Love her or hate her, Tori has become a multi-Challenge champion. After her win on Cutthroat, she took home her second title, and she’s the first Are You the One? alum to earn this distinction.
In fact, Tori has appeared in a staggering eight Challenge finals — meaning she’s significantly more likely to reach a final than get eliminated. While her win rate is only 25%, getting to a final is a huge accomplishment in itself, and it’s not easy to make it to one final (let alone eight!).
So, is Tori now a Challenge elite? She should be, but for some reason, many viewers discredit her abilities.
Tori debuted on Dirty Thirty and was the only rookie to appear in the final. This was a difficult, unpredictable season, but Tori adapted and improved. But by the end of the season, Jordan took her under his wing, and the duo worked well together.
This began a long history of Jordan and Tori working together, and I’m only viewing this through a gameplay lens. So, it was hard to ignore Tori’s early departure on Final Reckoning when she was paired with Derrick H., but then again, her partner was Derrick H., so it felt like Tori entered this season in a losing position.
Dirty Thirty felt like the season that got Tori noticed, but War of the Worlds 2 made her remarkable, and there’s a reason viewers started viewing her as one of the Challenge greats. Legendary players often do whatever they want — like CT opposing the JEK alliance on Rivals, Jordan flipping every card on Free Agents, or Laurel rejecting Cara Maria’s friendship to carve her own path. On War of the Worlds 2, Tori defeated Jenny, who was a physical beast, and became a turncoat when she joined Team UK. She was unafraid to make enemies in the game, which made her look confident and physically dominant.
But Tori narrowly lost War of the Worlds 2, and her confidence was replaced with desperation. On Total Madness, she pled with Dee to face Jenn Lee to earn an easy red skull. When that didn’t happen, she lost to Jenna. Then, Double Agents was another embarrassing showing. Devin semi-sabotaged her game, and Big T orchestrated the move that got her sent into the Crater against Aneesa.
By the time Spies, Lies and Allies rolled around, Tori was stronger than before, but she was still desperate to win. She was part of a veterans’ alliance that allowed her to skate to the midway point, and the Vacation Alliance helped her through the rest of the game. Amanda was really the only person to oppose Tori, but that didn’t keep Tori out of the final. You could even argue Tori had the best performance of any girl in the final, but because Kaycee got to work with CT on day two, she got the win.
Then, Ride or Dies allowed Tori to compete with Devin, and she finally got her win. Her allies in the Vacation Alliance and her ex-fiancé, Jordan, largely supported her success, but most champions have alliances in the game. And winning certainly earned Tori a lot of respect; it also seemed to reinforce her gameplay style.
Why Don’t People Respect Tori on The Challenge?
If we’re being fair, Tori has done nothing on the show that other players haven’t done. She’s also evolved a lot over the decade she’s been on MTV, and the person was saw on Dirty Thirty is fairly different than the competitor we saw on Cutthroat.
But if I had to summarize the frustrations with Tori, it would be that she has potential she doesn’t reach. Viewers know she’s a strong player who can shake up the game. Instead, she usually takes the easy route, and she’d rather negotiate the rules of the game than show her dominance.
- Feeding answers to her friends, as she did during Turbo’s elimination on Ride or Dies.
- Deliberately trying not to win on Ride or Dies so she doesn’t have to select four team members for the interrogation.
- Receiving answers from her friends to advance (allegedly).
- Forcing stalemates on the World Championship so she doesn’t have to upset her friends.
Strategically, these are all smart moves if you can get away with them, but they don’t make for interesting TV, especially when they result in Tori and her friends appearing in multiple finals back-to-back-to-back.
We also can’t ignore some hypocrisy, like when she called out Moriah for “cheating” on Bananas when she started her relationship with Jordan before breaking up with Derrick H. She also got mad at Jordan on Ride or Dies when he had a relationship with Nurys, even though they were broken up and she had a public relationship with Faysal post-break up.
People also mock Tori for “veganing” out of eating challenges. Allegedly, it’s part of her contract that she doesn’t have to eat animal products. However, longtime viewers remember people like Diem, Kellyanne, and Nehemiah who were forced to eat meat and animal products, while Tori just needs to eat a plate of pasta.
Is Tori Really an Elite Challenger?
With two wins under her belt, I would say yes, Tori is now one of the best women to ever compete on The Challenge. The only thing keeping her below other players like Laurel, Rachel, and Cara Maria is a true solo win.
She also played a really strong game on Cutthroat. She beat Sarah and Anna Leigh in eliminations, and she was well-prepared for the final. But we did see some of her sneaky antics, like forcing a stalemate at the first deliberation, coming up with a code during If You Know, You Know, or trying to get Cara Maria to throw the Devils in the Details challenge.
Tori’s become a pro at playing the meta game, but she shines when she truly has her back against the wall. We saw this on Battle of the Eras, when most of the Vacation Alliance had gone home. At that point, she had to make new friends, like Cara Maria, and she was actively taking shots at Bananas. This could have put her game in danger, but her commitment to her moves, regardless of consequence, was a refreshing change of pace.
There’s no denying that Tori was a very strong female competitor on Cutthroat, and when she proves how strong she can be, she reminds viewers why she’s a good addition to the show.
