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The Challenge alum Jessica McCain says she turned down All Stars, reveals why she hasn’t returned

jessica mccain at the exile house on battle of the exes II
Jessica McCain on The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II season. Pic credit: MTV’s The Challenge/YouTube

Jessica McCain, who appeared on multiple seasons of MTV’s The Challenge, recently opened up about why she hasn’t been back, despite getting several calls to return.

According to Jessica, that even included a call for The Challenge: All Stars spinoff show, which she indicated she also turned down for specific reasons.

Jessica McCain’s Challenge history included four seasons

Jessica was one of several reality TV stars to come from The Real World: Portland, a season marred by a huge blowup that saw fists flying between castmates.

Basically, most of Real World: Portland’s cast members didn’t get along, and things reached a boiling point as Nia Harrison got into it with her roomies, including Johnny Reilly and Averey Tressler.

Following that crazy season, they almost all still ended up going on The Challenge, with Jordan Wiseley the most notable star, winning multiple Challenge seasons.

Jessica debuted on the Rivals II season, where she was partnered with her rival, Real World castmate Anastasia Miller. The two reached just the second episode before getting eliminated.

She’d return for Free Agents, which was her best season of four. Jessica lasted until Episode 9 when Cara Maria Sorbello eliminated her in the Balls In event.

Jessica then returned for Battle of the Exes II, where she was teamed up with her ex Dustin Zito, who appeared with her on a previous Challenge. They were eliminated in Episode 1 courtesy of Adam Kuhn and Brittany Baldi. 

However, an Ex-ile twist kept them in the game, and they’d win their way back in Episode 2. Another elimination in Episode 3 saw John Jacobs and Simone Kelly knock them out of the game for good.

Rivals III marked Jessica’s final appearance on The Challenge in 2016. Jessica was once again teamed up with a former castmate, this time Johnny Reilly. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to be in the best temperaments that season, and it made things miserable for Jessica.

Their team was eliminated by Nelson Thomas and Amanda Garcia in Episode 5. Both of those competitors are set to appear on the upcoming The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies.

Why hasn’t Jessica McCain returned for The Challenge?

During an interview on Mike Lewis Podcast, Jessica shared her reasons for staying away from the show, which includes major fear and life decisions.

Mike Lewis asked Jessica about what made her step away from The Challenge after she seemed to be a “mainstay” among the cast members.

“I’ve gotten a few calls but, I just don’t love heights, and the older I get, the more settled I had become,” Jessica shared. 

“Becoming a chef and having that career really dictated why I couldn’t go back, because I couldn’t just stop my job in real life, go play this fantasy game and then come back and step right back into my career,” she added.

Jessica also mentioned that being married now has presented a new life goal. She wants to get pregnant and start a family with her husband, JP France, a minor league baseball pitcher with the Houston Astros organization. She brought up the possibilities of getting hurt and going to the hospital, plus the expense of hospital bills.

Interestingly, Jessica said she did receive a call for The Challenge: All Stars in the past few years but turned that down as she had just met her future husband. However, it seemed, based on her comments, she could still be on a future season.

While she mentioned in the interview she might consider All Stars if there aren’t too many height-based activities, she did say one show on Paramount+ she would do is Real World Homecoming.

“I would definitely go. That would be so much fun. It would have to be in the offseason when my husband’s not playing ball, but I would 1000 percent if they wanted to do a Homecoming, I would go back,” she shared,

Jessica mentioned she’d love to connect with castmates, including Nia and Averey again but also wouldn’t mind seeing where everyone else is at in their lives since the show.

The Challenge: All Stars episodes are available on Paramount+. All Stars Season 2 is TBA for 2021.

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