Has someone become the most feared competitor on The Challenge since Chris “CT” Tamburello? Some fans may think so, but it’s unknown if castmates believe that.
A fan recently brought up the notion about Paulie Calafiore being the “most feared competitor” since CT, prompting the former Big Brother star to give some interesting comments on the topic.
That included him referring to a few controversial incidents from both his and CT Tamburello’s past as they are related to MTV’s reality TV show.
Paulie responds to fan about being ‘most feared’ on The Challenge
Fans regularly send in questions to Paulie Calafiore on his official Instagram account, including questions related to MTV’s The Challenge. In one question, Paulie shared on his IG Story, a fan asked, “How does it feel being the most feared competitor since Prime CT?”
Paulie responded by bringing up a few incidents from the past, specifically related to comments he and CT have made regarding their Challenge castmates.
“Well apparently Papa Roach videos are more scary than ‘ripping off someone’s head and eating it.’ I wish TC would go back to those days where Men could handle their business,” Paulie replied on his IG slide (below).
It’s unknown if castmates consider Paulie the “most feared,” but he has shown himself to be a strong competitor in winning daily challenges and reaching two finals in his three seasons. He’s also pulled off a few big moves in the game including, those on his War of the Worlds 2 season.
That involved him and his girlfriend, Cara Maria Sorbello, as part of a huge alliance. Their strategy including getting rid of Team USA teammate Johnny Bananas, and trying to get rid of Jordan Wiseley and Tori Deal by throwing them into eliminations. Bananas was eliminated, but Jordan and Tori lasted in the game, winning their eliminations and each defecting to Team UK.
While Paulie and Cara were part of a team that made the WOTW2 final, Paulie had issues and struggled to keep going on part of the journey. Team UK ultimately won, featuring CT Tamburello, Jordan Wiseley, Rogan O’Connor, and Dee Nguyen.
CT’s comments were directed at Rivals castmate
As far as the CT “ripping off someone’s head” comments go, those came during Season 21, The Challenge: Rivals, in 2011. That season featured competitors team up with their biggest rivals or players they had a feud with. CT and Wes Bergmann weren’t teammates but on opposing teams. A rivalry emerged between them, featuring head games and heated trash talking.
“Yeah, f**k you! I’m gonna rip your f*****n’ head off as soon as I get the chance, bro. And even if I f*****n’ lose, I’m taking your head with me. I want to eat your face off. You can’t stop me! You made it personal! my top priority is to F*** YOU UP, WES,” CT said to his castmate in one scene (below) that made the televised episode.
The video clip below shows off CT’s comments towards Wes. Their conversation included Wes saying he was doing all he could to get rid of CT that season and wanted to prevent him from getting money for his family.
For that season, Wes was teamed up with Fresh Meat/Challenge rival Kenny Santucci. CT was partnered with Adam King, his former castmate from Real World: Paris. CT had punched Adam in the face during a previous Challenge season, and while it resulted in CT being kicked off the show that season, it later resulted in them becoming Rivals teammates.
For Rivals II in 2013, CT and Wes ended up as partners based on their history and went on to win that season. That was CT’s first win in his Challenge career. Today, many fans and castmates consider him amongst the legends of the show.
With MTV’s recent Season 35, Double Agents, the 40-year-old CT appeared on his 18th regular season of the show and won his fourth championship. He’s also appeared on three spinoffs involving Champs vs. Pros or Champs vs. Stars. CT may even wind up on The Challenge: All Stars spinoff series in the future.
Paulie’s Papa Roach comments arrived after WOTW2 season
Paulie’s reference to Papa Roach in his IG Story slide above is likely related to his previous Instagram video post, which he shared ahead of the War of the Worlds 2 reunion filming.
According to Stop Being Polite, Paulie shared several videos on his Instagram account that included Papa Roach songs. One of the videos featured the band’s song, Getting Away With Murder.
“Save this and send it to your favorite cast mates…. Tell them I’m coming for their heads…. One. By one. By one,” Paulie’s caption on the 2019 video said.
Per SBP’s report, Paulie also motioned to imitate a gun shooting with his fingers in the video. Some speculate that these were taken as threatening comments from producers and could have impacted his casting.
That original IG video post was around early October of 2019. Paulie shared another IG video post on October 6, 2019, featuring Papa Roach’s Broken Home.
“Run along now scared little boys, I’m still come for you,” his caption said on the video, which featured him laughing a lot. Speculation is that these videos and his comments on them are part of why Paulie may never get a call back to appear on The Challenge. There were also rumors of a failed psych evaluation.
Paulie commented on psych eval rumors, castmates
Around the 11:24 mark of the Sarah Scoop video below, Paulie answered a fan’s question asking why he wasn’t part of The Challenge Season 35. He mentioned the “false narratives” of a failed psych evaluation and said others spread those rumors due to their “cowardice.”
He mentioned that Season 35 was an “individual season,” and some castmates may have been “very scared” about him being part of it, so they used a “Hail Mary” play to get him off the cast.
He also said some things happened the night before and the day of the [WOTW2] reunion, which “sealed his fate” in terms of being dropped from the Season 35 cast “last minute.”
“I’m still being punished for that mistake, and that’s all I’ll say about that,” Paulie shared in the 2020 video.
While that could be related to Paulie not getting a call back since War of the Worlds 2, there is no confirmation anywhere that he won’t be called back.
Paulie recently made comments about castmates being “like snitches” during a podcast interview. In those comments, he suggested castmates will run to production with any little thing he or Cara Maria Sorbello says or does in an effort to prevent them from being on the show.
Despite those incidents and comments, he shares on social media that he plans to return to compete and win multiple championships on MTV’s show. Time will truly tell if Paulie, or girlfriend Cara Maria Sorbello, ever make a return to The Challenge or if those in charge of casting are done inviting them back.
The Challenge Season 37 premiere date is TBA for 2021 on MTV.