Tori Deal has issued a public apology to Amber Borzotra for comments she made about Amber revealing her autism diagnosis at The Challenge: Ride or Dies reunion.
Tori, one of the winners of the Ride or Dies season, recently suggested that when some cast members heard Amber’s announcement at the reunion, they weren’t sure whether to believe her.
Amber’s reveal was one of two pieces of news she shared, the other being that she’s pregnant with her and her boyfriend Chauncey Palmer’s first child.
Tori said those were two big reveals, and the second, Amber’s autism diagnosis reveal, which arrived later in the reunion episode, was unexpected.
“I think it definitely caught some people by surprise just because certain people don’t like Amber, and I think that they were trying to figure out if it was real or not,” Tori said in part of her comments during the Official Challenge Podcast.
Her comments may have sparked outrage from fans who felt Tori was insensitive and unsupportive of her castmate.
However, she recently shared an apology video to Amber and answered a fan’s question regarding what she said, saying she worded things poorly and felt “really bad.”
Tori Deal issues a public apology to Amber Borzotra
Taking to her Instagram Story, Tori shared a video of herself as she apologized for how she worded her comments on the Official Challenge Podcast regarding Amber’s autism diagnosis reveal at the Ride or Dies reunion.
“I just want to talk to the camera and have a very straight-up moment right now because I would never, ever want anybody to feel bad, so this is in support of Amber. She came out in the last reunion and said she had autism,” Tori said.
“On The Challenge podcast, I say that some people, or there was certain disbelief, and not that it was my disbelief, but it’s no one’s place to not believe her, and I think with the way I said it on the podcast, it came out a little wrong,” Tori explained.
She clarified that if someone comes out and reveals they are “on the spectrum” or have anxiety or depression, “it’s no one’s place not to believe them.”
“I loved how proud Amber was of it, and I feel terrible that it came across in a negative way. I have no negative feelings toward Amber. I’ve been working on being a better person toward her because I do feel like she gets the s**t end of the stick from just edits and the way people talk,” she shared.
She said she wanted to clear the air on things and is “so, so sorry” if things came out the wrong way with her comments.
“My intentions were pure, and I think Amber’s an absolute bad a**,” Tori said, “I’m sorry that this all happened.”
In addition to that, Tori included an apology message tagging Amber on the video clip and also a screenshot of her answering a fan’s message regarding her comments.
“Just wanted to send a public apology to @amberborzotra because what I said was meant to be in support, but when I listened back, I worded it poorly,” Tori wrote over her first clip.
Amber hasn’t responded to Tori’s apology video as of this writing.
The Ride or Dies reunion was filmed in December 2022. The two Challenge stars are set to appear together again in an upcoming global spinoff, with its episodes filmed in October and November of last year.
Tori and Amber to appear on The Challenge: World Championship
Tori and Amber will be castmates again as part of the Legends for The Challenge: World Championship cast. The Legends are 14 MTV stars who are either finalists or winners from The Challenge and The Challenge: All Stars seasons.
Amber won Double Agents, her rookie season, where she teamed up with veteran Chris “CT” Tamburello.
Tori was a recent winner of the Ride or Dies season, teaming up with her friend and castmate Devin Walker. The duo won $1 million in prize money and generously decided to give $38,000 to each of the other six finalists after they won.
The Challenge: World Championship will also feature 16 MVPs, competitors that appeared in spinoff shows The Challenge: USA, The Challenge: Argentina, The Challenge: Australia, and The Challenge: UK.
Each Legend will team with an MVP, with the pairs competing to reach the final, win it, and become the first-ever Challenge World Champions.
The Challenge: World Championship premieres Wednesday, March 8, on Paramount Plus.