The season is over, but the drama hasn’t stopped. Let’s check out some of the most important moments brought up at the season 39 reunion, hosted by Maria Menounos.
As soon as the cast gets out on stage, Nurys starts crying. It’s her first time seeing Olivia since the show, and Horacio wasn’t there since he was filming for Exatlón, a soccer-based reality show. So, Nurys was sitting with Ravyn, who she’s become close with since filming ended.
After winning, Emanuel feels like it was “meant to happen.” However, Nurys said she only lost because Emanuel copied Colleen’s sudoku. Everyone on the stage said this was “fair” because everyone was doing it. However, Tori said that she thinks every season should have a male and female winner, and Nurys is the female winner of this season… without the cash prize.
Then, they talked about the massive alliance that started as the “US alliance.” The champions seemed to feel that Jay and Michele were kind of trustworthy, but it’s clear that they had an inner circle, and didn’t treat the outsiders well. Ravyn claimed he would act like he was going with the flow when in reality, he was plotting against people.
Michele said she has a Survivor mentality, and that’s been brought into the game. Laurel rebutted this, by saying Michele’s strategy hasn’t worked, so she should switch things up, but Laurel defended Michele later because of how Callum treated her. Laurel said Callum needs to change his ways, and no girl deserves to be lied to — clearly, this comment struck a nerve.
Maria asked Asaf about the point of the fantastic four alliance since they made no big moves. He tried to defend it, claiming he only knew Jay coming into the game so he needed protection. Then Melissa talked over him and called him fake.
When asked, Olivia said Asaf was the “thirstiest” cast member on social media.
The cast talked about Big T coming out of the closet. She said she struggled when she was younger because her adoptive father was mad when she mentioned her attraction to girls at a younger age. However, her remaining family was very supportive when they saw the episode where she came out.
This happy moment segued into a discussion about Corey’s betrayal of Big T and Melissa’s trust. Corey celebrated Big T’s coming out on Twitter, but he never reached out to her personally. Corey revealed he didn’t DM her because she set up a boundary, but she was proud of her coming out and would support Big T if she needed it. Big T said she’d never come to Corey for support and she was still mad he betrayed her trust. Corey said he’s apologized many times, but Big T and Melissa haven’t forgiven him, so they’re unlikely to be friends moving forward.
Nurys gets a surprise: Horacio made an appearance virtually. Olivia revealed she wasn’t sure the couple could make the relationship work when they first started talking, but claims she was happy they did. However, Nurys said she was never supportive and wouldn’t give her helpful advice during the season. Also, Horacio maintains a friendship with Laurel, though they never pursued anything romantically after Ride or Dies.
Olivia discusses her distrust of Horacio during the season and attributes it to a lack of communication. She didn’t know where he stood in the game, especially when he told her he wasn’t going to appear on the season, and then he showed up at the airport. Olivia also felt confused when Horacio didn’t vote Jessica into the first elimination (who was targeting Olivia and her friends), further making her feel they weren’t on the same page. But, Olivia apologized for her part in the misunderstanding and Horacio revealed he still cares about his friendship with Olivia and has reached out to her.
Then, we address Olivia’s betrayal of Nurys. The girls came into the game as best friends, but Olivia admits she did feel some distrust with Nurys before the season. Then, she felt like she was somewhat losing her friendship with Nurys when she started getting closer to Horacio. And, Nurys reveals that it was Aneesa who told her brother that Olivia was a fake friend — according to Tori, this detail slipped out during pillow talk. While Nurys feels she can forgive Olivia, she doesn’t foresee a friendship in the future.
The cast also answered questions submitted by fans, and Colleen said Michele’s name when discussing the most desperate player. Michele stood up and yelled, calling her out for scrambling all game — only to find out Colleen didn’t know what the word desperate meant.
Later, the “parent alliance” between Melissa and Asaf is discussed, and Asaf said the agreement was to tell each other if they hear the other person’s game is in danger. Asaf said Melissa didn’t give him anything, but Melissa felt betrayed that Asaf accepted the alliance when she felt vulnerable and missed her daughter, essentially using her child against her. Then, Kyland chimes in and Asaf calls him a bitch. This leads to Kyland bringing up the fact that Asaf didn’t do anything when he brought Asaf’s mom. This leads to the two looking like they’re going to fight, but security comes in to de-escalate the incident.
James then talks about the way he betrayed Zara during the conquest stage, and he calls this move a “mistake.” He hadn’t talked to Zara since the show, but he apologized and wished he never made that move. He also said karma bit him in the ass immediately, because he saved Nurys and she got him sent into the very next elimination.
Corey confesses that he wasn’t really trying to relay information from Big T and Melissa to the US alliance, he just said that to save his ass. He said he naturally gravitated to the UK girls, but he wanted to stay in the good graces of his alliance. He also hopes he can work toward some sort of friendship with Big T and Melissa.
Berna sent in a message, and she called out Colleen for being fake. After the season, Berna reached out to Colleen, but Colleen stopped responding. Collen claims she’s very busy outside of the show, but other people (Ravyn, Michele, and Moriah) feel Colleen was just using Berna to advance her game.
Then, Nurys addresses her friendship and alliance with Jay, and she believes the relationship started to deteriorate as soon as she started dating Horacio. Jay said he was never coming for Nurys until the very end when he heard about an all-girls alliance from Berna. Nurys is upset because she was never going after Jay — just Emanuel — and her two closest friends coming into the game (Jay and Olivia) betrayed her. Jay claims he tried to call and apologize, but Nurys says he waited six months and she isn’t buying it.
We know Nurys and Horacio are still dating, but the conversation shifts to other romances from the game.
- Callum confesses he had a girlfriend prior to the show, but they’d only known each other for three weeks. Regardless of this, Michelle says she would have liked to have known about his budding romance before she pursued things. Then, Callum apologizes to Michele and his girlfriend.
- Melissa says she was surprised when Kyland didn’t kiss her publicly because they’d kissed privately in the hotel before that moment at the club, but the duo are still friendly.
- Then, people call out Jay for kissing Olivia in a hotel and on the bus (where there are no cameras). Nurys, Melissa, and Big T claim they witnessed it, but Jay claims it didn’t happen. However, Olivia admits they kissed — and still, Jay denies it.
- Moriah addresses her relationships with Bananas and James. Coming into the show, she was in a good spot with Bananas, but they weren’t officially in a relationship. She felt loyal to him and this wasn’t something she wanted to do based on her “standards,” but she formed a genuine connection with James. She hasn’t talked to Bananas since the show, but come to find out, he was hooking up with another girl on House of Villans. The champions also revealed that Bananas was going to be a mercenary on the show, but he bailed because of Moriah’s new relationship and due to an ankle injury. Since the show, James and Moriah have talked, but they’re not an item due to the distance between them.
- Emanuel said he was supposed to break up with his girlfriend before the show, but he didn’t. Then, after the season, he confessed to his multiple infidelities and they broke up. However, the producers showed a previously unaired hookup with Berna that shocked the rest of the cast.
- Finally, we’re teased with an audio clip of Michele and Callum hooking up. They were in the bathroom, but they were still wearing microphones. Michele threatens to leave the stage because she doesn’t want to watch this, but she returns because it is a joke (but we never see the clip).
We take a look at Big T and Melissa’s alliance, and everyone claims they were targeted for stirring up drama. But, Kyland says that’s just an excuse — Jay’s alliance was going to go against them regardless. The girls agree, and Melissa apologizes to Ravyn for throwing a drink at her. She claims she snapped and that Ravyn didn’t deserve that.
The champions talk about their eliminations, and debate whether CT or Jordan is the best competitor of all time. Tori and Cara Maria start jokingly bickering, and Tori claims that Cara desperately wants to be her partner on a future Rivals season.
The cast also discusses Devin’s motives for picking Callum in elimination, and how Jessica wanted him to pick Callum or James.
Finally, the cast got to compete for a reunion jackpot by chugging tuna and beet smoothies. The first person to complete their drink gets $2,500, and once again, Emanuel won.
Stop Being Polite 