The first episode of MTV’s The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies brought plenty of excitement from the opening daily mission right up until the elimination.
There were twists and turns along the way, with an infamous list popping up that put a target on one rookie’s back. In addition, two cast members were barely shown in the episode, with one being revealed as “deactivated” by the end of the premiere.
Following the opening episode of Season 37, some of The Challenge stars gave their reactions to what was shown and not shown in the footage. A few of the cast members seemed to be throwing some shade at one of their castmates too.
Some spoilers will follow, including who went into elimination and lost during the Spies, Lies and Allies premiere.
The Challenge stars react to ‘the list’ and rookie’s downfall
During the first episode of Season 37, many people were talking about a potential Survivor alliance. The Survivor players may have been working to keep themselves safe early, although Michaela Bradshaw became a target for the vets.
That was because rookie Emy Alupei revealed a list to veteran competitors Tori Deal and Aneesa Ferreira. Others alleged that Michaela had created the list with her teammate Renan Hellemans and her fellow Survivor stars, Michele Fitzgerald and Tommy Sheehan.
While Michaela did her best to explain the list and what happened during the first deliberation, it wasn’t enough to remove the target. The majority vote put her and Renan into elimination. Later in the episode, they lost to Michele Fitzgerald and Corey Lay, ending their time on The Challenge.
A few of the Season 37 stars tweeted about Michaela’s situation, including Emy, who retweeted Amanda Garcia’s comments with some of her own.
“DON’T MESS W THE REAL ONES! (quote of the episode),” Emy said in her retweet.
“YOU GOT CAUGHT YOU ARE BUSTED B***H BYEEEEEEEE,” Amanda wrote in her original tweet, referring to Michaela getting eliminated.
Emy also tweeted another comment in which she seemed to refer to Michaela as a liar.
During MTV’s Official Challenge Podcast, Aneesa revealed she’d sat down with Michaela and Renan to ask them who they wanted in elimination, and Michaela mentioned Emy and Corey Lay.
However, the twist allowed Aneesa and her teammate, Logan Sampedro, to send in any male and any female competitor they chose. While they put in Emy’s teammate Corey L., they opted to send in another strong Survivor star, Michele, to break up the potential alliance.
Nonetheless, if and when Michaela returns for The Challenge, it seems she’ll probably change up her strategy a bit but will have her sights set on Emy if she’s on another season as her.
Season 37 rookie reacts to being edited out of episode
Monsters & Critics previously reported about Lauren Coogan’s comments ahead of the premiere episode. In an Instagram Story video, she referred to the season as “Lies, Lies, Lies,” as it appears something happened with her during The Challenge.
Lauren previously appeared as part of the Love Island USA cast ahead of her Challenge debut.
However, viewers probably didn’t notice her much in Season 37’s premiere episode because she was barely on screen. A quick scene showed that she and Josh Martinez became teammates for the opening challenge. The episode even included Lauren’s name on the screen. However, they weren’t shown much after that during the daily mission.
Another brief view of Lauren came during the birthday party celebration with the cast outside. Later in the episode, Lauren could be spotted up in the stands with the rest of the cast to watch the first elimination.
Lauren retweeted a super closeup shot of herself during that elimination scene and had an interesting reaction to her edits.
“Me trying not to say everything I know,” Lauren said in her tweet along with the fan’s photo.
MTV has given no official reason for Lauren’s lack of inclusion in the episodes and promotional footage. Right now, rumors are going around with online spoiler forums or social media suggesting she got kicked off the show.
The reason for her rumored dismissal from the show is unconfirmed, but it appears Lauren may have had a falling out with a castmate, resulting in something allegedly being said. Production decided to remove her from the show, and she’s now been edited out of the footage.
Lauren may be unable to speak about what happened due to signing various forms not to disclose what happened, so that may be why she’s been quiet about things. It’s also possible she may not talk about it until she’s officially off the episodes.
She posted another update to her Instagram Story in which she showed a clip of her hugging fellow rookie Michele Fitzgerald after the elimination win.
It will be interesting to see how they address Lauren leaving the show, as it will probably mean Josh Martinez or another agent gets a new partner.
TJ Lavin let the cast know Nam Vo had to leave the show in the premiere without revealing the reason, so something similar may happen with Lauren Coogan.
The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.