total package.
Surviving a Rotten Banana: Everyone knows the infamous Evelyn vs Johnny beef and the Paula blindside, but Kellyanne was one of the first to go toe-to-toe Johnny. Boredom kicked in on the island, and Kellyanne and Johnny's season long beef started over something stupid as accusing Kellyanne of stealing food. Johnny would poke fun whenever he could and went on a series of derogatory rants towards Kellyanne, most notably calling her an "anorexic *****" and that she needed to take "Robin's prescriptions." Kellyanne being the courageous loudmouth she is, would bark back with insults towards Johnny that we rarely see the day where someone snaps back at the guy. The lines were drawn in the sand and Kellyanne would go onto trying to lead a crusade consisting of Rachel, Jenn, Robin, Ashli, and Evelyn to take out Johnny, which he called them the "band of ******** misfits." This would not be the last of their arguments, they get into another one over food again but this time she stabs at the table with a knife and goes apeshit using a crazy voice to try to scare him away from bullying.
Kellyanne knew when it was her time to go into the Face Off, votes were going for her anyway, so she volunteered herself. This was round three and Kellyanne was brave enough to go against veterans Rachel and Robin. The Face Off was an endurance, balancing challenge where the ladies had to sit on one pole with their legs extended and resting on another pole. They had to hold it for as long as they could. Kellyanne, shorter than the rest, thought she was screwed but she was severely underestimated. Robin bows out early leaving Rachel and Kellyanne, who manage to hold on for two hours until Rachel's hand finally slips off and Kellyanne is victorious. By beating one of the top female performers of all time she proved that she was a contender and wasn't going down without a fight. But Johnny still had tricks up his sleeve. Cohutta was taken down and Kellyanne was led on to be worried about getting her key taken by her best friend Evelyn. Ev of course, did not steal her key but Kellyanne had every right to speculate since Johnny was in talks of the ridiculous plan. Right before the final Face Off we saw Ryan earn his right to steal a key and he goes for Kellyanne (Johnny was of course psyched). The ladies were upset how unfair it would be for Ryan to take Kellyanne's key rather than Dunbar's but he justifies this move by saying he couldn't turn on Bananas and Dunbar would just go into the next Face-Off and win and take it back from him. Kellyanne loses the last Face Off and her journey was put to an end.
Kellyanne comes back on The Ruins, set on a team that was destined for failure, but as one of the clear front women on her team if she could survive the eliminations she would definitely make the final, and that's what she did.
The Wes Effect: Kellyanne couldn't have chosen a better person to romance with given what she witnessed on The Island between Kenny and Johanna. Kellyanne found herself in the center of one of the biggest love squares and rivalries of all time. Let's break it down: Kellyanne and Cohutta were a showmance on their Real World Sydney season, on The Island they were flirtatious even though they decided after Sydney to just be friends and had a great dynamic on their show back together. Wes and Johanna were the second biggest couple in Real World at the time, then broke up after The Duel. Johanna being Wes' ex who he thought he was going to marry, had a showmance with Kenny all season long on The Island. Wes and Kellyanne then become a romance off the show and entered The Ruins with their exes Cohutta and Johanna and Wes' exes' ex Kenny. MTV DID THAT with this lineup! Cohutta moved on and even shipped Wes and Kellyanne, but Wes insisted that he OBSESSED with her during Cohutta's stay. Because Wes was salty at what happened on The Island, Kellyanne and Wes spent their stay further stroking Wes' ego and isolating themselves from their teams. The first round of Wes & Kellyanne vs the whole house started with... Darrell! Darrell talked a lot of crap about Kellyanne in order to get under Wes' skin by saying she slept with everyone in the house. Kellyanne being the one to never back down gets in his face and Wes being onto Darrell's strategy, (fake) challenges Darrell to a fight while Kellyanne eggs it on. However, it was Johanna giving the pep talk to Wes and diffused the situation. Johanna and Wes often had deep dialogues while Kellyanne and Wes were just shown parading around. Kellyanne found herself attached to the house's biggest nemesis but stood by her man in no fear.
Battle of the Best Friends: Kellyanne & Evelyn found themselves in the same target position because they were both considered the strongest women on their respective teams. After failing to get Wes out sooner, Champions strategized to handicap Wes where it really hurts and that was by either getting rid of his girlfriend or his female ally. It's the infamous The Ruins deliberation, which will be covered in Evelyn's bit, so moving along... Kellyanne was unphased by her nomination, Evelyn was an absolute wreck, and it was besties duking it out in the ultimate battle. But not really. The Champions thought that they could get rid of Kellyanne and it would show Wes that they were serious, and he'd come back and play hard for them. But no one expected Evelyn to do the unthinkable and throw the elimination for Kellyanne to succeed in the game. Once Wes was officially out of the game after losing to Cohutta, Kellyanne was able to fly under the radar social game wise until she saw another elimination beating Veronica. Kellyanne and Sarah managed to survive such a failed team becoming the only Rookie finalists on a first ever 2-person team. The girls lost of course but put up a great fight on a season that was unbalanced since day one. Evelyn quitting helped give us more weeks of Kellyanne fandom and opportunities to see her compete that we probably wouldn't have seen in such a long time considering this would be Kellyanne's last Challenge of this decade.
Still the Fan-Favorite: The moment that almost got Kellyanne cancelled was one of her last stand out moments on the show. A night out at the bar, Aneesa and Nany bonded over the fact that they both thought Kellyanne was phony. Kellyanne overhears and being the confrontational person, she is, confronts Aneesa and things get ugly. Aneesa tosses a drink in Kellyanne's face, Kellyanne was unbothered but Aneesa still salty came back and the two oldest women in the house drunkenly fight with insults about each other's age. This is where we got the "it's because of her black skin" comment which obviously angered Aneesa. Back at the house Kellyanne cried and was comforted by Mitch who assured her that she was still a fan favorite. Due to Kellyanne's poor wording and being a drunken mess, it was the perfect opportunity to edit her to look like a complete racist and this moment didn't exactly win her any fans. However, Aneesa and Kellyanne confirmed that her response to Aneesa's "you look old" comment was basically her saying "is it because black don't crack?" We'll move on with an eyebrow raised... Next round, Kellyanne nominates herself to go into The Pit for the blue team in order to spare herself the embarrassment of getting nominated. She beats Nany anyway and returns to the worst team in Challenge History.
Tension rises with the blue team as the season progresses. Bananas being her enemy for years wanted to keep Kellyanne safe because of her male bloodline being a pawn to his game. During the Too Clingy challenge the plan for the red team to throw missions so that Kellyanne would not be in jeopardy. The red team still wins after being exposed for throwing the mission because the blue team is just that pathetic. Jamie calls out Kellyanne because he got a whiff that she wanted to throw the mission for blue and promised to target Kellyanne's back and that's what she had. Blue team took the opportunity, even Bananas who she should have seen coming and Jenna was her opponent. The elimination Spun Out, a bit of a carnival game and a little bit luck-based and Jenna pulled an upset eliminating Kellyanne from the game. This would not be the last of her as I stated before but her appearance on Rivals 3 is nothing to write home about, sadly.
Kellyanne checks off so many boxes: she's attractive, a proven tough competitor, delivers drama, hooks up, provides interesting relationships and is a fearless female voice going toe-to-toe with JEK. Though not having a championship under her belt Kellyanne knew the game tradition but was always determined and refused to back down from experienced veterans or fierce competition.
Essential Season(s): The Island, The Ruins, Bloodlines
Era Standing:
**Disclaimer: Reminder that this was fan voted and before Dirty 30, but I'd like to do a redux in a diffrent format.
03. Nany
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Unlike most of the people on this list, you always seem to know what you're going to get when it comes to Nany. Her trajectory hasn't really changed, she's predictable. But that's okay because somehow, we're still entertained season after season. Nany's best known for hooking up with unseasoned rookies, being the life of the party, being in drunken blowouts with the top female personalities, and being her own worst enemy in most aspects of the game if it isn't social. Nany is no champ, but she's proven to have potential. If there's anything we can count on is for Nany to bring the drama, make us laugh at her political downfalls and how much she psychs herself out. Nany has been such a pivotal personality in the recent era of The Challenge that you probably forgot that her first show was Battle of the Seasons (2012), didn't it feel like she was on these things before then? Well, she was able to establish a name for herself this season.
Nany's Kryptonite: On Nany's debut season she was put on a team with her best pal Dustin and two seasoned veterans making their long awaited comeback, Alton & Trishelle, all to form Team Vegas. The team being split meant that Vegas had some slight advantages, one being experience, another being strength, and the fact that there wasn't any bad blood between cast members that have never met. However, their weaknesses of this team was also the fact that not all of the members have met which could impact their chemistry. Team Vegas had made a pack that the women would do all the politics and the men would be there to guide the women through victory in the daily's. Alton and Trishelle have been out of the challenge world for so long, Dustin having no influence and Nany being a rookie would be a huge handicap. Politics would be what made Vegas crumble. Trishelle directed her energy to Sarah who she thought was manipulating Alton into a showmance that would throw his game off. Alton and Dustin bumped heads with the Alpha newbies of the house and Nany also had her involvement in house drama. Then there was this weird moment where Vegas could not determine who to vote in during elimination. Trishelle screwed up in a mission, her team was expecting her to throw herself in but she refused to unless she knew Dustin would be her partner because Alton might throw the elimination round so he could go home. When the team had to announce the male and female participants, Nany shockingly stepped up and her fate was sealed when Alton volunteered as well. Alton and Nany lost in what was rumored to be an elimination Alton was going to throw. Nany wasn't calling any shots after all, the guys didn't allow the females to play their game with their alliances but Nany only proved she had heart to at least step into what would be her kryptonite. She won her first elimination with Dustin but we see that eliminations are not her thing, Nany's elimination record is weird because most of her losses are wonky or she just doesn't have the hard standout skills or confidence to push through.
Nany can hang: Nany's 3rd Challenge, Free Agents, would actually be Nany's most impressive season yet. Nany was in competition with more middle of the road to top tier players this time on an individual Challenge and still performed well. The season had a new twist with the Draw and random teams each round where Nany was on the winning team five times and avoided elimination altogether due to the kill card twist, heading straight to the final. She didn't just skate by, Nany proved countless times that despite not being this big crossfit athlete, she could partake in house shenanigans but also perform when it counts and is easy to work with. It's Nany's first final. She performs well until the second stage of the game, where it's night time and the cast has to stay up all night and ride 25 miles on a stationary bike. Nany reached her breaking point because she's freezing and her complaining and failure to stay committed to the task cost her some time. Laurel and Nany were neck & neck, even reached the final task of climbing a volcano about the same time. We learned that Nany was just 8 minutes away from being a Challenge champ, losing to the Alpha female Laurel who was her game to lose from the start.
Pop off Queen: Nany was a trainwreck on her Real World season so without a doubt she would be a drama magnet on her debut season, Battle of the Seasons (2012). One night on a bus home from the club, Camila calls out Jemmye, they're held back from a potential scuffle and Knight steps in to try and cool down the situation in the old fashion Knight night way that escalated it even more and the situation escalates even more when Nany gets involved to defend her friend Camila. This would result in Knight later taking the Tonya route by throwing Nany's laundry into the pool as a "joke." Once Nany found out, she was rightfully angry along with the housemates, which prompted Knight to take it even further to toss Nany's suitcase into the pool as well. Nany gets support in keeping her cool by her Real World brother Dustin. This proved how ride or die they were for each other and not causing much commotion. What would actually get Nany to pop off? Frank. Team Las Vegas was in the super alliance with Cancun and San Diego, they systematically took down Fresh Meat and Austin and failed to get rid of Brooklyn, Alton's temper tantrums caused a great deal of frustration among the cast and put a target on their backs with Frank and Zach taunting Alton and Dustin for the remainder of the season. Then came fight night: One night Nany and Derek got into a fight about who was the better friend and Frank had to get involved. Not a problem for Nany, she went toe to toe with them and it caused a ripple of fights where Marie interfered to defend Nany, Derek pushed Robb, then Marie pushed Derek down, Derek fell to the ground and Sam fell into a plant. Dustin steps into Round 2 to defend Nany who falls out with Frank again after his failed attempt to reconcile. Frank drops some low-blows and Nany never backs down. We love a good Challenge fight and we love a woman that doesn't back down.
The Helpless Showmantic: Nany being the flirtatious player off the field quickly developed a reputation for herself amongst viewers and catty females on the show. In more recent Challenges we see Nany with a new fling, mostly unseasoned rookies who get sent home early or have girlfriends at home. On Rivals 2 Nany hooked up with Marlon, do you all remember that? It was so random, perhaps it was an early stage of polidicking but held no political dis/advantage to it. Later in the season Nany was seen dancing with a single CT, which prompted Diem to make an alleged rap in which she called Nany a ****. On Free Agents, Nany had a thing for the Southern Charm Cohutta. The two were a showmance during his stay where they got married and threw bachelor and bachelorette parties. Johnny Reily was her stripper, and what do you normally do at bachelor/ette parties? You "cheat." While Cohutta didn't show too much disappointment, this drama carried over into the next season. Nany entered Battle of the Exes 2 with Johnny's ex-girlfriend, Averey. The two were attached at the hips in Portland but their relationship had crumbled by Free Agents and Averey got to watch the makeout session go down on national TV. Nany found herself backed into a corner as Averey was supported by an army; Diem, Nia and former friend Theresa. The roomies would be shown multiple times bashing Nany. Theresa being a part of the crew would be the set-up for one of the most short lived but biggest female rivalries this era.
We Hate Nany Club: Now onto the moments that got Nany this bad rap on Challenges. Nany and Theresa had a strong friendship over the course of their challenges together, Free Agents more specifically, they even won a duo mission together against competitors Devyn, Jessica, Cara and Laurel. On Exes 2, it was a totally different energy. Theresa blindsided Nany by being the ringleader of the "We hate Nany" room. After winning a daily mission Johnny and Nany had the privilege of integrating teams they could send into the Dome and Nany took her shot at calling Theresa out on her shit talking and things got heated and emotional. Theresa showed no remorse as she cried during their verbal altercation and it was the end of their friendship but beginning of their rivalry. Rounds later, Wes and Theresa manage to win the power couple and the battle was on, Bananas and Nany would be the obvious targets to send into the Dome after Bananas and Nany failed to take the first shot when they had the power. Wes and Theresa send Bananas and Nany to go against Leroy and Nia. After being neck-and-neck for most of their heat of "Strung Out," Nany got caught on a piece of wood, buckled under pressure, Nia edged her out, and Leroy dominated sending Bananas and Nany packing before Bananas could even compete. Theresa won this round, but little did she know Nany would be headed straight to Ex-ile, one of the games first biggest twist as we know of today. Bananas and Nany competed in an online Ex-ile tournament with eliminated pairs, victorious for three rounds in a row until they were brought back for the final battle in a "super twist" that was finally revealed to the cast. Bananas and Nany pull off their last victory against Zach and Jonna, granting them reentry into the game. This is the most success Nany has had "elimination" wise. Once Bananas and Nany reentered the game, Theresa went from being the head ***** in charge to being at the bottom of the politics, even worse position than she was before Nany left. Bananas and Nany received help to target and throw Wes and Theresa into the Dome, sending them into elimination against Leroy and an irate Nia. Leroy and Nia were victorious, sending Wes and Theresa home. Nany took this round...but then Nia ****** up and got herself ejected from the game before the final elimination. Theresa and Leroy having a fling on Rivals 2 meant that Theresa could be brought back to replace Nia and allow Leroy to remain in the game. Theresa came back during the most convenient time, because it meant she had to compete against Nany and the ladies would settle it once and for all. The final Dome is X-Battle where two people wrestle an X from each other. It was a battle indeed that came down to the girls! Nany and Theresa got into an ugly battle, tons of commotion and dirty plays from both ladies. It was almost a full blown fight, but like typical Nany, she had no more fight in her and lost to her nemesis Theresa who came back and went off to the final.
What about your friends?: Another downfall to Nany's game is that she's too loyal to players she calls her friends. A loyal ally to the top competitors will get you far in this game, but it also can get you cut loose if you're viewed disposable, or to a lesser extent just get into a tiff that impacts your friendship. Nany's loyalty, friendship and position on the totem pole has been tested over the course of her Challenge career, some may have even cost her the game. On Rivals 2, Frank and Bananas were put in a position where they had to pick between Aneesa and Diem, Emily and Paula & Jonna and Nany to go against last place losers Cooke and Cara Maria. Frank goes back on his promise to not say their name and votes Jonna and Nany in anyway, and they lose in the crapshoot elimination, "Snapper." Nany's friendship was tested multiple times with Camila. On Free Agents, during a night out to celebrate Cohutta's birthday, Camila and CT get into it over a bar tab, Nany tries to defend Camila but gets wrongfully Camilinated in the process. It was just an entertaining drunken fight but the two clashed again in another season, Bloodlines, when Camila accuses Nany of backstabbing her by voting for her sister Larissa, which she did not. On Bloodlines we also saw that Bananas wasn't such a good friend to her, and that for the second time Aneesa's relationship with Bananas holds precedent to his fling and friendship with Nany. On Exes 2, Nany cried early on about lingering feelings for Bananas. So on Bloodlines Nany was crushed by Bananas' vote for her to go into the pit that ultimately sent her home. We then learn that Bananas didn't want his girlfriend to see him going out of his way to defend Nany (fear they're still off-screen flinging). Flashforward to Rivals 3, we then see that her friendship with Bananas didn't hold precedence over his rivalry, enough to his differences aside with Wes, make a deal and see his friend succeed in the game. But he had no problem voting her in three times because she was attached to his biggest enemy. W
Nany certainly proved herself as a solid competitor during the Free Agents and proved that she could possibly win one of these days. She comes close to the final every season. Is she on the path to being the Paula of this era and finally win after 8 seasons? Who knows. In the meantime, Nany provides the healthy drama we deserve from this show. She's one of the biggest fan favorites that redefined the party girl trope in more recent years, but sadly there were girls that were a little more crazier and had more impact in the actual game itself with wins under their belt.
Essential Season(s): Battle of the Seasons (2012), Free Agents, Exes II, Bloodlines
Era Standing:
so glad you're continuing this! and that Kellyanne write-up makes me SO BITTER we only saw her 4 times, and on shit seasons. she's the Andrea Boehlke of The Challenge. would have been so great for her to accept Exes 1 with Wes. ugh, we were robbed. at the very least she should've been used to replace Sylvia after her medical DQ on Vendettas.
also Nany lost to Laurel by eight MINUTES, not seconds. still ridiculously close but not THAT close.
Oh i'll edit, that's what I mustve meant lol
Ugh, KellyAnne. I stan her forever for being (along with Ev) the only females of the era to go against the grain and fight JEK. Everyone else was fine being a puppet. She really was the total package back in the day and I'm upset we weren't shown much of her on her comeback. I'm willing to bet she's still equally as entertaining, if Dee being completely edited it shows us anything it's the power of the edit.
Goddess Rachel <3 my all time favorite cast member and def my number 1. I still hold out hope we would see her again...hoping the OG challenge works out and she's on it. What an amazing write up about her!!! <3
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