The Challenge: All Stars 4 brought back familiar faces from MTV’s past, including a champion looking for another win and former finalists looking to win their first version of the competition show.
Former Real World: Skeletons star Nicole Zanatta was among those former finalists, who many consider a threat to win the spinoff season.
Viewers saw her appear in the final in two out of three seasons for MTV’s show, and an unfortunate injury disqualified her from continuing towards another final in her third season.
Now, she’s back for the fourth season of All Stars, where she contends with show winners Cara Maria Sorbello, Brad Fiorenza, and Rachel Robinson.
There’s also former winner Laurel Stucky, who happens to be Nicole’s ex, adding another complexity to focusing on the game.
During a recent appearance on the Zach Nichols Podcast, she shared why she has difficulty winning a final.
Nicole comments on her ‘struggles’ to win The Challenge
While speaking with her friend and former Challenge castmate, Zach, on his podcast, Nicole addressed having not won the competition show in her attempts.
“I think I’m good enough to make the final, and hopefully, I’m good enough to win the final, but at the end of the game, it’s been a struggle,” she said.
Zach’s co-host Pierre asked Nicole why she’s been unable to win a final despite being on the verge of doing so twice.
“I have s****y luck. I really don’t know what it is because I have what it takes when it comes to showtime. Something just goes wrong,” she shared.
“So, I feel like it’s just not my time yet…that’s the truth,” Nicole said.
Zach added that due to Nicole’s profession as a firefighter, it’s been tough for her to appear on many consecutive seasons. He indicated other cast members return season after season, which helps them build allies and skills for their next attempt to win the show.
However, Zach argued that Nicole starts “from a more difficult position,” and that’s especially true if she begins a season with none of her castmates as allies, such as Tony Raines.
Nicole agreed with Zach’s remarks, as she said she doesn’t have a large group of allies or friends with whom she goes on The Challenge. So she’s playing “catch up” after missing back-to-back seasons when she returns to the show.
Viewers saw that Devin Walker and Tori Deal recently won their first season after appearing in multiple seasons and reaching several finals. In addition, they built up allies along the way, which helped them out.
The pair won The Challenge: Ride or Dies, likely due to their repeated experience and allies gained on the competition show.
Zach shared which Challenge champion Nicole is most like
When sharing his thoughts about his castmate Nicole, Zach argued that he compares her athletic abilities to Kaycee Clark’s.
“I think I’m better than her,” Nicole replied, but Zach elaborated on his statement.
He explained that he thinks Kaycee and Nicole have similar athletic “skill sets” on The Challenge due to their backgrounds in ball sports such as football. Zach said his wife Jenna Compono’s background was as a cheerleader, so Kaycee and Nicole would likely defeat her in most physical competitions.
Nicole agreed with her former castmate’s sentiments regarding her abilities. However, she’s yet to fully display those in All Stars 4, as she hasn’t been in an elimination event, and there haven’t been any head-to-head physical daily challenges.
Viewers saw Kaycee dominate eliminations during her career and reach multiple finals. However, it wasn’t until Season 37, aka Spies, Lies & Allies, that the former Big Brother winner added a Challenge championship to her achievements.
That said, Kaycee also had Chris “CT” Tamburello as her teammate for the win, who ranks second only to Johnny Bananas in Challenge seasons won.
Perhaps Nicole needs some luck and the right teammate in her next final to claim that elusive win.
The Challenge: All Stars 4 airs Wednesdays on Paramount+.