The Challenge

Banned Challengers: Who’s Banned from The Challenge & Why?

Which competitors have been banned from competing on The Challenge?

Over the years, we’ve seen Challenge competitors fade out of the public eye. Many of them have moved on to better opportunities or have lost interest in the show. For a select few, the choice was not there own.

Some people have done things so bad that they’re no longer welcome on the show. In some instances, this is production’s choice. For others, their departure may have been legally required.

If we’re being quite honest, some of these people could return. They’re on the list because their actions are currently inconsistent with MTV’s direction. Perhaps MTV have only put them in a time-out, and they might be given an invitation back to the show if they show change.

Based on the All Stars 3 cast, it seems like some of the restrictions don’t apply to Paramount+.

PERMABANNED

These people won’t be back.

Flora Alekseyeun

After filming Battle of the Seasons, Flora tried to rally together a group of Real Worlders to demand more pay for filming the Real World Tenth Reunion. Production didn’t take kindly to this effort, prevented her from appearing on future shows, and mostly removed her from Battle of the Seasons.

Kenny Santucci

Kenny Evan

As part of sexual assault allegations during The Ruins, Kenny and Evan are no longer permitted to compete on The Challenge. This is also the reason some episode of The Challenge are absent from streaming services, particularly in the middle of The Ruins.

Evan Starkman

Same as Kenny. Both were involved in sexual assault allegations.

Tonya Cooley

While Tonya isn’t legally banned from The Challenge, she pressed charges after appearing on The Ruins. Production views her as a liability, especially due to her alcohol consumption during The Ruins. If you ever see the cast sipping on alcohol that’s dyed funky colors, this is why. Production didn’t want cast members filling water bottles with booze so they dyed clear liquors.

Adam Royer

Despite his popularity on The Real World, MTV lost their relationship with the Hard Rock in Vegas due to Adam’s antics. Allegedly, Adam was invited onto Battle of the Exes but production implemented a mental health test and he did not pass.

Vinny Fotti

Vinny was removed from Battle of the Exes after he ripped off Mandi’s top at the club. This was around the time the Tonya scandal was emerging in the news, and it was awful publicity for the show.

Dustin Zito

After Battle of the Exes 2, Dustin was involved in a sexual assault charge. He later released surveillance footage to demonstrate his innocence, but production doesn’t want him on the show despite his efforts to clear his name.

Camila Nakagawa

Camila MTV

Despite what the current narrative will lead you to believe, Camila is not banned for her racist tirade on Dirty Thirty. Remember, she was invited onto Champs vs. Stars after that season finished filming. Camila is banned from the show because she assaulted production while filming Champs vs. Pros.

Eddie Williams

Eddie was quietly removed from Vendettas without getting any real recognition. Allegedly, there was some type of abuse in his relationship with Alicia production was unaware of (whether it be physical, emotional, or mental). Production knows he’s not worth the risk.

Dee Nguyen

We all know Dee was edited out of Total Madness due to her insensitive comments during the Black Lives Matter movement. After making such a public announcement regarding her firing, MTV won’t want to have her back.

Mattie Lynn Breaux

Early into 2021, Mattie went on Instagram and announced she was let go from MTV. This is in regards to her appearances on both The Challenge and Floribama Shore. It’s unclear whether this is due to her use of the n-word on social media when quoting song lyrics or because of her collection of DUIs.

Stephen Bear

Stephen Bear wasn’t invited onto Season 36, likely due to the allegations that he had a relationship with an underaged girl. Now that Georgia has pressed charges against him for distributing revenge porn, he won’t be back on The Challenge.

Lauren Coogan

During Spies, Lies and Allies, Lauren was removed for allegedly making racially insensitive comments. While these were omitted from the show, Lauren spoke publicly about the incident. Her comments weren’t necessarily grounds for a permanent ban, but she’s such an unfamiliar face that production won’t bother with her again.

TEMP BANNED

These people aren’t getting invited onto the show because of their actions. MTV could have a change of heart in the future.

Shane Landrum

After Final Reckoning and War of the Worlds, Shane posted online regarding the misogyny and discrimination in production. He has also specially called out producers by name. This is likely a firm ban, but production and shift around so you never know.

Natalie Negrotti

Production was unhappy with her after she threw glitter in Zach’s bed on War of the Worlds. It resulted in a costly hospital visit. While she hasn’t really been banned for this, she was edited out of War of the Worlds for the most part and hasn’t been on a season since.

Paulie Calafiore

After posting some somewhat-threatening somewhat-joking threats on social media prior to the War of the Worlds 2 reunion, Paulie did not get the call for seasons 35 or 36. He may never get another call to be on The Challenge, but it doesn’t seem he’ll be formally banned.

Georgia Harrison

During the filming of War of the Worlds 2, old pictures of Georgia posing in black face surfaced online. She apologized, but she hasn’t been seen since.

Natalie Ninja Duran

It’s unclear if she’s really banned from the show, likely not, but she did post some racially insensitive tweets years ago. Challenge fans brought those tweets to light while Ninja was on the show.

Jordan Wiseley

After Dee was banned, fans of The Challenge pointed out the hypocrisies between her treatment and the treatment of other cast members. Jordan was not invited onto Double Agents due to this. He will likely be called again in the future, as he did return to the show between his racist tirade on Real World Portland and Dee’s ban.

Rogan O’Connor

Rogan MTV

Years before debuting on The Challenge, Rogan posted some racially-insensitive and homophobic tweets. Even while he was on MTV he engaged in transphobic rhetoric online. He has since apologized, but was not on Season 36.

Julie Stoffer

Apparently, Julie accepted a call for the OG Challenge. Then she was removed from the cast because she tampered with Veronica’s safety harness on The Inferno in 2003. Odd reason to ban her, considering she was cast for Inferno 2 and Gauntlet 2.

Natalie Anderson

After Double Agents, a series of tweets emerged from 2011-2012 where she made racially-charged jokes and used the n-word.

Cara Maria Sorbello

After War of the Worlds 2, production seemed to snub Cara Maria and Paulie. Then, she discussed casting and production rumors with fans and took to Instagram to share her casting struggles.

Emy Alupei

Five years before Spies, Lies, and Allies, Emy did the Romanian X Factor where she rapped Only by Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown, and Drake. She sang the chorus, including the n-word. This got her dropped from Season 38, and will likely prevent her from coming back.

Ashley Mitchell

Ashley’s absence on season 38 indicates that she’s likely being punished for her insensitive comments on Spies, Lies and Allies. However, many fans have speculated that production omitted the comments to protect her image and invite her back in the future.

Has Anyone Ever Returned from a Ban?

CT The Duel 2

Yes! CT was “banned” after The Duel 2 because multiple cast members did not want to appear with him after his violent outburst against Adam. Of course, production knew CT was valuable for viewership but he wasn’t on The Ruins or Fresh Meat 2. They tested the waters on Cutthroat bringing him in as a Heavy Hitter. This led to him appearing on Rival with Adam, but production allegedly told Adam he’d be paired with CT prior to filming so he knew what he was getting into.

Cory was also put on probation from The Challenge after he body slammed Tony on Final Reckoning and shoved Cameron on Ex on the Beach. They wanted him to focus more on Teen Mom, but we can clearly see he returned to the show after two seasons away.

Allegedly production wasn’t happy with Kailah and Melissa after their fights on Final Reckoning. I don’t think they were banned (Kailah was allegedly an alternate for War of the Worlds 2), but it certainly didn’t help their chances of getting cast.

On Season 38, after successfully performing and reconciling on All Stars 3, Jordan and Nia were invited to be part of the cast. Nia had been blacklisted due to her inappropriate touching on Exes 2, while Jordan was not invited onto the Total Madness reunion and Double Agents due to prior racially-motivated comments made. However, Nia had to back out at the last minute because she had lung issues credited to vaping and Jordan was flown in as an alternate.

After getting kicked off of War of the Worlds 2, production was hesitant to bring back Turbo. However, the took the risk on season 38, ending his temp-ban.

86 comments

  1. Just love the growth CT has showed over the years, his interviews, or whatever they’re called are some of the best. I think Jordan is great for the show for many reasons, starting with his “handicap”, but his on the edge actions. He has a huge heart, and put high demands on himself, which pours into having them for others, which gets him in trouble, I think with him watching the last few years, he will hopefully improve here.

  2. I also heard Cara was banned because of her words about the season was rigged and that video of her calling a black man a monkey.

    1. I’d like to know why they didn’t ban Johnny Bananas for his treatment towards women on The Island season?! He was a bully and the terminology and language used against women is flat out disgusting. He should be permabanned!

      1. Oh please. He treats all cast members the same. If you’re going to come at a man, like a man….then expect a little pushback. Women are always saying they want to be treated equally but then when they are….they want special treatment. It’s ridiculous

      2. I would guess it’s because they were starving, and when you’re that hungry, you say and do things you wouldn’t ordinarily. That season,, it seemed that he, Kenny, and Dunbar were on their worst behavior and treated everyone badly. Most of what Johnny said was only to get a rise out of the other person, which I guess is fun for him at the moment. What he tends to forget, though, is that people who are watching think that’s really him (maybe it is), and makes him look like a real schmuck. He’s never had to be responsible for this, though, because he keeps getting invited back, so he thinks he’s doing something right.

      3. Johnny was so vicious with Evelyn he called so many mean names and Kenny is a follower and a terrible person as well.

      1. CT has matured over the years and he’s a great competitor!
        I’m disappointed he’s missing on the the world global challenge!
        That would have been awesome!!!

      1. CT is awesome!! Say goodbye to the challenge, with the exception of Bananas everyone interesting has been banned. No more for me🤢 sensitive ass people

      2. Damn right! I’ve lost interest. It’s more a silly game show. The advertising money flowed in making lots of incredible things possible. But advertisers are hyper sensitive to negative publicity and Political correctness. Taken together, I suspect money starts speaking louder than many things. They know they will lose some viewers. Milquetoast us the result. But that’s fine. Nothing lasts forever.

        They will get in the position of seeing the life run out and get as much as possible before cancellation. From what I understand, they eliminate lots of people during filming for comments and behavior. So they prune the magic. It’s sort of like going from extreme sports to neighborhood softball. But it’s their choice.

    1. Probably because Adam literally sought CT out, got in his face, and when CT told him to fuck off and warned him that he’d hit him Adam proceeded to try and pour a drink on him. Then after CT coldcocked him Adam kept coming after him. Not saying what CT did was right but Adam has always been a POS. Plus he sexually assaulted Kelly Anne

    2. Exactly because turbo really will beat the crap out of someone! They need to do something about people like Jordan constantly antagonizing people who say leave them alone smh.

    1. Maddies reason for a permanent ban is ridiculous. She has a big fan base from party down south. I LOVED seeing her back on TV!

    1. They had a temporary ban. Two seasons it wasn’t a ban.
      To the OP:why aren Sarah Rice and Cara Maria on this list. Plus Emily Schrom and Camila had the Ty and Paula impersonation that was filmed and MTV airs it. How is their black face ok but Georgia’s isnt? Georgia is legit from another country where it isn’t viewed the same and was younger.

      1. I don’t know if Cara is banned for sure. I don’t think production knows. Meanwhile, Sarah isn’t banned? She actively swats away invitations to appear. Regarding Emily, she hasn’t been on the show since MTV started cracking down. She might not be invited back, but assigning her guilt would also make production guilty to some degree for using that incident as promotional material.

      2. Racism is Racusm period . Not you trying to justify it because she’s from another country .. wtf

      3. Everyone who publicly shows that they are racist is helping us know who them and their friends are. I can’t be cool wit a person who is racist. Only way you can tolerate that type of behavior is if you are underneath that mask too. I would thank them if I was a cast member it makes sense why they always targeting the brown folks for the most part.

  3. I don’t know why no one is talking about Cara Maria being put on he no call list now…..that is a type of ban. She did call the producers some really bad names.

      1. No she opened her mouth and those she could say anything she wanted and still be added to the list to be call for the next show……that was not Pauline doing that that was all cara

  4. No she opened her mouth and those she could say anything she wanted and still be added to the list to be call for the next show……that was not Pauline doing that that was all cara

  5. I am a 77 year old granny, and love competition type shows. I found Challenge, and was like a deer caught in headlights. Stunned. I was hooked. I am only getting the old episodes on PLUTO, and am totally shocked at how dumb our future leaders are. Male list of most dispictable ones.
    1, Knight (i know he died, but he was evil to the core.
    2, Wes
    3, Banannas
    4, Frank
    5, Kenny
    6, CT

    Don’t the contenders have minds of their own? Especially Wes. Why would anyone in their right mind trust him? Get him out and off the show as quickly as possible.

    1. Not sure what you’re expecting. My reply later in the list was really for you under thoughtful spectator, but you seem to miss the entire purpose of the program. It’s not designed to be a Sunday afternoon church softball game and family picnic. It depends on conspiracy, backstabbing, stealth and stupidity. It depends on high stress, drama, close quarters, conflicting loyalties, booze and sensuality. If it did not have the very people you seem to despise, the show itself would tank. MTV meets a consumer demand that is liked by millions. It does it with extreme calculation and walking fine lines yet MUST push the envelope. Polite sports and good neighborly clean living and respect would be a disaster. But, as I argue, cutting too many good people because of past or current disagreeable attributes risks losing viewers.

    2. I agree except for CT. He’s not as bad or as the Jordan’s, Wes, And Bannas, Frank is the type of dude who needs his face beat by a Leroy or Big dude from UK that had them all shook. Josh is among the worst too! He is one confused big dummy! Plus he’s completely useless for anything but scamming

  6. I’ve liked Cara Maria since she started, but have noticed that she doesn’t seem as happy as she once was. I just put that down to the way she was treated early on, especially by Wes dumping the soda on her and destroying her dress (did he ever replace it or even apologize?). I’ve seen people mention putting her on the banned list, too. What did I miss?

    1. Cara basically went off the deep end. Once she started dating Paulie she basically turned into a carbon copy of him and turned into a terrible person. Now they both regularly bad mouth the show while spreading covid misinformation and hanging out with alt right proud boys

  7. Cara Maria is banned. She mentioned it in her Instagram story recently and again with a video of Bananas alluding to the fact she will never be invited back.

  8. Natalie never said the n word, she retweeted a tweet that had the n word in it but the tweet wasn’t racist because it was a black man saying/using it.

  9. People expect too much and miss the point. If this was an Olympic sport with Arch and Jughead exhibiting: ‘great job and a handshake, let’s go play tennis together’, who would watch? Get young, type A personalities driven by testosterone, plied with booze, close quarters, high stress, and a diverse background, you get something interesting. Ratings drive this and MTV respond and calculates accordingly. People want villains and sympathetic people. Its MTVs money and future in the line. They have to walk a delicate balance. Frankly, they have banned many of the ones I like and keep doing so. My patience is almost exhausted. But that’s THEIR call.

    1. Yeah but the racist stuff is way too far dude! There’s no room for that in any diverse crowd. If it was a show with only whites…. Fine but that’s not the case so f em!

  10. I can certainly come up with a string of unflattering metaphors and adjectives for the behavior and attitudes of a lot of them. I won’t include all the words that come to mind since the breadth of the old and modern English language has plenty. But I’d say that the producers choose the contestants very carefully for explosive potential and goad them on. If the desire, as it certainly seems to be, is to build loyal followers of personalities that unleash adoration and hatred…they succeed…and all that goes with it.

  11. Well, Tina is casted for the OG All Stars Season 2, so I think there is hope for everyone that is temporary gone from the challenge to come back.

  12. MTV might as well pour millions into AI…artificial intelligence. That way they can create cyborgs to operate without anything to upset them or the audience. Go for the Ray Bradbury depiction in Fahrenheit 451 where the world is colorless and bland. All differences and humor of any depth are banned and burned and the program runs with inoffensive regularity. That way, no one is ever offended.

    Human beings find controversy and differences interesting. They find deviations from the norm exciting and the insults, controversy and upsetting moments worth watching. Someone will always take offense no matter what. Humans are simply not reliable and are…well…human. They are doing back ground checks…company and the public…to unearth the least controversial comment and swinging the axe.

    Not only Bradbury but 1984 does a good job to see how the thought police work. They should just use cyborgs, animatronics or call it a rough housing Disney.

    1. Or white racist people could stay their racist blank away from brown colored people and anything dealing with them. But then they have nothing to steal and be absolutely boring huh?

  13. Natalie Anderson did NOT use the N word btw! It was just a retweet and she did it when Twitter was in its early years and it looks weird now lol

  14. Maybe a better way of describing Tonya’s situation would involve a little less kissing of MTV’s ass and a little more context along the lines of “Tonya rightly filed a lawsuit over her treatment on the show, the defendants submitted a brief saying Tonya was a drunken slut who brought it on herself, but later settled out of court, so the chances of Tonya ever wanting to return to the Challenge are between 0% and 0%”. That work for you?

  15. Sarah should have been locked up for attempted murder I mean at that height unstrapping someone’s harness what did she think was going to happen to Veronica?

  16. For the Challenge to ban most of these people for racially insensitive things is the height of hypocrisy. They should ban the show, if these are the criteria. They thrive on racism. Nia gets kicked off show for derogatory remarks and touching Jordan, but Camilla doesn’t get kicked off for racist remarks to Leroy’s face and then assaults him. Let them all back on, that’s what MTV is, which is a race hustler.

  17. I am so sick of the cancel culture is sad to see that this country has become so full of bitches, I’m not saying that some of the cast didn’t make some mistakes but if most anyone was put under a microscope I’m sure some sort of skeletons would lie there. Everyone’s makes mistakes but the way the world is now everyone wants to cry and bitch about everything is really sad, spend less time worrying about someone hurting your feelings and worry about real problems these things wouldn’t even get a second look back in the day. We continue to grow weaker as a whole because people have too thin skin

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