10 ‘Weak’ Challengers that Exceeded Expectations

At the start of every Challenge, some competitors or teams appear dead on arrival. The other players underestimate them, and the viewers expect them to get sent home early. Despite this, they persist and make it deep into the season.

We just saw this on All Stars Rivals, and one “weak” team played a huge role in orchestrating big moves in the game. Like many teams before them, they outlasted the competition and surprised viewers in the process.

10. Emy Alupei

Coming into Spies, Lies and Allies, Emy built her competitive resume on Survivor Romania, but it felt like she was more interested in singing than becoming a reality TV star. She was voted into the Lair very early into the season, but she won… then she won again… and then she won a third and fourth time. She managed to get all the way to the end and earn respect from “Uncle CT,” which is almost as good as winning, but her third-place finish was still impressive.

9. Casey Cooper

For someone who’s considered one of the worst Challengers ever, Casey has amassed quite a few seasons where she lasted much longer than you’d expect. When she showed up for All Stars 2, it was clear Casey had improved her ability to compete. She was no longer relying on her perceived weakness to keep her safe; instead, she won a trivia challenge and made clever moves. When the cast split into pairs, people wanted Casey as a partner, and she only went home when she discovered she was pregnant.

8. Luke Wolfe

After his departure with Evelyn on Fresh Meat 2, few people thought Luke would get a call back to do another Challenge season, never mind make it to a final. On Cutthroat, he proved to be a better competitor than we gave him credit for on Fresh Meat 2. He kept up with his team, which was filled with some heavy hitters, and he won a Gulag. Then, he managed to become the only male on his team to finish the final because team leader Abe had to be escorted out of the race midway through.

7. Aviv Bruno

Aviv’s return on Battle of the Eras came out of nowhere, and she seemed doomed to perform poorly on a team packed with elite female competitors. Instead, she played the game to the best of her ability, proving she has a lot of fight and can navigate the social game. This allowed her to become one of the six final women on the season, and she built relationships that will put her in the position to be successful in the future.

6. Jay & Jenna

Looking at all the teams on Battle of the Exes 2, this duo seemed underwhelming. They used this perception to their advantage as they flew under the radar but performed well enough that they never got last place. This meant they avoided every Dome as other teams took shots at each other. Despite being labeled “lay-ups,” they weren’t as weak as they appeared — until they gave up while drinking a nasty, fishy milkshake in the final.

5. Flora Alekseyeun

Flora felt like a fish out of water when she returned to All Stars 4 after 22 years away from The Challenge, so the fact that she nearly made the final is baffling. There were many opportunities for competitors to throw her into the Arena, and she would have been an easy opponent to defeat. No one took these opportunities to obtain a star by facing Flora, and she only went home because her injuries made her feel unfit to compete in the final daily challenge.

4. Jenna & Brianna

On Battle of the Exes 2, Jenna had a lot to prove, but Brianna made it hard for her to establish herself as a real threat in the game. Fortunately, most of the Pits only required one person to compete, so Jenna could take all of the hard battles while Brianna sat on the sidelines. Jenna kept the team afloat, and even though Brianna nearly quit, the pair made it to the final. Though they came in third, simply completing the race was an improvement for Jenna because she quit the Exes 2 final.

3. Katie & Veronica

These two Road Rulers had a rivalry that extended 21 years back, meaning most people thought they were past their prime. Plus, they were a girl/girl team competing on a cast with coed and male/male teams. Even with the odds stacked against them, the girls relied on their decades of experience and political skills to advance. This allowed them to sit on the sidelines for weeks as other teams battled in the Jungle and took earlier flights home. They probably could have skated to the end, sending other teams into the Jungle, but they narrowly lost when they elected to throw themselves into an elimination on their quest to get a star.

2. Devyn Simone

There’s no doubt that crossing the finish line was a personal victory for Devyn, but the fact that she got to the final was a bit baffling. Luck helped her avoid elimination because she never drew a kill card at the draw, but shockingly, the house never voted her into elimination. For someone that was perceived as an easy victory, no one ever tested that theory, and Devyn got to see her second final without having to “earn her stripes” in an elimination.

1. Sarah Greyson

While winning the Gauntlet may seem like an easy feat compared to modern Challenge seasons, Sarah’s road to victory was anything but simple. She was labeled weak by her teammates as soon as she entered the competition, and this landed her in five Gauntlets throughout the season. She won all of them, stood up for herself when her team doubted her, and managed to work with the group in the final challenge to secure an unlikely victory. Over two decades later, she is the only Challenger who has entered and won five solo eliminations in a single season.