On episode 4 of Battle for a New Champion, Moriah started flirting with James. This wouldn’t have been a big deal if she wasn’t in a kinda-sorta relationship with someone else, and it definitely became a big deal because that person is Bananas.
One thing that Moriah made very clear: She was not in an official relationship with Bananas. The two had been dating for about a year (since Ride or Dies), but she was never really his girlfriend. Wes jumped to Moriah’s defense, saying that they were “just kicking it,” but that may be an oversimplification of their romance.
Remember, this hasn’t just been a normal year. Bananas left to film the World Championship, USA 2, and House of Villains. So, it makes sense that they wouldn’t want to make their relationship official — but Bananas didn’t stray from the relationship while on other shows.
Clearly, Moriah was distraught by her decision to move on, but she did start cuddling with James, effectively ending things with Bananas.
After this, Nurys jumped to Moriah’s defense. The two are friends, and she knows that Moriah has struggled during her time with Bananas. Meanwhile, it was easy to talk with James.
However, a Olivia was a bit more judgmental in her confessionals. She knows that this isn’t a good look, and when Bananas finds out, he’ll be hurt. She claimed Moriah was “playing with fire,” and she commented that she wouldn’t do the same thing if she was in Moriah’s situation.
This sparked a bit of a Twitter feud. Olivia stated these comments were made at the start of Moriah’s relationship with James, and it’s not that deep. But, Moriah insisted that Olivia didn’t have all the fact, and implied she should stay quiet when she doesn’t know all the details.
Meanwhile, Moriah also commented that she didn’t call Bananas because she didn’t want to make her situation worse, and having this conversation would add to the storyline. And this is fair — production can’t air footage that doesn’t exist. But, many people could also view this as a cowardly approach, because she let Bananas find out about her new relationship the hard way.
There’s another potential scenario, but this is all speculation. Apparently, Bananas was supposed to be one of the Champions flown to Croatia to appear this season, but he backed out shortly before he was set to depart, and spoilers about Moriah’s relationship played a role. Production could have encouraged Moriah not to call Bananas out of fear that this could jeopardize his appearance this season (or because it would have created a bigger controversy when he arrived). However, there is no concrete evidence to support this.
Regardless, there’s no evidence that Moriah and Bananas rekindled things, and it appears the Moriah and James storyline is here to stay this season.
Receipts:
Stop Being Polite 