Paulie Calafiore has been away from The Challenge for several seasons now, but it’s clear he’s still ready to compete on the show. Based on his recent social media posts, he may not be making too many allies for his future seasons, though.
The former Big Brother star was asked about whether or not he would be willing to take on Fessy Shafaat in The Challenge’s Hall Brawl elimination, something Fessy is 2-0 in for his career.
In that post, Paulie called out the “current cast” for using a “cop-out” when it comes to Fessy, a two-time finalist who also debuted on Big Brother.
Paulie responds to fan about facing Fessy in Hall Brawl
Since his time away from The Challenge, Paulie Calafiore has continued to respond to various fan questions on his Instagram Story. As one might expect, questions about MTV’s competition show come up quite a bit, and Paulie seems to have a lot to say about some topics.
In one of his recent replies posted as an Instagram story slide on Saturday (June 12), Paulie responded to a fan asking if he’d face Fessy in a Hall Brawl elimination and if he’d win.
Paulie, being considered a cocky, or confident, competitor by many viewers, said he would face Fessy, and he would win if they went face to face in a Hall Brawl currently.
“I would face him because I am an actual competitor. At his current weight I would win. At the weight he came in at on [Total Madness] he would win. I can promise you it would be a battle regardless and if I lost I wouldn’t use his size as an excuse. I think it’s a cop out that current cast mates use that about @fessyfitness either train for someone his size and athleticism or stay home,” Paulie said on the Instagram story slide (below).
Paulie’s tag of Fessy in the post could be a way to draw out a response on social media or possibly be his way of networking for a future alliance with the Big Brother star on the show. So far, Fessy hasn’t replied to Paulie’s comments, though.
Fessy won Hall Brawl twice on Double Agents
It’s unknown if Paulie is calling out a specific cast member, but Fessy has only faced two competitors in Hall Brawl, both on The Challenge: Double Agents season. Each competitor was smaller in size than Fessy.
Nelson Thomas was voted into elimination by the rest of the house in an early part of the season due to his association with rookie Amber M. Once the cast arrived at the elimination site, it was clear it would be a Hall Brawl. Fessy asked his friend Tori Deal, who was part of the Double Agents power team with Devin Walker, to put him into the elimination.
Fessy went on to win that Hall Brawl in a two-round sweep. Following the episode, Nelson spoke about being blindsided and hurt by Fessy’s move. Not only that, Nelson revealed he competed with an injury he’d suffered in a daily challenge before the elimination. Even so, he was close to winning the first round, and many viewers still feel Nelson could win it, despite a size difference.
In the last episode before the Double Agents final, Fessy went into elimination a second time. At this point in the season, competitors had already earned their Gold Skulls, but elimination was still necessary. Kyle Christie was voted in with teammate Amber Borzotra. In that Hall Brawl, Kyle ended up with his finger bent after Fessy won the first round.
Medics on the scene determined that Kyle couldn’t continue in the elimination, so Fessy won due to Kyle being medically disqualified. That was Fessy’s second win in the event and third elimination win on The Challenge. He’d previously defeated Jordan Wiseley in Pole Wrestle during the Total Madness season.
Paulie, who hasn’t appeared on a season with Fessy yet, is 3-3 in eliminations during his three seasons of The Challenge. He’s been in several more due to the Redemption House twist on Final Reckoning season.
As far as a Hall Brawl battle with Fessy, he may have a valid point about his current size due to his continued training to compete in bobsledding at the Winter Olympics. That said, it’s seeming like more than a few Challenge stars are looking to get into a Hall Brawl in the future. The question will be whether or not production continues to feature the elimination event on the show, as some may feel it is too dangerous.
The Challenge Season 37 premiere date isTBA for MTV in 2021.