A group of 24 OG stars from MTV’s The Real World and Road Rules make up The Challenge: All Stars Season 3 cast, with some of those competitors already appearing in the show’s first two seasons.
However, several All Stars 3 cast members are making their first appearance on a Challenge show in several seasons. For others, it’s been well over a decade since they competed in The Challenge.
That probably has some fans wondering what brought some cast members back to the spinoff show based on MTV’s main show. A brand new promotional video has arrived in which cast members, including Wes Bergmann, Veronica Portillo, and Cynthia Roberts, share their reasons for returning.
Veronica returned for All Stars 3 after ‘bad taste’ previous season left
The OGs are back for another run at big money on the Paramount Plus spinoff, The Challenge: All Stars 3. In a promotional video released on MTV’s The Challenge YouTube channel Friday, many cast members from All Stars 3 open up about what brought them to say yes to the spinoff show.
For example, Derrick Kosinski said he’d had tough luck in the first season’s final, followed by others coming to get him in Season 2. So he’s back to make them pay for what they did in All Stars 2.
Mark Long is also back after appearing in the final in Season 1. According to Mark, he’s competitive to his core, which gave him plenty of incentive to return and try to win the spinoff show.
One of the newer OGs who will appear in All Stars Season 3 is three-time Challenge champion, Veronica Portillo. She originally appeared on Road Rules: Semester at Sea along with castmates including Ayanna Mackins and All Stars Season 1 winner, Yes Duffy.
Fans last saw her as Chris “CT” Tamburello’s teammate during the Final Reckoning season, where CT wasn’t the kindest towards her regarding motivating her to compete.
“The last show I did left a really bad taste in my mouth,” Veronica revealed in the video, referring to that season.
“I work. I have a girlfriend. I live a pretty simple life, so I didn’t know if I would come back,” she added. “I had to say yes because it’s not an All Stars season without me.”
Wes Bergmann comments on previous ‘sour’ season of The Challenge
Two-time Challenge champion Wes Bergmann hasn’t been away from the MTV show for too long. He appeared on The Challenge: Double Agents last year but had an uphill battle as various cast members targetted him to send him into elimination. He eventually was eliminated after getting sent in against his good friend Devin Walker.
After his exit, Wes was vocal about how he felt several castmates who he considered friends hadn’t been so nice during the season in their commentary. That included Aneesa Ferreira and Leroy Garrett, who Wes specifically mentioned in videos or social media posts. He eventually shared that he wouldn’t be back for Season 37 due to what went down.
“After Double Agents, quite frankly, I was really, really sour on the whole Challenge thing,” Wes said in the video above. “I am here to restore my faith in humanity- almost as some sort of a happiness rehabilitation center.”
With his arrival on The Challenge: All Stars 3, Wes will have a few of his former The Real World: Austin castmates there. Nehemiah Clark and Melinda Collins will be back after reaching the final in Season 2, which could help Wes build a solid alliance to assist him.
However, based on the All Stars 3 trailer, this season could be the most cutthroat yet. According to Kendal Darnell’s comments, it will lack “integrity” or “decency” compared to previous installments. That said, Wes is considered one of the game’s masterminds, so it should be interesting to see if he can outwit his competition.
The Challenge: All Stars 3 premieres on May 11 on Paramount Plus.