The Challenge: Double Agents had a cast that featured a dynamic group of individuals, with some who were career Challenge competitors and rookies who came from other areas.
With The Challenge: All Stars spinoff, there were no rookies but The Real World and Road Rules cast members who previously appeared on MTV’s The Challenge. Many of those individuals mostly went on to do other things beyond reality TV and then returned to compete in an updated version of the competition show.
With that said, some might believe The Challenge requires a specific set of abilities, beyond just athleticism, to thrive. That’s what a few All Stars cast members recently spoke about as they addressed one particular Double Agents star.
The Challenge star talks OGs vs. newer cast members
During the recent Official Challenge Podcast episode, co-hosts Aneesa Ferreira and Tori Deal spoke with All Stars cast member Trishelle Cannatella, who originally appeared on the first The Real World: Las Vegas season.
Aneesa, one of Trishelle’s All Stars castmates, asked her how she felt The Challenge has changed from when they appeared on the show years ago. Trishelle brought up an interesting point related to the newer cast members.
“I feel like The Challenge that we did was more like 2003 Challenges with the fun, but then has way more drama than apparently, the ones have now, but, it’s like a good culmination of both,” Trishelle said.
“I say this, and I feel like such a b**h, but I don’t care, but like I feel like the new people now, like a lot of them they have other things going on,” she added, referring to the varying backgrounds of cast members on MTV’s recent show.
“We were popular and we were cast on a show whenever we didn’t have all the bells and whistles. It was just us. Our personalities. So like they put those people back and that’s why it’s good television,” she said.
Just like Trishelle, Aneesa also got her start on MTV’s The Real World, with the Chicago season. From there, she went on to appear on 14 seasons of MTV’s regular Challenge. She’s made it to two finals but, as of this report, has yet to win it all. Trishelle appeared on four seasons of The Challenge and made it to the final on Battle of the Seasons in 2012.
However, both Aneesa and Trishelle have had their fair share of memorable TV moments over the years between their appearances on both The Real World and The Challenge.
Veteran cast member brings up Double Agents competitor
After Trishelle’s comments about the newer cast compared to the OG cast, Aneesa jumped in to mention a particular rookie castmate from the Double Agents season.
“Yeah, I know you’re referring to Lolo [Jones],” Aneesa said, laughing.
“Am I?” Trishelle replied back.
“Because you definitely said some things on Twitter which were completely relevant,” Aneesa added, and went on to elaborate on that.
“I think that some people should stay in their athletic lane…This is a totally different type of athleticism,” she said, seemingly referring to Lolo competing in sports versus being on The Challenge TV show.
“This is brains. This is politics. This is friendships. This is, you know, if you have a little bit of wit…You can do math. You can kick a ball. You can balance on your toe. It’s much different s**t than you would ever do officially,” Aneesa said.
Trishelle went on to praise Aneesa for being a more “well rounded” competitor than herself, and then added to what Aneesa said.
“I’m not there for my athleticism. Let’s be honest. Lolo Jones is only there for that. It’s like, ‘OK. Let the personalities play Lolo. You go and run and jump some hurdles or whatever you do. This is not your avenue,’” Trishelle said.
Cast member exited Double Agents season
Lolo was spotlighted during the Double Agents season for her struggles with the game format and her teammate. In addition, she had one moment where she yelled at Aneesa, feeling she was choking her during a daily challenge called All Brawl. However, Aneesa apologized to Lolo during an earlier episode of the Official Challenge Podcast.
Lolo left the show in Episodes 11 and 12, indicating she felt it was a better idea to prepare for competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics. In addition, she brought up being unable to get her Gold Skull and didn’t feel the alliance she was with was doing her any favors.
Following the episode’s airing, she revealed on Twitter that The Challenge had forced her to quit, and producers told her to make it look like she needed to leave. She also claimed one of the daily challenges was “staged,” allowing a certain team to win.
Interestingly, Aneesa’s fellow Challenge castmate, Wes Bergmann, seemed to comment in a recent interview about Aneesa’s athletic abilities when it comes to the show. Wes didn’t mention her by name but spoke about a particular castmate from The Challenge who “had heart” to compete but struggled when it came to the physical element of winning it all. He even said that individual was “lying to the fans and themselves.”
As of this report, Aneesa is rumored to be away filming for The Challenge Season 37 and is also on the All Stars spinoff series on Paramount Plus. Lolo has been preparing for competition at the Winter Olympics as part of the United States women’s bobsledding team.
The Challenge: All Stars episodes arrive Thursdays on Paramount Plus. The Challenge Season 37 premiere date is TBA on MTV.