On the fifth episode of The Challenge: Double Agents, viewers saw quite a few competitors under the spotlight, including a powerful alliance featuring several “underestimated” players.
There were some early moments in Episode 5 of the show where Tula “Big T” Fazakerley met with two rookie girls to talk strategy.
Basically, the girls were fed up with being considered “weak” or “layups” in the game, so they orchestrated a plan to eliminate a specific veteran competitor.
Now, one of the rookies says she has been dealing with online bullying and even death threats after the recent episode.
Rookie reveals she’s dealing with online bullying
One of the rookies featured in Double Agents Episode 5 was former Are You The One? star Amber M who also came up with the catchy name for a new alliance.
She called the group, which consisted of Big T, herself, and fellow rookie Gabby Allen, the “Itty Bitty Small Committee.”
They didn’t like Tori Deal and other female competitors referring to them as easy competition to get a Gold Skull in an elimination. In particular, Tori had mentioned she’d want to go against someone like Amber M. in elimination to get her Skull because Amber was smaller and also unproven as a rookie.
That group worked together to figure out a way to target the veteran competitor and get her sent into elimination against friend and fellow veteran Aneesa Ferreira.
They succeeded in getting that elimination to happen, with Tori struggling and Aneesa getting the win. Amber’s commentary was featured during the episode in terms of happily bidding farewell to Tori after the vet talked a big game. She also made a sarcastic heart gesture at The Crater towards Tori to show her some fake love ahead of the elimination.
While it was all seemingly part of the game and TV show, rookie Amber M.’s comments and gestures didn’t sit well with some viewers. Some apparently went too far in terms of their online reactions too.
The Double Agents rookie took to Twitter on Friday, January 15, claiming she is now dealing with bullying, which she says she has never experienced until now. However, Amber also said she’d rather it be her “than someone else who isn’t strong enough to handle it.”
Fans left comments to support Amber M., including several who told her to keep being her. One fan left a particularly poignant comment about reality TV stars too.
“Honestly, its usually the realest people who have so many haters when it comes to reality tv. Keep doing you boo! Been a fan since AYTO. Either they can handle you, or they aint with it. Their loss,” the fan told Amber.
Rookie says she received death threats after episode
Further down in the replies to Amber M’s tweet, @GamerVev asked her what has been going on. Amber replied to tell her she’s been getting death threats after one episode of the show, likely referring to Episode 5.
“Send them our way. But all the bad b***h challengers get the most hate,” they replied.
“They mad cuz you ain’t playing a scared game,” another fan replied to Amber.
The rookies on Season 36 of The Challenge have certainly been shaking things up, which is refreshing to see. In many other seasons, they’ve basically been picked off weekly by veteran competitors since it seemed like the easy thing to do. Rookies Joseph Allen, Lio Rush, Gabby Allen, and Amber M have made strong statements during house deliberations.
As viewers saw last season, rookie Jay Starrett kept getting sent into elimination. He won the first two, including a surprising victory over legend Chris “CT” Tamburello, before getting eliminated a few weeks later by Rogan O’Connor.
However, the twist with competitors needing to go into elimination and earn a Gold Skull along with more rookies working together seems to be shaking things up on Double Agents. So to quote a cliche, fans need to “hate the game, not the player” trying to win as there’s no need for bullying and death threats.
The Challenge: Double Agents airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.