The Challenge: Ride or Dies season features a cast of newcomers to the MTV show, along with many fan favorites returning for the competition.
Among those returning OGs are former champions Johnny Bananas, Jordan Wiseley, Darrell Taylor, and Veronica Portillo.
These players have plenty of championship experience and the skills to get into their opponents’ heads during the game.
Based on recent comments in a podcast, Veronica used a strategy where she told at least one castmate that several feared OGs would join the show.
The two individuals she named would’ve been a formidable duo for other vets to contend with, which likely made it the reason Veronica created the rumor to attempt to shake things up.
This report will contain spoilers through The Challenge: Ride or Dies Episode 4.
Veronica tried to start rumor about Ride or Dies cast
Through the first four episodes of Ride or Dies, viewers saw host TJ Lavin introduce surprise teams, including Nany and Bananas, and later, Aneesa Ferreira with Jordan.
On MTV’s Official Challenge Podcast, Aneesa spoke about ongoing speculation that other veteran stars were joining the Ride or Dies cast.
During the podcast episode, Aneesa’s co-host Da’Vonne Rogers said she “for sure thought CT [Tamburello] was gonna come in from the back.”
Aneesa shared a secret that at one point, castmate Veronica told her that two of the show’s all-time greats were going to join the show: Chris “CT” Tamburello and Cara Maria Sorbello.
Viewers saw OGs Darrell and Veronica join the rest of the cast as a surprise to start Ride or Dies Episode 4. Aneesa said when Veronica arrived, she tried to tell her that Cara and CT were also on the way to join the show.
Aneesa said that would’ve really shaken up the cast, mentioning Laurel Stucky, who has issues with Cara from previous seasons and their former friendship.
“There were so many people like if Sarah [Rice] came, if Cara came, it would’ve ruffled a lot of feathers, and people were like, ‘I will walk off this stage if this person shows up,'” and I’m like, ‘Well what are they gonna do if we all quit?'” Aneesa shared during the podcast episode.
Aneesa said that later on, Veronica confessed to her that she was “just kidding” but suggested that they could start the rumor around the house. However, Aneesa said they could only keep it going for about 24 hours because some cast members really got “up in arms” over it.
The Challenge OG hasn’t been back since WOTW 2
CT has won five Challenge championships, which is second only to Bananas. Cara has won two and was the first woman to win a solo Challenge that either men or women could claim.
Viewers have seen CT win the previous two installments of MTV’s The Challenge, Double Agents and Spies, Lies & Allies, alongside teammates Amber Borzotra and Kaycee Clark.
While CT has been featured in recent seasons, fans haven’t seen Cara since War of the Worlds 2. Cara appeared in the season alongside her boyfriend, Paulie Calafiore, and they reached the final as part of Team USA with castmates including Ashley Mitchell, Zach Nichols, and Kam Williams. They ultimately lost to Team UK.
CT and Cara were shown in The Challenge Untold History documentary series, which aired ahead of the Ride or Dies season. They were featured in their own highlight segments during an episode about the show’s GOATs.
However, while CT was one of the cast members speaking throughout the documentary series episodes, Cara Maria wasn’t there. Her boyfriend Paulie was amongst the cast members giving interview comments, though.
After a Challenge superfan shared an audio clip of Aneesa talking about Veronica’s rumor and suggesting cast members might walk off, Cara gave a funny reply.
“If they all walked off maybe more people would be interested in the cast,” she commented, along with a crying laughing emoji.
There’s no denying that Cara and CT as a team would’ve put fear into the hearts and minds of other opponents if they’d shown up for The Challenge: Ride or Dies. Luckily for the cast, that doesn’t seem to be the case yet.
The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.