Katie Cooley from The Challenge: All Stars Season 1 and 2 recently addressed her critics, explaining that even though she quit during certain daily challenges in the show, she still gets paid.
Not only that, she indicated she makes more than her haters, and therefore just showing up to be part of The Challenge spinoff is enough.
That prompted some fans to react and call out Katie’s choice of words, while others seemed to support the All Stars OG.
The Challenge OG blasts critics in tweet about quitting
Former Road Rules: The Quest star Katie Cooley returned for The Challenge: All Stars spinoff in 2021 and then again for the second season of the spinoff.
In both seasons, she was portrayed as still that fiery cast member who wasn’t afraid to back down from castmates if issues arrived. That included her longtime friend Trishelle Cannatella in Season 1 and then friend and castmate Steve Meinke in Season 2.
However, one thing Katie was shown to be fearful of was challenges involving heights. Season 1 included replays of the infamous injury she suffered in an event above water. Those highlight clips came back to haunt her, and new challenges in All Stars included heights.
Early on, she suffered a bloody nose after a rough fall into the water. Later, Katie ended up jumping into the water in one of the challenges and not even attempting another so she could brace herself for the fall she knew was coming.
Season 2 brought more of the same, and in one instance, Katie refused even to start the daily trivia competition being held on the side of a tall building. Despite being harnessed, Katie was shaking and in tears. She demanded production and on-location staff to get her out of the event.
Quitting automatically sent her into elimination, which ended her chances at winning $500,000, or a share of the prize money. However, Katie indicated in a tweet that just showing up to be part of the cast gets her paid.
“Let me make something clear for all the f***s who can’t grasp the concept. We get paid more than you make in a year to just show up. So if I’m scared…and quit?! I still eat. Well,” Katie tweeted out on New Year’s Eve.
There are no confirmed reports of how much The Challenge or All Stars cast members get paid for appearing on the show. In Katie’s career on MTV’s The Challenge, she banked over $41,000 from her nine seasons, including being part of the winning team for The Inferno season.
Challenge fans react to Katie’s tweet to haters
While Katie Cooley has plenty of supporters, she also has her share of critics. She may have added more to the list with her recent twist, especially as hardworking individuals are amongst the viewers helping a spinoff like All Stars have life on Paramount Plus.
One fan told Katie that’s not the energy for 2022 and that many people are out in the world in a “real life Hunger Games.”
“Just say you get paid to do it. The point still stands,” the fan replied to Katie.
“You could’ve easily left out ‘more than you make in a year’ and the tweet would’ve gotten your point across without shaming hardworking people for their income,” another Twitter member replied to Katie.
Another person said they were a fan of Katie’s before she decided to tweet out she makes more than her critics.
In another tweet reply, an individual told Katie she wasn’t “All Star material” and to try “showing out for once” instead of “mouthing off.”
A few individuals stepped up to defend Katie’s tweet and her choice of words. One Twitter user claimed to know Katie and that she was humble. They suggested that her tweet was a response to someone specific and not a group of fans.
Katie previously made comments that indicated she wouldn’t be returning for any more of The Challenge or its spinoff unless she could compete in a special-themed show. That theme would involve having her husband as her teammate, who Katie revealed wasn’t as scared to participate in certain tasks like she is.
The Challenge: All Stars 2 episodes arrive Thursdays on Paramount Plus.