The Challenge: All Stars brought a lot of former cast members back for the spinoff show after years spent away from the competitive reality series. That even included The Godfather Mark Long, who was instrumental in bringing the concept to life and to viewers’ screens.
Long last appeared on MTV’s The Challenge Battle of the Exes, which aired in 2012, so despite being a multiple-time champion, he hadn’t competed in almost a decade. However, the OG competitor showed up ready to go and seemingly in peak physical condition.
During a recent podcast episode, he spoke about which particular cast members he was excited to reunite with, or see for the first time, as competitors on the All Stars spinoff, including a few he labeled as “wildcards.”
Mark was excited to see several former winners, “wildcards” on All Stars
When it comes to former Challenge champions, Mark Long was a winner in his first two appearances on the MTV show. However, he’s joined by several other multiple-time winners on the All Stars spinoff.
During his appearance on MTV’s Official Challenge Podcast, co-host Aneesa Ferreira asked Mark which cast members he was excited to see appear on the show, and he named those two particular individuals.
“You know I’ve always felt like Derrick; I love the fact that he came and he was on the first season, and hopefully we’ll see him on many more- but like, he’s like me. You know what I mean? I love the show. I’m a product of the show. I did my first- my Road Rules was in ’95, so you do the math there. This has been my life for 25-plus years,” Mark shared.
He added that he’d known Derrick forever, and he’s continued to be a follower of The Challenge even while not competing on the show due to his gig as Challenge Mania podcast co-host. Derrick won three Challenge championships in a row with The Inferno 3, The Island, and The Ruins seasons and looked ready to add another title with his arrival on All Stars.
Mark also mentioned he was excited to see Darrell Taylor, who he had never worked with on the show before but “always had so much respect for.” Darrell won the Challenge in his first four appearances on the show and appeared on MTV’s Season 36, Double Agents.
In addition to those two champions, Mark also mentioned two “wild cards” who showed up to be part of the All Stars cast, Teck “Money” Holmes and Yes Duffy. It had been 17 years or longer since they’d appeared on The Challenge.
“People are like, ‘I can’t believe you got Teck,’ or ‘I can’t believe you got Yes,'” Mark shared during the podcast episode.
Teck was a former cast member on The Real World: Hawaii with All Stars castmate, Ruthie Alcaide. However, Teck’s one and only Challenge appearance came in 2000.
Yes, who originally appeared on Road Rules: Semester at Sea did three seasons of The Challenge, and was part of the winning team on that 2000 season. He last appeared on Battle of the Sexes in 2003.
Who’s in Mark’s Challenge Hall of Fame?
Since The Challenge has moved through 36 seasons on MTV and now several spinoff shows, a common question might be, “Who is the best of the best?” Which of The Challenge greats should be among those featured in a Hall of Fame?
Challenge podcast co-host Aneesa Ferreira asked that very question to The Godfather to see who he’d consider as members of his Hall of Fame. He mentioned several competitors that most fans would probably put there due to their multiple Challenge wins.
“I’ve been asked this. I want to say it’s hard to answer, but it’s easy…I go CT [Tamburello]. I go [Johnny] Bananas. I go Aneesa. I go Coral [Smith], and listen, I started this thing a long time ago, and if I’m not up on that platter somehow, something’s wrong,” Mark shared.
Interestingly that would leave out quite a few former and current competitors who seem worthy of entry, including Darrell Taylor with his four Challenge titles and Derrick with his three. Others who would probably get consideration from longtime fans might include three-time Challenge champ Evelyn Smith, two-time winner Cara Maria Sorbello, and maybe even Ashley “Millionaire” Mitchell.
Nonetheless, there’s yet to be an official Challenge Hall of Fame, but once there is, Mark Long will certainly be amongst those inductees, alongside other all-time greats.
The Challenge: All Stars episodes arrive Thursdays on Paramount Plus.