It’s been a long time coming, but The Challenge is reintroducing the Rivals theme. This time, it’s invading the All Stars spinoff and bringing us pairings spanning multiple decades.
Like every Rivals season, we have some highly anticipated duos, but we also have some pairings that are a bit of a stretch. So, I’m ranking all 13 pairs starting with the least-believable rivalry and ending with the most-heated feud.
13. Aneesa & Ashley M.
You’ll have a hard time finding anyone who can explain this pairing. While these two have done a few seasons together, they never really butted heads. The worst thing you could say is Aneesa and Ashley had different loyalties on Spies, Lies, and Allies, but the veterans were still working as a unit by the time Aneesa was DQed from that season. Rumor has it, Aneesa wasn’t Ashley’s original partner, but other competitors threw a fit about being paired with her. Just a rumor though.
12. Devin & Leroy
Would it be a Rivals season if Leroy’s partner wasn’t a huge stretch? While Devin hasn’t always been Leroy’s biggest ally, you’d have a hard time finding real footage that would justify this rivalry. Perhaps you could look at Vendettas when Devin targeted Bananas, Leroy’s biggest ally. Or you could look at Double Agents where Devin wasn’t super close with Leroy. Most likely, we’ll be fed a narrative that Devin called Leroy untrustworthy on Battle of the Eras, but this was just a comment Devin made in a confessional, not even a real confrontation.
11. Melissa & Nicole
These two had a brief fling on Vendettas that ended when Melissa left the game. To be honest, no one really believed there were any genuine feelings there — which is fine, a hook-up/ showmance doesn’t need to be deep. At its best, this was Nicole rebounding from Laurel, but more likely, it was just Melissa trying to make a splash on her debut season. Predictably, these two went their separate ways, but it didn’t seem like there was any bad blood.
10. Ashley K. & Dario
If we’re being fair, we don’t really know how this one ended. This duo would be a very legitimate Exes pairing, but Rivals, maybe not. We know they dated after Invasion and Dario was committed to Ashley while he was on Dirty Thirty. They broke up not too long after that season, and we don’t know many details about their separation. From the looks of it, they don’t dislike each other, but there will likely be a lot of awkward energy.
9. Beth & Jonna
This pairing definitely makes sense, because when Beth showed up on All Stars 3, she wasn’t going to support Jonna’s efforts to win another season. In the process, Beth circulated a rumor that Jonna hooked up with MJ (her partner and co-winner on All Stars 2). While this is a potentially damaging accusation, it’s not like Beth originated this rumor, though Jonna did get the last laugh when she faced Beth in Knock Off. This game allowed MJ to help Jonna, and Beth quit because Jonna was getting assistance.
8. Kellyanne & Sylvia
This is a fairly classic rivalry. On All Stars 3, Kellyanne and Sylvia had different alliances, so they were taking shots at each other. It started off as a strategic effort, but eventually, it turned personal when Kellyanne won the Stacked challenge. Sylvia tried to call a truce that would ensure her safety (while offering very little to Kellyanne), and Kellyanne rejected the deal. Then, Sylvia got sent into the Arena, lost, and gave middle fingers to Kellyanne on the way out. There’s certainly some bad blood here, but it also seems like the type of partnership that could work if both girls got on the same page.
7. Da’Vonne & Shane
These two are like fire and gasoline, and when combined, a fiery argument is almost guaranteed. They clashed on Final Reckoning when Shane concocted a plan that would, theoretically, save Jozea & Da’Vonne at the expense of another rookie team, Faith & Angela. Da’Vonne didn’t follow this plan, and Shane confronted her when he found out. This argument escalated to Shane calling Da’Vonne a bitch. She took this very personally and told Shane to never call her that name. At the moment, Shane doubled down on the comments, but he later apologized at the reunion.
6. Big T & Corey
On paper, these two seemed like they’d be friends. Corey even celebrated Big T during her coming out party on Battle for a New Champion, but the love didn’t last long. Corey later befriended Melissa & Big T, just to expose their strategies to build trust with people like Jay and Michele. The effort worked for Corey, but it deeply hurt Big T. Corey apologized for this at the reunion, but unlike other rivalries, Big T wasn’t too keen on moving on. She was content not having Corey in her life —but it looks like the Challenge gods had other plans.
5. Nany & Turbo
There was a time when these two were very close. They were partners on War of the Worlds 1, and Turbo had every intention of protecting Nany and taking her to the end. Then, on War of the Worlds 2, Nany was the one who was protecting Turbo when Team USA was against him. Somewhere, this relationship crumbled. When they reunited on Ride or Dies, Turbo was very argumentative and claimed he wanted to go into elimination. Initially, Nany was planning on keeping him safe. Then, Turbo’s standoffish attitude resulted in Nany sending him into elimination, which he lost. This was a very real friendship that soured, but at least Turbo was still rooting for Nany after his elimination.
4. Adam & Steve
It felt like Adam threw away decades of friendship on All Stars 4 after Steve stole his star. While this didn’t eliminate Adam from the game, it might as well have. Adam never regained the star and he missed the final. The funny thing: Adam voted Steve into the Arena expecting Steve to lose. While time may have somewhat healed this wound, the two Road Rulers will enter this season on very strained terms.
3. Amber & Faysal
Since making her debut on Double Agents, Amber has been a part of the Big Brother Alliance, but she’s always been on the outskirts. This was never clearer than on Spies, Lies and Allies when Faysal thought Amber wasn’t working with the Big Brother players. That suspicion was utterly baseless, but it did result in Faysal shocking the cast and sending Amber into the fourth elimination. Following Amber’s eventual victory and return, tensions built in the house. Eventually, a playful fight over pizza resulted in Amber confronting Faysal, which escalated to Josh and Faysal fighting and Faysal getting sent home.
2. Frank & Sam
The last time these two were on The Challenge together they were being handed a check in Namibia. This should be a happy memory, but the path to victory was very unkind to Sam. Throughout the season, she felt bullied by her teammates — especially Frank. In Frank’s defense, Sam often was the anchor during challenges, but he expressed his frustrations in the wrong ways. During the final, viewers watched him shove Sam to get her up a sand dune. Frank has addressed his behaviors, apologizing but stating that Sam told him to “drag her dead body across the finish line.” However, Sam didn’t seem to have the same tone at the Battle of the Seasons reunion when she stated that Frank should never put his hands on a woman.
1. Katie & Veronica
This pairing comes about two decades too late, but it doesn’t really matter. Their feud on The Gauntlet and The Inferno helped lay the groundwork for Challenge drama and their screaming match on The Inferno has been burned into the Challenge history books. Sure, we’ve seen these two together since then. They were on the same team on Battle of the Sexes 2 and The Ruins, but they didn’t have to interact too much. Twenty years later, some dynamics may have changed. If they put their minds together, they could make some great game moves. But if they let their mouths take control, we could see the third installment of the Katie vs. Veronica feud.
Stop Being Polite 