‘The Challenge’: 9 Competitors Banned for Life and 6 Who Were Just Put on Pause
The Challenge has seen numerous players come and go since its premiere in 1998. Some of those former Road Rules and Real World stars have become legendary Challenge competitors. Others got themselves into so much trouble that MTV banned them from competing. Here’s a list of 10 competitors who’ve been banned for life — plus six who were just put on pause.
‘The Challenge’ contestants who have been banned for life
Camila Nakagawa
Known as “The Camilanator” among her peers, Camila was once an extremely popular competitor on The Challenge player. She competed 13 times and won three times. But that impressive record was overshadowed by her numerous drunken incidents over the course of several seasons.
According to Jemmye Carroll, Camila received a permanent ban because she punched a production assistant in the face, stole a golf cart, and tried to drive into traffic while drunk after that PA told her to get ready for an interview. The insurance company would no longer “sign off on her liability,” so MTV gave her the boot.
Dee Nguyen
MTV fired Dee from The Challenge in the summer of 2020 after she made some comments on Twitter about the Black Lives Matter movement, reports Deadline. The network announced they “severed ties” with Dee after receiving backlash from fans on social media. They also edited her out of Total Madness.
“As a result of Dee Nguyen’s offensive comments on the Black Lives Matter movement, we have severed ties with her. Out of respect for our Challengers, we’ll air our season as planned. We strongly condemn systemic racism and stand with those raising their voices against injustice,” the network said in a statement.
Mattie Lynn Breaux
Mattie appeared on The Challenge via Floribama Shore, not Real World or Road Rules. However, that didn’t prevent MTV from firing her in early 2021. The reason for Mattie’s termination is unclear. She has a habit of using the n-word on social media when quoting song lyrics. She also has a collection of DUIs.
Stephen Bear
After competing on War of the Worlds, War of the Worlds II, and Total Madness, Shipwrecked: The Island star Stephen Bear hasn’t been invited back. He was accused of having a relationship with an underage girl. The state of Georgia pressed charges against him for distributing revenge porn. Bear was sentenced to 21 months in prison, as Saunders Law reports. He also had to sign the sex offenders registry, which he’ll be involved with for 10 years.
Flora Alekseyeun
After filming Battle of the Seasons, Flora got in trouble with production when she attempted to rally a group of Real World alums into demanding more pay for filming the Real World 10th reunion. This didn’t go over well. MTV essentially removed her from Battle of the Seasons and banned her from future appearances.
Adam Royer
Adam was a popular Real World alum who got banned from The Challenge for several reasons. Ultimately, it was because he punched Ty Ruff and was disqualified from Rivals. Rumor has it that Adam didn’t pass a mental health test ahead of Battle of the Exes.
But none of this should have come as much of a surprise. Adam was kicked off of Real World: Las Vegas for “excessive partying and drinking.” His antics were so bad that MTV lost their relationship with the Hard Rock because of his behavior.
Dustin Zito
MTV banned Dustin after Battle of the Exes 2 when he was involved in a sexual assault charge. He later released surveillance footage in an attempt to prove his innocence and clear his name. However, production isn’t interested in Dustin returning to The Challenge.
Turabi “Turbo” Çamkıran
Turbo competed in Seasons 33 and 34 of The Challenge — War of the Worlds and War of the Worlds 2. But he won’t ever return. Turbo got so heated during an incident with Jordan Wiseley that he was DQ’d and sent home. After MTV officially banned him, Turbo took his threats to social media and hasn’t competed since.
Kenny Santucci, Evan Starkman, and Tonya Cooley
One of the darkest incidents in Challenge history happened during The Ruins. Tonya Cooley alleged that Kenny Santucci and Evan Starkman raped her during filming. She filed a lawsuit against MTV that was eventually settled out of court.
However, the details of the case have never been made public. After the settlement, MTV’s parent company Viacom claimed Tonya “failed to avoid the injuries of which she complains. [She] was frequently intoxicated, rowdy, combative, flirtatious and on multiple occasions intentionally exposed her bare breasts and genitalia to other contestants.”
Kenny and Evan have been banned from competing after the sexual assault allegations. Many of those episodes of The Ruins have been removed from streaming. Meanwhile, Tonya is now banned because she’s viewed as a liability due to her excessive alcohol consumption and the fact she slapped Veronica Portillo multiple times.
Because of Tonya’s drinking issues, production now makes cast members sip on clear liquor that’s dyed funky colors to prevent them from filling up their water bottles with booze.
‘The Challenge’ cast members who were ‘put on pause’
Natalie Negrotti
Natalie was suspended after throwing glitter on Zach’s bed in War of the Worlds II, resulting in a costly hospital visit. She hasn’t been officially banned, but Natalie was pretty much edited out of the season and hasn’t been on since.
Paulie Calafiore
The former Big Brother star posted some threats/jokes on social media just before filming the War of the Worlds II reunion back in 2019. Calafiore hasn’t competed since. The speculation: MTV hasn’t invited him back to compete on The Challenge due to these threatening posts. But he hasn’t been officially banned.
Nia Moore
Nia Moore and Jordan Wiseley had problems dating back to their time on The Real World: Portland. Things came to a head during Battle of the Exes II when Nia physically and verbally harassed Jordan in the penultimate episode.
Nia pulled down Jordan’s pants and made an “offensive comment about his masculinity.” Then, she touched him inappropriately and called him a homophobic slur.
After getting kicked off The Challenge, Nia apologized. She said she was “sad, embarrassed, and fearful” of how she would be perceived. The two have since reconciled and moved forward as friends. But Nia has not been back on the flagship series. She did return for The Challenge: All Stars Season 3.
Jordan Wiseley
After Nia was temporarily banned by MTV due to her incident with Jordan, fans called out MTV for the perceived hypocrisies in their treatment of contestants. Because of this, MTV opted to temporarily suspend Jordan by not inviting him to compete on Double Agents. Along with Nia, he is currently competing in the spinoff All Stars 3.
Darrell Taylor & Brad Fiorenza
The Ruins was a rough season for numerous reasons. One involved the clash on set between Darrell Taylor and Brad Fiorenza. Two of the most legendary players ever got into it when an inebriated Brad antagonized Darrell in the guys’ bedroom.
But things went from verbal to physical when Brad attacked and started pounding Darrell’s face. The result was a massive, swollen hematoma on Brad’s right eye and temporary suspensions for both players. They didn’t meet again until All Stars 2.
CT Tamburello
He may be the GOAT now. But there was a time when MTV kicked CT off the show not once but twice. The first time was during his brief appearance in The Inferno 3 before any competition took place.
He was also kicked off of The Duel II after fighting with his former Real World co-star Adam King, which also took place before the competition actually started.
