Stephen Bear has shared his first update since getting an early release from prison, serving just 11 months of a 21-month sentence.
Bear served time for his conviction for voyeurism, disclosing private, sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, and harassment without violence.
The former Challenge competitor surfaced in a new video featuring a shot of him jogging outdoors into the video frame.
Bear stops and begins throwing punches in the air before he winks and flexes for the camera.
Music plays over the scene with a sound bite from part of Tom Hardy’s film Legend, which tells the story of twin gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray wreaking havoc on London in the 1960s.
“It’s not how hard you can hit, it’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forword…,” Bear’s video caption said, a nod to Sylvester Stallone’s line from the movie Rocky.
The above TikTok video also surfaced on Bear’s Twitter account, where he had posted about his release from prison earlier this month.
Bear said he’s ready to get ‘back on track’ after prison sentence as ex returns to reality TV
Monsters and Critics reported Bear’s early prison release update via a Twitter message that included a poll. The former reality TV star specified that he would leave prison on January 17, two days after his 34th birthday.
“Can’t wait to get my life back on track. Who’s excited to see me?” he tweeted earlier this month.
His poll featured only two options: “I can’t wait to see you” and “I’d rather watch paint dry.” The latter had over 81 percent of the votes.
Bear began serving his prison sentence in March 2023 for the crimes mentioned above, which he committed against ex-girlfriend Georgia Harrison, also a star of MTV’s The Challenge.
Following the stressful ordeal involving her victimization, Georgia has recently returned to reality TV for a season of Love Island: All Stars. A Daily Mail report indicated that the show’s production won’t inform Georgia of her ex’s early prison release as filming continues at the Love Island Villa.
Bear’s seasons of The Challenge are no longer on popular streaming platform
Bear appeared in three seasons of MTV’s The Challenge, beginning with Season 33, War of the Worlds. He returned for Season 34, War of the Worlds 2, and then Season 34, Total Madness.
Paramount+ has many of the old seasons of The Challenge available for streaming. The platform has Season 10 as the first available for on-demand viewing and all consecutive seasons until 32.
As of this writing, Seasons 33, 34, and 35 are no longer available on the platform and may no longer be available on other video-on-demand platforms.
In the past, MTV has edited out other contestants from their appearances in episodes, including Dee Nguyen and Lauren Coogan. Both had controversies during or after filming, leading to their removals.
Nguyen appeared in the same three seasons as Bear, which may have led to the decision to take those seasons off the platform rather than editing all of their scenes. As of this report, MTV and Paramount+ hadn’t released any statements about removing the seasons.
The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.