The arrival of the spinoff series, The Challenge: All Stars 2, will bring a cast of competitors from years of appearances on the original MTV shows Real World, Road Rules, and Fresh Meat.
When many of these shows aired, social media wasn’t even a thing or was just starting, and cast members generally weren’t talking about the episodes online.
However, several of the All Stars 2 cast members have decent-sized followings on Instagram ahead of the premiere of the spinoff series. Here’s a look at who has the most Instagram followers from the cast.
The Challenge champs have large Instagram followings
One of The Challenge: All Stars 2 cast members stands out from the pack when it comes to Instagram followers. Three-time champion Derrick Kosinski leads everyone with over 183,500 followers on the platform.
Derrick’s large following is attributable to the fact he’s not just a champ and well-known star from Challenge history, but he also is a co-host of Challenge Mania Podcast, a year-long podcast covering MTV’s show.
Most likely, because he posts regularly about his life, the show, and Challenge Mania events on his official Instagram, it leads to followers finding him often.
Former Challenge champ Brad Fiorenza makes his return to the show on All Stars 2. His @bradfiorenza account currently boasts nearly 95,000 followers, with four-time champion Darrell Taylor just behind him, with his followers approaching 93,000.
Darrell’s appearance on the MTV regular season of Double Agents along with All Stars 1 likely helped him continue to add followers on Instagram. Fans can find him @darrell_taylor_lb4lb on IG.
The two other OGs appearing in the top five are Cohutta Grindstaff with over 77,000 followers and Jonna Mannion with over 62,000 followers. Jonna is returning for her second season of the All Stars spinoff after reaching the final in the first season.
Cohutta is making his return to The Challenge after viewers last saw him on MTV’s Season 27, Battle of the Bloodlines, in 2016. He likely benefitted from being on a season where social media was somewhat prevalent.
All Stars 2 cast to gain popularity as episodes arrive
While appearing on MTV obviously brings a bigger audience for cast members of The Challenge, those returning on the Paramount Plus spinoff are likely to gain more followers.
As of this report, 11 of the All Stars 2 cast members have under 6,000 followers on Instagram. Two cast members have under 1,000 followers and stand to gain some new fans from the spinoff show.
Steve Meinke seems to be a cast member who has been absent from social media, so his return to The Challenge will be interesting.
Fans will get to find out what the former Road Rules star has been up to, and his popularity may increase depending on his time on the show. At the very least, one would think he’ll move above 100 followers on his Instagram after the premiere episode drops. Steve’s already added five followers since the @challengestats IG post above went live.
Former Road Rules: Semester at Sea star Ayanna Mackins is also returning to The Challenge after last appearing on Battle of the Sexes 2 in 2004-05. She hasn’t used social media too much, with her first IG post coming in early October. Ayanna also started using Twitter ahead of the premiere episode.
Her official Instagram follower count is at 573, so she could very well hit the 1,000 mark or more depending on her All Stars 2 appearance. Of course, winning the season would likely benefit any cast member in terms of money and popularity, so that is the top priority for the returning OGs!
The Challenge: All Stars 2 premieres on Thursday, November 11, on Paramount Plus.