Big T’s episode of Home Turf has been released, and it’s one of the more interesting ones. Many Challenge fans only know her from her five seasons of the show, but she dives into her background — including her move from Malawi to London.
The episode also sparked some controversy among Challenge fans. Big T has always had a fairly unique position on her shows, especially her third and fourth seasons: Double Agents and Spies, Lies and Allies. On those seasons, most of the veterans had long tenures on the show, but there was also a large number of rookies. Big T was one of the few people that was considered a “veteran,” but was not far removed from the rookies.
Particularly, Big T took issue with Tori on Spies, Lies and Allies.
Many of the veterans felt Big T had an alliance with the rookies, but Big T says she spoke highly of the veterans because she intended on working with them. In retrospect, she should have formed a rookie alliance, because they had the numbers and many rookies felt Big T was approachable.
However, she credited Devin for defending her, which helped her stick around a little bit longer that season.
Eventually, Big T got eliminated, and she admits she felt weak and lost her confidence. Specifically, she called out Tori for crushing her spirits.
After Tori joined the ruby cell she cried because Big T was on her team. She really wanted to win, and she viewed Big T as a competitor who could prevent that.
Of course, Big T also lost two eliminations that season. She lost to Amanda but was miraculously saved due to Ashley’s disqualification. Then, she lost to Emy and really went home. On the other hand, Tori made it to the final and lost.
This is part of the reason Big T didn’t return on Ride or Dies. She felt she needed to train or not return to The Challenge. While she has put in many hours at the gym and did compete on Battle for a New Champion, this also led her to pursue a culinary career.
While Tori’s comment may be news to fans, she’s certainly unique in her treatment of Big T. We famously saw CT pledge to stick with Big T during Double Agents only to abandon her as soon as he won an elimination. Many Challenge fans were upset with CT for this, but other people understood why he’d rather work with Kam than Big T.
Perhaps Tori’s comments compounded other comments that Challengers had made to Big T, but we’ve seen some of those people receive backlash. Tori was protected by the edit, but her comments had a profound impact on Big T — enough to make her feel she may never return to the show.
Stop Being Polite 