During a revealing interview about her history with reality TV, The Challenge: All Stars 3’s Nia Moore shared that she initially said no to a call asking her to appear on the spinoff.
Her reality TV days were over in her mind, as she had established a great life and career following some infamous moments during her time on MTV.
However, she said there was one main reason she ultimately chose to return for the show and is happy she did.
Nia Moore says she thought she was ‘done with The Challenge’
Some fans of The Challenge may have never expected to see Nia Moore back on any version of The Challenge or reality TV. In her social media post about her All Stars 3 return, she shared that even she thought that door was shut.
Nia also previously shared her thoughts about the Will Smith Oscars incident and how she could relate to how a poor-judgment instance caught on camera can lead to issues with relationships and finding employment.
On Wednesday, during a candid interview on Mike Lewis Podcast, she revealed that she initially said no way to the call asking her to come back for All Stars because she was enjoying her life and career, which was challenging to get into due to her TV past.
“I had put this [reality TV] chapter behind me, and I was very thankful for it, and I had a really wonderful time. The seven years I had to grow up and evolve and, like I said before, go to therapy and figure out who I was and who I didn’t want to be and let go of childish things and all this stuff like I’m thankful for that, but also I was like ‘OK, I’m done with The Challenge,’” Nia shared, adding “There was no way I was going back.”
Nia originally debuted on The Real World: Portland in 2013 before competing in two seasons of The Challenge. Her last appearance on a Challenge was Battle of the Exes II in 2015, where she reached the final, but never competed in it due to getting kicked off the show.
Longtime fans and viewers of those shows saw several of Nia’s infamous moments play out on MTV. That included physical altercations with her Real World: Portland roommates and the inappropriate action towards Jordan Wiseley that got her booted off Exes II ahead of the final.
However, she mentioned in the above interview and previously online that she’s mended those previous bad relationships with everyone involved and grown since then.
Nia credits Real World castmate for her return
While Nia mentioned in the interview she’s “33, washed up, and old,” she said speaking with her former castmate helped her decide to give All Stars a shot.
“I mean, I’ll be completely honest. The only reason I did it is because Jordan was on it,” Nia shared, laughing. “One day, he came to my house, and we were just having a pool party and hanging out. I told him I got the call, and he said he got the call, and I was shocked because he normally does the main show.”
“I was like, ‘If you do this, I’ll do this. If you don’t do it, I won’t do it,'” Nia said, adding that Jordan said he was down for All Stars 3.
“Essentially, that was my only motivation to go and do it, knowing I had a trusted person that I loved that would be there with me and had already done this with me before,” she said.
In addition to having Jordan on All Stars with her, Nia shared she felt supported by other cast members there, including Wes Bergmann, who she did a season with previously, and Nehemiah Clark, who she hadn’t met until just before All Stars.
Nia also says All Stars 3 was the only call she got for the spinoff. After she originally said no, one of the producers encouraged her to watch the first season of All Stars to see that it wasn’t like the main MTV show with younger cast members all partying and involved in drama. Ultimately, all of that got Nia to say yes.
She also mentioned that viewers will see she’s a “very different person” from her previous appearances on TV, adding she’s “very quiet and very awkward.”
Many fans are excited to see how Nia does in her anticipated return for the spinoff as she navigates the game, its alliances, and all those difficult challenges and eliminations seven years later.
The Challenge: All Stars 3 premieres on May 11 on Paramount Plus.