The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion star Jay Starrett indicated that he doesn’t mind all the criticism and “hate” he’s getting from viewers.
Jay returned for the 39th season of MTV’s competition show after teaming up with Michele Fitzgerald on the previous season, Ride or Dies.
With Michele and Jay among the few veteran cast members on Battle For a New Champion, they had friendships with many individuals in the house.
That allowed them to orchestrate a significant alliance and get the many people working with them to follow their plan.
It also made for a dramatic move in Episode 16, when Jay’s friend of five years, Nurys Mateo, was left in the bottom three and went into elimination.
While Nurys’ friend, Olivia Kaiser, could’ve saved her instead of choosing Moriah Jadea, Jay seemed the most upset over Nurys’ fate, resulting in host TJ Lavin calling him out for not saving Nurys.
The Challenge’s Jay took a fun trip down musical memory lane
When Jay is not filming The Challenge, he uploads fun content on social media, including the recent video he shared about throwback music.
“When your shuffle throws on a 2007 banger at the red light and you gotta give them a show,” the black text said at the top of his IG video.
The clip is set to Get Buck In Here by DJ Felli Fel featuring Diddy, Akon, Ludacris, and Lil Jon. Jay’s in his car with the wheel in hand and starts to rock out as he lipsyncs to the song.
“Did you forget this song existed?! I love this banger. Weekend vibes..,” he wrote in his caption.
Hashtags included “#millenial,” “#throwbackmusic,” and “#stayloco.”
The video received over 2,900 likes and 270-plus comments, with more than a few individuals dropping by to criticize his appearance on The Challenge Season 39.
Fans blast Jay for Season 39 of The Challenge
While Jay’s recent video post was to show him having fun at a stoplight while enjoying some throwback music, more than a few commenters had other things to bring up.
“Watching the challenge and you messed up with nurys big time. Colleen and Berna wanted you to turn against her and you fell for their lies,” one commenter wrote.
That prompted Jay to ask the commenter, “You do realize it’s a game of lies right ?”
Another commenter suggested that Jay is the “worst person on the Challenge” and they “can’t stand him.”
Jay simply replied with a heart emoji to the individual’s critical comment.
“Sucks to see you get so much hate this season!” another commenter wrote, adding, “Everyone and their grandma isn’t impressed with you lol.”
“hahah allll good. I don’t mind,” the former Survivor star replied.
In Episode 16, viewers saw Jay’s plan fail to keep all his friends safe. While he saved Michele, he also wanted to keep Nurys safe, but it didn’t happen. Due to that, he was in tears during the safety vote decisions ahead of elimination. Jay was also shown bawling later when trying to tell Nurys he wanted to save her.
Nurys ultimately won that elimination against her showmance, Horacio Gutierrez, and friend, Kyland Young. During the next round of safety decisions, Berna Canbeldek had earned the first pick and wanted to keep others safe besides Nurys.
When it was his turn to save someone, Jay indicated he didn’t want to save Nurys despite her being a close friend and ally at the start of the season. TJ called him out again, reminding Jay he cried during the previous round of decisions when Nurys went to elimination.
Nurys won that second elimination against Olivia and James Lock. She returned to the house again, ready to compete in her first final on The Challenge.
Six others, including Jay, will also compete in the final, and it seems that more than a few Challenge fans are rooting against him getting his first-ever win.
The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.