About nine years ago, Jay & Jenna made it all the way to the end of the Battle of the Exes 2 final. The duo was the ultimate underdog team… until they quit as soon as something gross was put in front of their faces.
Throughout the season, Jay & Jenna were advertised as the “layup team,” and physically, you can see why. Jenna, while slightly taller than some of the other girls, wasn’t in her best shape. Meanwhile, Jay was considerably smaller than most guys in the game and less muscular.
Despite being branded as layups, the team never came in last in a daily challenge this season; they even won one. This is a big reason they avoided elimination, but typically, the pair seemed to have less fire than other teams. This is best exemplified during Speed Dating when the team stopped trying once they had a strong enough score to ensure they wouldn’t finish in last place.
Regardless of how they got to the final, Jay & Jenna made it, and that’s more than the majority of the teams can say.
For fans watching Battle of the Exes 2 live, there was a glimmer of hope toward the end of the season that the whole “layup” thing could have just been a strategy, but you quickly see during the final that Jay & Jenna were playing for last. This was also a final where last place did get paid, so the team could have earned $15,000 each if they finished in third.
By the time Jay & Jenna arrived at the drinking station, we’d seen four people drink the fishy beverage. It was designed to be gross, but the first two teams completed this stage — yet it was too hard for Jay. Eventually, after an unknown amount of time, TJ asks if Jay is quitting, and he and Jenna decide to forgo their prize money and bow out.
While this caused Jay to get a lot of criticism, it’s only semi-warranted. In the past, many checkpoints have had time caps. We saw it on the prior season, Free Agents, during the geography puzzle. More recently, Berna timed out of the eating portion of the final on Battle for a New Champions. However, Jay wasn’t given that luxury.
Every final has different rules, but on a different season, Jay could have progressed with a time penalty. His disqualification was not unfair, but he received substantially more backlash because of these rules.
Jenna was also quick to side with Jay. She didn’t initiate the idea of quitting, but she let Jay take the lead during this stage of the final. Jay took the first sip and she followed his pace. When Jay said that he couldn’t continue, Jenna didn’t really fight this. But, she also had the benefit of returning for multiple seasons and getting a better edit.
We also need to remember that Jay didn’t quit on his own accord. TJ showed up and asked him if he wanted to quit. He did choose to leave — so calling him a quitter is fair — but he would have continued if given the option to take a time penalty.
Going into All Stars 4, Jay seems to be the type of person who’s prime for a redemption arc. He’s in great shape, and luckily for him, production clearly spent their budget stacking the women’s side of the competition. So, Jay was able to sneak his way onto this cast.
He’ll also have to carry the burden of being labeled as a “quitter,” though I really believe he’s a victim of circumstance. But, like I said, he and Jenna were playing for third in that final. If he wasn’t labeled as a quitter, he definitely would have been labeled as a “layup” after Exes 2.
It’s clear that this situation has impacted Jay’s reputation more than it impacted Jenna’s, but this is a reality TV game show. There’s no official rule book, and when production has the opportunity to make a juicy moment, they’re going to take it. It appears Jay was a victim of this, and while I don’t think he’s been seriously wronged by the show, he is someone who’s overdue for a second chance.
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