Welcome back! We’re here for the second All Stars season, and we’re getting reacquainted with some old names. This is a recap for all the old school moments referenced in the show. If you want to know everything that happened, just stream the show on Paramount+.
1. An Inferno Arrival
The cast sails into Mexico on boats in small groups. This is very reminiscent of The Inferno 1, also filmed in Mexico. Darrell notoriously had a fake Afro on and introduced himself as Adam from Real World Paris.
2. A Quest Reunion
Katie mentions she’s seeing Steve for the first time in 20 years. Her Road Rules season was filmed in 2001 (Sophia’s original season as well). However, the two actually competed on The Gauntlet together.
3. Toast Time
Nehemiah leads the toast this season because we need one every season. This is a longstanding Challenge tradition, but it started gaining prominence around Rivals 2. You can see toasts on earlier seasons, however. Davis can be seen making one on Inferno 3.
4. Teck Makes a Splash
From now on, I think Teck is going to get naked every season. Just like Real World Hawaii, he jumped into the pool naked on the first night.
5. Dueling for Partners
TJ reveals that the format will have some individual missions, some teams, and some pairs. This is akin to the format of the original Duel. If TJ said to get in teams, it’d be a mad dash to find your partner. Free Agents was kind of similar, but there were random mechanisms for picking teammates.
6. Competing Together Again
When the pairs are selected at the mission, a couple of people gravitate to teammates they already know. Of course, we see Darrell & Kendal and our winners Derrick & Jodi. Those two were on the same Road Rules seasons. Then we get Tyler & Janelle who are both from Real World Key West. Melinda may have known Derek from Cutthroat and Battle of the seasons, but there weren’t in the same alliance. We also see Brad working with his Gauntlet 3 teammate Katie and Tina worked with her Gauntlet teammate Steve.
7. Pushy Partners
Casey is back this season, and she’s already afraid of the missions. She was scared to jump and make a basket during Boarding Party, so Teck threw her. This was a strategy Wes was going to use on Fresh Meat, but Casey quit instead.
8. A Waiting Game
We know the losing team goes into elimination, but we don’t see their opponents or the elimination. We start off with a cliffhanger before the nominations. Seems like something the Challenge would have done during the Final Reckoning era. They definitely did this on the first episode of Rivals 3.
Stop Being Polite 