Former Survivor winner Michele Fitzgerald has been among the stars of MTV’s newest season of The Challenge, Ride or Dies, and it’s been a bumpy ride for her.
In the most recent episode, viewers saw her having some difficult conversations, particularly with castmate Laurel Stucky, as she tried to gauge where she stood with her in the game.
However, several episodes before that, Michele was seen in tears during a scene at interrogation involving the winning team of Johnny Bananas and Nany Gonzalez.
She indicated that she felt hurt that Nany would send her in due to their close relationship outside the game.
That seemed to surprise fans and even some castmates, who weren’t aware they had become close following Spies, Lies & Allies.
Michele recently shed light on her situation with Nany, explaining why she felt hurt over her castmate’s decision in Ride or Dies.
Michele Fitzgerald and Jay Starrett were among early elimination teams
In Ride or Dies Episode 5, Survivor stars Jay and Michele won the daily challenge, putting them in a position of power for the first time in the game. However, it also brought a lot of issues their way when they made their picks for their four potential elimination teams.
They ultimately chose the rookie duo of Kim Tranka and Colleen Schneider, along with the teams of Aneesa Ferreira with Jordan Wiseley, Veronica Portillo with Darrell Taylor, and Laurel Stucky with Jakk Maddox.
What surprised many was that Jay and Michele didn’t choose Bananas and Nany for elimination. Nany and Bananas won the second elimination of the season and chose Jay and Michele as one of their potential four elimination teams.
During that episode, viewers saw Michele become extremely emotional during interrogation as she spoke to Nany from across the table, indicating she was surprised she chose her because she felt they had become close.
A teary-eyed Michele was shown during interrogation, with her Ride or Dies teammate Jay even joking in a confessional that she may have been acting to try to get them out of being thrown in.
For Michele, Ride or Dies is only her second season of The Challenge, as she returned after debuting on Spies, Lies & Allies. Nany was among her castmates for that season, but viewers were probably unclear as to why Michele seemed so hurt by Nany as if they were longtime friends.
Michele says she felt a “kinship” with Nany on The Challenge
The recent episode of MTV’s Official Challenge Podcast covered Ride or Dies Episode 5, and the podcast guests were none other than Michele and her teammate, Jay Starrett.
During their time on the show, Aneesa’s co-host Da’Vonne Rogers asked Michele why she was so upset about Nany’s decision earlier in the season.
“The thing about Nany is that last season, I had an incident going on with my brother. When we were quarantined, she was quarantined next to me, and I didn’t have my phone. I had nobody to turn to, and I was really, really wondering why the hell I was going on The Challenge, and she helped me through a lot of that,” Michele shared.
She added that after that, “all this stuff happened with her mother,” referring to Nany’s mother passing, and Michele was there as a support for Nany.
“I felt this kinship of like, ‘I was there last season right after going through an extreme tragedy. I understand where you’re coming from,’ and like that was my relationship. I thought that, you know like, I mean, I hated what she was going through, and I wanted to protect her,” Michele explained.
Michele said they later had that conversation shown in the club, and Nany felt “really, really bad” about throwing her in as an elimination pick. Michele said Nany reassured her they wouldn’t throw them in as the main elimination pick.
Michele also mentioned that this is her second time playing the game, so she’s constantly learning. She added that viewers would see whether her and Jay’s decisions in Episode 5 were a good idea as more Ride or Dies episodes arrive.
The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.