Is Nam the Unluckiest Challenger Ever?

The Challenge 39 cast has been updated — turns out, Nam isn’t there. He’s out before the game even started.

OK, in all actuality, he was never on the final cast. Production wanted him there, but recent family losses and health concerns prevented him from participating. Undoubtedly, this is bad luck, but it’s a part of life unrelated to The Challenge. Even if we omit this incident, Nam’s time with the show has been pretty unfortunate.

Short answer: Yes, he’s one of the unluckiest. Long answer, there are probably a few people who have had it worse.

Let’s take a look at Nam’s time on The Challenge, starting with Double Agents. He left this season due to an injury, and a lot of people point to his partnership with Lolo as an unfortunate pairing. While Lolo struggled in the game, there’s no doubt she was a good competitor. This duo could have been good, but then she left. In all actuality, her departure would have likely had a happier ending if Nam wasn’t injured — so his time on the show was marred by an upset partner followed by a medical deactivation.

Then, on Spies, Lies and Allies he was only there for a few moments because COVID took him out. This one really sucks, because he wasn’t even the original person to test positive, but the cast was already quarantining and the show had to go on… with or without Nam.

Then, we got to Ride or Dies. Nam came in as a replacement, then he had to leave when Emmy quit. On the surface, this looks like another misfortune, but it could have been prevented. Production wanted Nam on the original cast, but he wouldn’t provide them with a partner. So, he was given Emmy. If he had taken production’s request seriously, his time on the show would have looked different.

As much as this timeline sucks, Nam does have one blessing: Production actually wants him back, and that’s more than some people can say. At this point in time, the most unlucky people are the ones who can’t get a callback.

Some examples of this could be Averey, who was DQed from Rivals 3 after Leroy’s injury and never had the chance to return on the main series. Maybe the title goes to Chuck, who flew all the way to South Africa to get buried in a coffin, compete in nothing, get sequestered with his crazy ex, and leave because of the Double Cross twist. Or maybe it’s James Simon, Aneesa’s original Ride or Dies partner who had to leave because Nia was sick and production forced Aneesa to be paired with Jordan.

Regardless, Nam has endured a lot and he hasn’t had a full shot to compete. I hope he gets that one day because we’ve never really seen him tap into his full potential.