As The Challenge: Double Agents arrived, a group of exciting rookies was promoted as part of the show, including a former Survivor winner, former WWE star, and a current United States Olympian.
However, by the end of Episode 11, all three of these competitors had exited the show, but not due to elimination. Instead, they left due to personal reasons or circumstances where it seemed they could no longer compete.
In the case of Olympic athlete Lolo Jones, she was featured in Episode 11, as she’d reached her breaking point in trying to win the game. Despite being shown informing the cast she was quitting the game, it appears that wasn’t something she had decided herself.
Episode 11 featured big moment with Lolo and Double Agents cast
In previous episodes, a story was told in which The Challenge rookie Lolo Jones was increasingly frustrated with competing on Double Agents. That included her and her partner Nam Vo’s inability to communicate or work well together. It also included their failed attempts to win a daily mission so that they could volunteer to compete for a Gold Skull in an elimination.
In Episode 11 of Double Agents, Lolo and Nam completed the daily mission, even though some teams didn’t. However, none of the teams that finished the mission appeared to come anywhere close to Chris “CT” Tamburello and Tula “Big T” Fazakerley. Host TJ Lavin announced they had the quickest time in a dominant performance.
In a scene at The Challenge house, Lolo was shown breaking down as she spoke to Nam about their performance and being “embarrassed” by it.
Later, viewers saw Lolo in her room packing up her stuff as the various Double Agents cast members gathered around to find out what was going on. She spoke up about how she had decided it was best for her to leave the show and go home to train for the Olympics.
“I just realized that they’re never gonna let me get down in elimination. I’ve literally tried everything. I’ve been blocked from competing. I’ve asked my allies to throw me in elimination. The people I trust the most in this game wouldn’t give me a shot,” Lolo told Big T and others standing nearby.
Lolo went on to say she’d been in the Big Brother alliance since Day 1 and “some of them” didn’t even have her back.
“I’ve literally tried everything. If my own teammates wouldn’t allow me to compete, what chance would I ever have to get down in elimination? I’m trying to train for the Olympics and represent Team USA, so I’m gonna leave,” she informed the cast. She also mentioned she wasn’t putting it all on everyone else, and it was also partly on her and her teammate for not winning a daily mission.
She finished her speech by telling her castmates gathered around her to make sure to cheer her on for Team USA at the Olympics similar to how they cheer at eliminations.
Lolo became the fourth rookie on The Challenge: Double Agents to leave the show without being eliminated. Earlier in the season, Liv Jawanda was medically disqualified after suffering an injury during a daily mission atop a speeding truck.
Former Survivor winner Natalie Anderson was unexpectedly pregnant while filming and had to leave the show. Former WWE star Lio Rush chose to leave because the show was taking a toll on him mentally, and he decided to go home to be with his family during challenging times for his pregnant wife.
Lolo speaks out about ‘quitting’ The Challenge
While Episode 11 made it seem Lolo was quitting that may not have been the case. Based on a series of recent tweets from Lolo, she was “forced” to quit the show, rather than deciding to do so herself.
“MTV The Challenge forced me to quit, and that is facts. I’ve never quit anything in my life. Heck I’m one of the oldest Olympians bc I don’t quit, I was pulled aside before the show and told to make it look like I needed to leave,” Lolo said in one of her tweets.
Lolo also dropped a bombshell, suggesting that Big T and CT “technically did not win” in the daily mission called Air Lift.
“The last challenge also was staged. CT and Big T technically did not win. There was a drop zone and they were not in the parameters. Once I realized the producers can change the rules to fit who they want to win, I was still willing to stay and fight,” Lolo tweeted.
Lolo would go on to tweet that not everything is shown to the viewers and to “remember the challenge is not a real competition it’s a tv show.”
“So before u write hate messages know u are judge and jury w/o full evidence,” Lolo said in a tweet.
It’s definitely unfortunate to see Lolo depart the show, as she and Nam Vo had a lot of potential with their athletic abilities. They didn’t appear to work well together, but that may have also been presented from a storyline perspective by production.
Unfortunately, Lolo got a bad wrap from viewers, which may be unjustified based on how her Double Agents story was presented.
Even so, Lolo has been finding her groove as she can train and compete outside of The Challenge. In the past several weeks, Lolo was part of a World Championship-winning team in a bobsledding competition in Germany as she continues to prepare for the Winter Olympics.
The Challenge: Double Agents airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.