This season we say two newbies depart from the challenge in the first elimination round. Sometimes people go home first because they sucks. There are other times when people have no beginner’s luck at all and suck at their first challenge, but then return and kick some ass.
Take Evelyn from the first season of Fresh Meat for example. She went home first. Many people would argue that it was because her partner Danny sucked, but c’mon. She was beaten by Wes and Casey. No one drags a team down more than her. So after Fresh Meat Ev returned for the Inferno 3, and guess what. She won! Then she won the Island, and then she won Rivals. So with 3 victories under her belt I guess her first performance isn’t a strong indicator of her abilities. The first person to go home on Fresh Meat 2, Cara Maria, hasn’t won yet but she has done well. She made it to the end of Rival and Cutthroat and came in second both times.
Then there’s Johnny. He was eliminated first on The Duel when he Key West roommate called him into the Duel. Although he had a minor setback on his first challenge that didn’t stop him from doing well on his later shows. He has recently won Rivals with his partner Tyler, the same guy that called him out on his first challenge. He also won The Island and The Ruins, making him a 3 time winner.
We’ve also seen some cases of a seasoned veteran being sent home first. Take Darrell for example. He was sent home first on Fresh Meat 2 with his partner Cara Maria.
Clearly this loss doesn’t represent him. He won hist first 4 challenges and is the only person with 4 victories under his belt. On The Island, Tonya was the first person sent home. While she isn’t the best competitor in the world, she had never been sent home first before. She returned for The Ruins and won the first Ruins, sending home Diem, another person who usually does well but was sent home early as a veteran. If you go back to the Gauntlet 2, Adam from Road Rules was sent home first even though he won The Gauntlet 1. Robin and Aneesa were the first time to be sent home for Rivals. While neither are champions, they are both still in the running for the grand prize on Battle of the Exes.
Of course, there are times when being sent home first IS because the person sucks. Take Shauvon for example. She’s never made it past the third episode of a show. Nick from Real World Hollywood was sent home first on his first challenge and then second on his second. Much like Ace who was sent home first on the first Inferno. Then there’s Jon from Real World Los Angeles. He was sent home first on both Battle of the Seasons and The Inferno 2, being the only person to be sent home first two times.
The lesson from this post is to never underrate someone just because they’ve been sent home first. If we ever see someone like Nate, Priscilla, Emilee, Derek (Cancun) or Alex (Denver) on another challenge they might just kick some ass and walk away with some money.
Stop Being Polite 