We’ve seen many iterations of The Challenge in the 2020s, but we haven’t seen Zach Nichols on a single one. Fortunately (for some people), he’s taken control of his narrative on the Zach Nichols Podcast.
On episode 36, he addressed the question on many people’s minds: Why hasn’t he been back?
The topic was brought up because Zach saw comments claiming he hasn’t been invited return because he was mean to production, and he says that’s “kinda true,” but when he’s mean to people, he has a reason.
Following War of the Worlds 2, Zach received injuries (as did many people who competed on the final). But, Zach was in the hospital for a week due to severe dehydration and his kidneys nearly failing. Then, in August 2019, prior to season 35, his personal doctor cleared him for all physical activity.
A few month later, Zach was never cast on that season (Total Madness) and started working another job. He said he only got the availability call, but never the confirmation call. This is important, because people don’t get their physicals for The Challenge until they’re confirmed for the season.
Following the filming of Total Madness, a producer called Zach about a project to “keep him relevant.” This person said she really wanted Zach on the season, but he failed his physical. In response, Zach reminded her that he never took a physical.
So, the producer said she’d look into the situation to figure out what happened, but she never called Zach back. So, he called the producer, and she denied the whole conversation, which made Zach mad.
After this, Zach received a message from an executive producer’s colleague, and Zach had “butted heads” with this EP in the past. According to this employee, following the War of the Worlds 2 final, the EP said he was going to do “whatever it takes” to make sure Zach never does another show.
And, despite all the shows that have filmed over the past 5 years, Zach hasn’t been back.
Zach also discussed the breaks he took earlier into his career. Following Exes 2, he said he couldn’t find a family member to do Bloodlines. He wanted to bring a friend, but obviously, that didn’t work out. Then, he didn’t want to do Rivals 3, so he made the return on Invasion. He also skipped Dirty Thirty, but was able to do Vendettas following his performance on Champs vs. Stars.
Stop Being Polite 