‘The Challenge’: What Is Two-Time Champ Evan Starkman up to in 2023?
The Challenge two-time champ Evan Starkman performed well throughout his six-season career before suddenly leaving the MTV franchise. What is Evan up to now?
What is Evan Starkman from ‘The Challenge’ doing now?
Canadian two-time champ Evan Starkman debuted in Fresh Meat (2006) and appeared in six seasons of The Challenge, making three finals and winning twice, before the MTV franchise reportedly banned him in 2011.
Following his exit, he became the host of the short-lived reality TV dating series Love Trap until it ended after three seasons in 2012.
Around January 2010, while still a cast member, Evan, who received his degree in International Relations from Cornell University in 2007, founded the New York-based advertising agency The Bait Shoppe.
He’s currently the company’s president, which has since expanded and opened offices in Denver, Los Angeles, and Toronto. Additionally, Evan, 38, married Rachael Braun, a woman who seemingly hasn’t appeared on reality TV, in November 2016. His Instagram is set to private, but it doesn’t seem the couple has any children.
Evan won two seasons of ‘The Challenge’ before his reported ban
The Canadian native was introduced to viewers in Fresh Meat, where legend Coral Smith drafted him to her team. They immediately established themselves as a dominant force, winning five out of 10 daily challenges until injuries resulted in their medical disqualification from the season.
It’s believed they would have won had they remained in the house. The formidable rookie returned for The Duel, where CT Tamburello knocked him out of the game just before the finals.
However, the reality TV star turned his luck around in The Gauntlet 3, winning his first elimination and competing in the finals, where he lost alongside the Veterans. In his next season, The Duel 2, Evan eliminated three contestants on his way to the finals, where he notched his first win, taking home $100,000.
Additionally, he won the following season, The Ruins, as part of Team Champions, earning a $50,970 payday. Following a brief appearance in Rivals, where he threw his game away, Evan hasn’t appeared in another season of The Challenge.
Why did Evan stop doing ‘The Challenge?’
In 2011, The Inferno 3 winner Tonya Cooley sued Evan, three-time champ Kenny Santucci, MTV, and production company Bunim/Murray over an alleged incident during The Ruins filming.
Detailed by The Daily Beast, she accused a male castmate of removing her bikini top without permission and throwing it into a tree. The suit claimed that Kenny and Evan followed her after she left for the bunking area, where she allegedly passed out due to alcohol consumption.
While passed out, the lawsuit states Kenny and Evan assaulted her with someone else’s toothbrush. According to the veteran, she believed producers knew about the alleged incident due to the presence of cameras but didn’t inform her or reprimand those accused.
Instead, the lawsuit claimed the crew provided ‘new’ toothbrushes. Bunim/Murray denied the allegations but settled out of court in 2012. While the settlement details remain confidential, Tonya, Evan, and Kenny have never appeared in another season.
