The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies season proved to be an emotionally difficult one for returning champion Amber Borzotra.
She entered Season 37 in the second episode as a replacement for a deactivated cast member and quickly found a target on her back due to being a champion.
In a recent interview, she spoke about how she felt pretty alone during the show’s filming, referring to it as a “house full of bullies and haters.” However, she said at least one person who had some drama with her has since gained her respect.
Amber comments on being part of a ‘house full of bullies and haters’
While Amber Borzotra experienced relatively little drama during her rookie season on Double Agents, that changed with her arrival to Spies, Lies & Allies.
Coming into the show as a Challenge champion seemed to have others wanting to target her, possibly due to feeling threatened by her presence in the game.
By Season 37, Episode 4, she felt the effects of it, as she believed she was tight with the Big Brother alliance consisting of her teammate Josh Martinez, along with Fessy Shafaat and Kaycee Clark. However, it wasn’t like she thought.
Fessy ended up as part of the winning team for the episode’s daily challenge, so he and teammate Esther Agunbiade opted to send Amber into the elimination as the season’s first vet. She referred to it as feeling “blindsided” because she hadn’t even known it was coming.
While she and her teammate Hughie Maughan won that elimination, Amber’s time in the game continued to feature drama and others talking about her in confessionals.
It’s no surprise that Amber told Entertainment Weekly in an exclusive interview that she felt alone in the game this season due to the way castmates were.
“It’s hard, and I’m just trying to block it out and be in my own space right now. But I feel naive. I trust people too easily and I care too much. It’s crazy — coming into this season I really had to find my voice in a house full of bullies and haters. I was a lone wolf. I was by myself. I didn’t have anybody,” Amber said in EW’s exclusive.
As far as the “bullies and haters” go, she didn’t seem to mention any castmates specifically. However, episodes showed that Esther had things to say about her in interviews, along with fellow rookie Berna Canbeldek and even Kaycee.
She joked that she might have done better working with some of the rookies instead of trusting her fellow Big Brother stars. That said, she added that this was just her second season, and she can use the experience for future seasons now.
“I can grow from this experience and take this as a huge lesson, and just know that it’s also probably helping my everyday life, because I’ve never in my life have stuck up for myself as much as I have on The Challenge. So I’m definitely learning,” Amber told EW.
The Challenge champ comments about Jeremiah, Fessy post-filming
During her interview, Amber also opened up about her situation with castmate Jeremiah White. The couple enjoyed a showmance during Season 37 and ended up sent into the Episode 9 elimination together by Nany Gonzalez and Logan Sampedro.
As far as Amber and Jeremiah’s situation after The Challenge, she confirmed she’s currently in a new relationship and hasn’t really talked much with Jeremiah.
“You know, life’s just different, I guess, after the show. We don’t speak really. We don’t talk at all. I’m in a very amazing and happy relationship now, and it’s with somebody who’s always been there for me. I was excited to get to know him even more and we did that, but I think for him… if I’m talking to you and I’m getting to know you, I’m not here just to, like, have fun,” Amber said.
Lastly, Amber mentioned that Fessy Shafaat reached out to her after filming Season 37 to apologize and speak with her about things.
“I have a lot of respect for Fessy just because after this season, he reached out to me, and even in person in New York, we actually sat down for a good hour and talked and got to know each other. It wasn’t even about game, we really just opened up. I had a lot of respect for him after just because he was the first one to be like, ‘I’m sorry,’ and talk to me,” she told EW.
Amber went on to say several castmates reached out apologetically about things they said or did, but Kaycee hasn’t, and she feels hurt by that.
“I don’t know, I’m really confused when it comes to that. Even before I left, I said Kaycee, Tori, or Nany, I want to see those three girls at least in the final,” Amber said, adding she had no “bad blood” towards any of them and felt she was “leaving with good energy.”
The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.