The Challenge star Josh Martinez might not be part of the Ride or Dies season on MTV but is getting involved with some of the off-the-show drama on behalf of his friend.
Josh, who won Big Brother 19, has appeared in five seasons of MTV’s competition series but opted to take a break from Season 38.
However, his good friend Faysal “Fessy” Shafaat returned following his controversial disqualification from Season 37, Spies, Lies & Allies, where Fessy was kicked off for an altercation with Josh.
Fessy has been a polarizing cast member on The Challenge, and the newest season is no different. He brought rookie Moriah Jadea to the game as his Ride or Dies teammate, indicating they were good friends.
However, during their time on the show, things didn’t go well, leading to Moriah commenting about Fessy on social media or podcasts to spill the tea about his treatment of her.
Josh recently appeared on MTV’s Official Challenge Podcast to defend his friend Fessy and blast Moriah for her remarks.
Josh blasts Ride or Dies rookie Moriah Jadea
While appearing on the podcast episode, Josh spoke with hosts Devyn Simone and his almost-partner for Ride or Dies, Da’Vonne Rogers. They asked if he’d been keeping up with the latest season. Josh said he hadn’t really been watching it on MTV but had seen things on social media.
Josh also said he has friends from the show that are “like family” and keep him up to speed on what went down during filming. He spoke about several things from the season and Ride Dies Episode 14, including Tori Deal vs. Jordan and the Moriah and Fessy situation.
He brought up how he thought it was “corny” of Moriah to go on the podcasts and social media posts talking about Fessy after he gave her an opportunity.
“It’s really corny when you’re doing podcasts, and you’re tweeting, and you’re saying all this stuff about Fess. Listen, Fess doesn’t have the best rep. He gets himself in situations,” Josh shared.
“I get it. It’s easy to hate the guy, but dude, you already know what he goes through to then kind of add to that,” he said.
“You wouldn’t have had this opportunity. He kind of like put a check in your pocket, and also it’s like if he dogged you and did you wrong, OK. You are entitled to feel how you feel, but then to go on the internet and do all this stuff,” Josh said.
“We would not know who Moriah is if Fessy didn’t pick her,” he said at one point as Da’Vonne and Devyn got noisy in the background reacting to his comments.
He also mentioned that Fessy said some things that were a bit “messed up” or “f**ked up,” but didn’t like Moriah running to Twitter or a podcast to say things like she did.
Josh went on to say when he was at an event hanging out where Moriah was, while she is a “cool person,” he told her, “Like I’m really not f***ing with you.”
Moriah was also a recent guest on the Official Challenge Podcast following her initial Ride or Dies elimination. During that appearance, she shared how she and Fessy met and how he asked her to be his Ride or Dies partner, suggesting if she hadn’t agreed, Fessy wouldn’t even be on this Challenge season.
She also shared how Fessy didn’t treat her well during the filming, including not talking to her or telling castmates he trusted them more than her.
Josh took break after The Challenge Season 37
Challenge fans last saw Josh on Season 37, Spies, Lies & Allies, as part of the infamous “Vacation Alliance,” a group of veteran cast members who aligned after taking an offseason vacation together.
Josh made it to Episode 15, where he lost in elimination to castmate Kyle Christie in Burning Bridges. Several episodes before they got to that event, Josh was part of a heated altercation with his friend Fessy. It originally started over Amber Borzotra looking for some pizza she’d wanted to eat that someone else took, but it soon became an explosive situation.
Josh exploded due to Fessy and Kaycee Clark’s blindside move targeting Amber, a Big Brother alum like the rest.
It led to the two friends and castmates yelling at one another in The Challenge house, with security eventually stepping in between them. Things got a bit physical at one point, with Fessy pushing Josh’s face away with a hand.
That bit of contact resulted in Fessy being sent home and disqualified from the season in the next episode. He returned for Season 38, where he brought Moriah along as his teammate. Meanwhile, Josh was originally going to appear on Ride or Dies with Da’Vonne as his partner until she could not participate.
Production wanted Josh’s sister as his Ride or Dies partner, but based on Josh’s comments, he didn’t want her to experience the stress and other issues that come with appearing on the reality TV show. He mentioned how he’s dealt with a lot of stuff on social media and didn’t want his sister to have that weighing on her.
Josh previously indicated he’s been taking a break from the MTV show after five straight seasons to help his mental state, and he’s feeling great. However, based on his comments defending Fessy and blasting Moriah, he may be ready to return for more of MTV’s drama on The Challenge.
The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.