The first season of The Challenge: All Stars spinoff featured OG cast members who originally debuted on MTV’s The Real World, Road Rules, and Fresh Meat shows.
Many viewers praised the Paramount Plus spinoff show based on the cast, as it gave fans a trip down memory lane and an update on what various OGs have been up to.
Road Rules star Tina Barta appeared on more than a few seasons of The Challenge with her share of memorable moments and nearly returned 18 years later for All Stars.
However, it didn’t work out in her favor, as she recently shared during a podcast interview.
Tina Barta said she was planning to be part of All Stars
Longtime viewers of MTV shows originally saw Tina Barta debut on Road Rules: South Pacific in 2003. Among her castmates were Abram Boise and Cara Zavaleta, who did multiple seasons of The Challenge. As for Tina, she appeared in five seasons and reached the final in two of them.
She was almost one of the OGs in The Challenge: All Stars’ first season, which premiered several months ago.
During an appearance on the Mike Lewis Podcast (below), Tina shared she was ready to go quarantine with the cast but unfortunately became sick with COVID-19 a month before they were going to leave for All Stars.
“I kind of feel like my husband set me up to get COVID-19,” she shared, explaining that she’s a homebody and germaphobe who was regularly wearing a mask and gloves.
“My life before quarantining didn’t change because I was like that before. I didn’t go out that much,” she said of her situation as the pandemic was going on.
However, a trip that she and her husband decided to take disrupted her plans to stay quarantined and away from catching COVID-19.
“We wanted to see family because they were gone, in a life-threatening situation overseas, and they came back, and we were excited…so we were like, ‘Yes we have to go to Christmas,’ and so we got around family and that family decided not to f*****g quarantine. [They] didn’t tell us about it, so we got to see them progress into getting [COVID-19], and then I was like, ‘Oh f*** yes, I have it,” she shared.
“I was hoping I would’ve got over it before we had to leave, but, nope, it stuck around. God is weird,” Tina added, saying she had intended to be part of the first season’s cast.
Tina would’ve been in All Stars cast with her Challenge rival
Tina’s last Challenge appearance was in 2007 on The Duel season, where she infamously punched her castmate, Beth Stolarczyk, during a heated confrontation.
This past year, Tina replied to a fan saying she still didn’t regret that decision at all to this day, which indicates she’d probably do it again if she traveled back in time to the moment.
If Tina had appeared on the first season of All Stars, it would’ve definitely made for some interesting interactions, as Beth was part of the final cast.
During her appearance on Mike Lewis’ podcast, Tina also talked about the incident from The Duel. She explained she became upset because Beth made a fuss when everyone else agreed to let Diem Brown win the daily challenge.
Tina also said viewers didn’t see her bodycheck Beth off-camera before that punch happened on The Duel because she’d had enough. That’s why Beth brought cameras with her and got in Tina’s face, which was part of the footage shown during the episode.
However, Tina said she doesn’t do things for the camera time or attention like Beth, so when Beth brought the cameramen up to her, she ended up punching Beth to end things. It ended Tina’s season as she was disqualified for the punch.
That said, Tina told Mike she was still getting calls to appear on The Challenge after that incident.
She also said she’d probably be OK with Beth if they had been on the All Stars season together since it’s been many years since their previous time on The Challenge.
“I would hope that she has grown and changed, and from what I hear, she has. She’s actually pleasant, and people were like she’s not as bad as she used to be,” Tina said regarding Beth.
The Challenge: All Stars episodes are currently available on Paramount+. Season 2 is TBA for 2021.