Being part of reality TV can be exhausting mentally and emotionally for most people, but MTV’s The Challenge includes extra elements of intense physical and mental competition.
While many individuals seem to love returning to the show for that competition, others find it takes too much of a toll on their sanity and decide it’s best to stay away from the drama it can bring.
That’s the case for at least one Challenge finalist, who recently let fans know why she’s decided that show isn’t one she will be returning to, although she may appear elsewhere.
Challenge finalist comments on returning for reality TV
There have been many stars who have appeared on The Challenge over its 36 seasons so far, including those who came from non-MTV shows such as Amazing Race, Survivor, and Big Brother.
The latter of those shows produced one of last year’s winners with Amber Borzotra. However, other Big Brother stars were part of The Challenge ahead of her appearance, including Paulie Calafiore, Natalie Negrotti, Da’Vonne Rogers, Chris “Swaggy C” Williams, and Bayleigh Dayton.
Of those stars, it appears as if Bayleigh is likely done competing on The Challenge. She answered fan questions on her official Instagram Story on Thursday, June 10, including one asking if she’d “do The Challenge again.”
“I was depressed the whole time. Reality TV is not good for your mental health, and also the goal on The Challenge is to win a million dollars, and I already have that, so I’d rather keep my peace,” Bayleigh shared in her IG Story clip (below).
In a related question, someone asked if she was 100 percent done with reality TV. Based on her reply, Bayleigh seems open to doing some sort of show in the future.
“I do want to clear this up, though, because I am not against reality TV. I love reality TV. It’s amazing, but competition reality TV’s not healthy for me cause I’m crazy as heck when I’m in competitions and that’s not OK, but I’ll be doing the Housewives or reality something,” she said.
Bayleigh and Swaggy announced retirement from reality TV after Total Madness
Bayleigh and Swaggy were originally part of MTV’s The Challenge Season 36, Total Madness, where they appeared alongside fellow stars from their Big Brother 20 season, Fessy Shafaat and Kaycee Clark. Three of those four Big Brother stars including Bayleigh made it to the final.
Upon their debut on MTV’s show, Bayleigh and Swaggy were engaged. Swaggy made it to Episode 12, where Cory Wharton eliminated him. Going into elimination was required to earn a Red Skull, and Bayleigh won hers against Aneesa Ferreira in Episode 14.
She also had drama while living in the bunker with a few castmates, including Kaycee and veteran competitor Nany Gonzalez, who had formed a close relationship. That led to Bayleigh blowing up at Kaycee and wanting nothing to do with her as a friend anymore.
In the final, Bayleigh ended up withdrawing due to a knee injury, which placed her third overall behind Kaycee and the winning female competitor, Jennifer West.
Last year, Bayleigh announced her retirement on Instagram, saying that she was “100 % done with reality TV.” However, she mentioned in that IG post, “I do believe I will be back on TV in a different capacity.”
Her announcement came not long after husband Chris “Swaggy C” Williams seemingly revealed he was done with reality TV in August 2020. That seemed to shut their door on either appearing on any future seasons of The Challenge.
The couple appears on social media, including Instagram and YouTube, with various ventures beyond reality TV. So they may continue with their other endeavors while staying away from the exhausting drama that reality shows can bring. However, Bayleigh is not completely ruling out being back on other reality TV shows in the future.
The Challenge Season 37 premiere date is TBA for 2021 on MTV.