Many people became fans of Paulie Calafiore after his recent appearance on The Challenge: USA 2 spinoff due to a changed attitude that made him calmer and amicable with his former rivals. He admitted the changes came during his time away from the show as he worked on himself, including his mental health.
Despite his seemingly redeeming appearance, he still has some critics and enemies, including former castmate Devin Walker, who won MTV’s recent Ride or Dies season.
Devin teamed up with his frenemy Tori Deal to win their first season of MTV’s competition series earlier this year. Ironically, Tori appeared in a memorable USA 2 scene featuring Paulie.
The former Big Brother star talked about his self-improvement. He also admitted he’d previously suppressed his bisexuality and that it likely played a part in earlier instances of becoming enraged and angry toward castmates.
Later in the episode, the two-time Challenge finalist ended up going into elimination by the luck of the draw from The Hopper. As fate had it, his opponent was former rival Johnny Bananas.
The two battled it out in Episode 3’s elimination, with Bananas claiming victory after 38 minutes of them standing on large melting ice blocks with one arm raised in the air.
The post-elimination moments provided another highlight as Bananas and Paulie hugged before his exit, with the seven-time champ telling Paulie he was a great competitor. However, Devin isn’t ready to declare his former castmate that just yet.
Devin calls out Paulie as ‘loser’ after USA 2 elimination
Taking to Twitter early on Saturday morning, Devin commented about his former castmate’s early exit, which arrived just three episodes into the USA 2 season.
“I wouldn’t normally say anything but after ALL the S*** @PaulCalafiore_ talked… getting bounced early at the hands of your biggest enemy.. it has to sting… what a LOSER LOL,” Devin tweeted with a sad face emoji.
He signed that tweet from “A challenge champ” and followed it with another message about how Paulie “trolled the show for nearly a half decade pleading for another shot” and then “S*** HIS PANTS.”
As mentioned, Paulie’s USA 2 exit was the earliest of his career, as he previously reached the final in his rookie season, Final Reckoning, and was one challenge away from the War of the Worlds final. In War of the Worlds 2, he reached his second final in three seasons. His elimination record is 3-3 on the main show and 0-1 on spinoffs.
Devin has appeared in seven seasons of MTV’s The Challenge, with three appearances in the finals and his first win on Ride or Dies. Per his Challenge Fandom wiki page, his overall earnings stand at $451,400.
Fans and critics react to Devin’s remarks toward Paulie
While some of the replies to Devin’s remarks seemed to agree with him, many fans called him out for what he said following Paulie’s return to The Challenge and coming out as bisexual.
“You can hate Paulie all you want but to come after a man who just shared his struggles with mental health and his sexuality, is very tone deaf,” a commenter wrote, also mentioning Devin wanting “respect” when he was going through his “personal issues on the show.
Another commenter dropped a GIF to ask who Devin is and declared him a “Nobody” regarding his comments. However, he still carries the title of Challenge champion.
“Even though you’ve won, you’ve never had main character energy and that’s something that Paulie has always had. Pole wrestle him,” one commenter said.
“I don’t see you doing anything with your life,” another said.
“Outside of maybe a puzzle, he would light you the F up one on one,” another individual commented, reminding Devin of how he also made up with Bananas to return to The Challenge.
It’s currently unknown when viewers might see Devin or Paulie back on a version of The Challenge and whether it’ll be the same season or a spinoff season. However, if there is a Rivals IV season in the works, Devin may be doing his best to find a suitable teammate to try to win another championship.
The Challenge: USA 2 airs Thursdays at 10/9c and Sundays at 9/8c on CBS.