The Challenge Season 39 filming included several showmances and hook-ups. Some became storylines during recent episodes, and some involved alleged cheating.
One of those showmances featured returning Challenge competitor Michele Fitzgerald and The Challenge: UK’s Callum Izzard.
In a recent Battle For a New Champion episode on MTV, Michele was shown arranging a date for her man with the help of several castmates.
While the two enjoyed one another’s company during the show’s filming, Callum had a girlfriend away from the show.
Michele recently addressed speculation about her showmance with Callum, which included him cheating.
In addition, she revealed some unaired comments that were made during the elimination segment of the recent episode but were left out of the final cut.
Spoilers will follow for Episode 7 for those who have not seen the Season 39 episode.
Michele drops details about her showmance and his elimination
According to Michele, she had no idea Callum had someone back home while he was romancing her on The Challenge Season 39.
In a tweet shared after the latest episode aired, Michele said she learned he had a girlfriend when everyone else did in Episode 1.
“I thought he had a fling at home and asked him directly in the beginning, which he denied,” she shared.
The two were shown getting cozy throughout the show’s first seven episodes, including Michele planning a date on Episode 7, which Callum appeared most appreciative of.
He also narrated an early part of the show about the various showmances in the house, claiming he was “head over heels” with Michele.
Footage showed them hooking up in a hot tub while also showing a few scenes about other showmances that were progressing.
Fast forward to the episode’s later elimination setup, and Michele was caught up in some surprising drama after the latest champ arrived at The Arena.
In a spoiler alert, several individuals were on the chopping block for elimination during the episode. After Kyland Young, Horacio Gutierrez, and Tula “Big T” Fazakerley won the daily challenge, they selected Emanuel Neagu for The Arena.
The deliberation later resulted in a majority vote for Corey Lay since cast members didn’t know where his loyalties were.
However, a third individual was called out at The Arena. Returning Ride or Dies champion Devin Walker came out. He pulled a medieval-looking weapon from The Draw instead of Cory or Emanuel’s name.
Here’s why Devin chose Michele’s showmance for the elimination
Viewers were treated to some Devin quips after he arrived at The Arena, and several of his former castmates referred to him as an “a**hole” sometimes in confessionals.
While calling out individuals, Devin surveyed the cast in the viewing stands. He recognized the ones he’d been castmates with before setting his sights on the ones he didn’t know.
“These contenders are morons. I’m sitting here asking you to tell me who to pick, and not a single person has a bold opinion,” Devin said in a confessional interview.
Michele pointed toward Jay Starrett or Callum and said not to choose him. Moriah Jadea pointed to her showmance, James Lock, and said not to choose him.
“I think we stirred up enough s**t with that. Writing’s kinda already on the wall. Come on down, Callum,” Devin said, with no additional reasons given.
The cast was shocked, and Michele was livid in the stands about Devin’s decision. Devin ultimately eliminated him in an event featuring counting items in trunks and arranging them in the correct order. With that, Callum was out, and Devin won $10,000 of the cast’s prize money.
Michele and Callum embraced before his departure. In confessional, Michele admitted she would “miss him” and said, “We’ll see what happens outside of this.”
Meanwhile, fans may have wondered why Devin chose Callum and why he brought up his girl “Jessica” while speaking at The Arena.
Ahead of the season, spoilers and rumors arrived during filming about Devin dating Jessica Brody, which seemingly started after she was eliminated from the show.
The recent rumors suggest that Jessica told Devin that Callum was mean to her while she was in the house with him. She suggested he pick Callum if he had a choice, resulting in Devin’s callout at The Arena.
As seen above, Michele tweeted that Devin made an additional comment that wasn’t part of the episode footage, which may have been related to all that.
Sometimes, additional context goes a long way to telling a story, but the footage was left out on MTV for some reason. The Devin and Jessica situation was never revealed during the episode, leaving some viewers clueless about why he made that decision.
The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.