The Challenge: All Stars season has been a success with many fans and even other Challenge cast members, some of who have appeared on and won previous seasons of MTV’s show.
Seven-time winner Johnny Bananas previously praised Mark Long’s show ahead of a possible future appearance on the spinoff series, and now another Challenge champion is showing love for All Stars.
It seems possible that the former winner also qualifies for either season of the show based on age and resume, making things quite difficult for other competitors trying to win it all.
Former Challenge winner praises All Stars spinoff season
While The Challenge: All Stars has released seven episodes so far on Paramount Plus, the beauty of technology these days is many people can binge-watch shows or catch up using on-demand platforms.
Paramount Plus releases new episodes every Thursday in the early morning. However, some people are just getting started with enjoying the season. That includes Laurel Stucky, a former winner of The Challenge show who seems to like what she’s seeing so far on All Stars.
“Loving episode 1 of The Challenge All Stars. So old school vibe. So good. It’s what’s been missing from the show recently,” Laurel tweeted out in response to the show.
The show features OG competitors returning to compete on The Challenge, all of whom originally debuted on MTV reality shows The Real World, Road Rules, or a Fresh Meat season. That includes former winners such as Mark Long, Darrell Taylor, Derrick Kosinski, Kendal Sheppard, and Katie Cooley.
In addition to bringing back old-school competitors, the All Stars soundtrack features plenty of old-school cuts in terms of music selections. Episodes have featured songs by artists from the late 1980s up through the 1990s such as Whitesnake, Eric B. & Rakim, SWV, DMX, and Goo Goo Dolls. There was even a 1990s-themed party thrown into an episode to further celebrate the old-school vibe.
In a separate tweet, Laurel reacted to the first All Stars episode’s elimination round, suggesting she’s glad she doesn’t have to go against Laterrian Wallace. That could mean many things, including the aspect that the men don’t compete against women in the individual Challenge eliminations.
That said, the spinoff and the main show clearly will appeal to different viewer demographics. A younger demographic is possibly more interested in the MTV Challenge season versus an older demo interested in Paramount Plus’ spinoff. Even with that, some Challenge fans may love having both viewing options available.
Of note, Laurel isn’t the only former competitor from the show to come out and praise All Stars as being a better show than recent Challenge productions on MTV. A recent series of tweets from Challenge alum Angela Babicz made it clear she feels All Stars is a “superior” viewing experience compared to the MTV version.
Will Laurel return for The Challenge on MTV or All Stars spinoff?
Laurel Stucky certainly has the credentials to appear on The Challenge: All Stars, if she doesn’t return for the main show. At 35-years-old, she matches the age of some of the OG cast members. Her debut also gives her the nod to qualify for what All Stars is going for.
She started out as a competitor on the 19th season of The Challenge, Fresh Meat II. The season aired on MTV in 2010, with Laurel teamed up with Kenny Santucci. The duo reached the final and were runners-up to Landon Lueck and Carley Johnson.
She’d return for the Cutthroats and Rivals seasons, reaching the final in each one. However, she didn’t win a Challenge final until her appearance on Free Agents, which aired in 2014. Also, winning for the men’s competitors was none other than Johnny Bananas.
Viewers last saw Laurel appear on The Challenge War of the Worlds 2 season in 2019. That included her and Josh Martinez pulling off a bold power move in the game when it came to getting rid of a certain veteran competitor. However, the season also included a shocking elimination involving “Ninja” Natalie Duran, which saw Laurel end up on the losing side due to missing a key part of the event’s rules.
With that said, it seems Laurel is destined to return and compete on one of the two shows. However, based on her tweet about just the first episode of All Stars, she may decide to sit out the main show until the spinoff calls her to appear. Then again, many fans would love to see Laurel back on either version of The Challenge.
In addition to Laurel, another competitor last seen on War of the Worlds 2 hinted at their return to The Challenge, which could make things interesting on the show’s regular season.
The Challenge: All Stars episodes arrive Thursdays on Paramount Plus.