Paulie and Zach Seem to Believe Ashley is Overrated

The Zach Nichols Podcast is back to doing its thing — digging up dirt and bringing it to the surface. Recently, Paulie appeared on the show, and the two Challengers talked about the final they ran together.

Specifically, they focused on Ashley. Initially, they talked about Ashley losing that season’s final and getting Purged right before the last leg. Zach seemed to take pride in Ashley doing worse than him in a puzzle, even though he’s never been noted for being particularly bad at puzzles. However, Ashley has gotten credit for being a puzzle whiz. 

Zach then notes that Paulie also beat Ashley in the puzzle, and Paulie says that Ashley isn’t good at puzzles. Then, he corrects himself and says she’s not good at anything.

This seems to be a recurring feeling among cast members. Most notably, Jordan also called out Ashley for being overrated when he was discussing the Battle of the Eras cast. So, is Paulie right?

Well, earlier in the interview, Paulie mentioned that Ashley hasn’t had a good season since War of the Worlds 2, which is hard to argue. She lost early into Total Madness (though Wes really puppeteered Dee to victory in the Code Breaker elimination), and she was eliminated twice on Double Agents. On All Stars: Rivals, she went home early with Aneesa, and even though Aneesa wasn’t a great partner, Ashley tanked the Downpour elimination. Ashley had a decent performance on Vets & New Threats, but she lost because of a puzzle in the Weigh Me Up Arena.

The only time Ashley has shown potential since War of the Worlds 2 was on Spies, Lies and Allies. She won a Lair that season, and she probably would have made her way to the final if she hadn’t been kicked off.

While Ashley’s more recent showings might make her seem overrated, they don’t erase her earlier performances. Ashley did win two seasons, including the million-dollar prize on Final Reckoning.

To that point, Paulie claims we need to retire the “Millionaire Mitchell” nickname because Ashley’s blown through the money by now. Even if that’s the case, she got the nickname for having the highest single-season prize haul in Challenge history. And it’s unlikely anyone will break that record, because it seems production has been slashing the prize money (Vets & New Threats only awarded $500,000, and it was divided among finalists).

While Zach and Paulie can gloat that they defeated Ashley in a puzzle on War of the Worlds 2, it’s also not a huge surprise — even if it was an underperformance by her standards. Ashley has never been an unbeatable player; she’s mostly a well-rounded player. She won her finals because she had the best average time, not because she was in first place at every checkpoint. 

But it’s also not surprising to see people like Paulie and Zach call out Ashley. After all, these are just their opinions; it doesn’t make them true. And it’s not like Ashley has been afraid to call out Challengers recently. We know that Ashley hasn’t been super kind to Zach or Paulie, so why would they praise her performance, especially when they have outperformed her?