Zach Nichols received backlash from fans and critics for remarks about the cosmetic surgery one of The Challenge Season 39 cast members had done.
Zach, a former Battle of the Seasons winner, regularly shares his opinions on a podcast he launched with his co-host Pierre several months ago.
With Battle For a New Champion airing on MTV, the duo reacts and gives their thoughts about the recent MTV episodes and the cast members.
They discussed one of the show’s daily challenges where Moriah Jadea decided not to help her team compete as she didn’t want to suffer an appearance-altering injury.
With the event taking place on two pyramids set on platforms over water, Moriah stood on the initial starting platform as several teammates swung to the other one to work on arranging puzzle pieces.
Moriah then referred to her nose job in a confessional interview as part of the reason she was staying put and not helping.
On their podcast, Zach and his co-host mentioned Moriah’s nose job remarks as they discussed her commentary and lack of attempting the event.
The Challenge competitor avoided a daily event due to fear over nose job issues
During The Challenge Season 39, Episode 7, the daily challenge was Working the Angles. The cast had to swing from one pyramid over water to another to arrange colored triangular pieces on the sides of the pyramid.
The correct order was based on the pyramid on their original platform, so a cast member would stay there to yell answers to their teammates on the other platform. The team that finished correctly the fastest would win the event.
The cast split into small teams, mainly consisting of three team members each. However, there was an extra cast member, so host TJ Lavin said one group would have four players.
That team featured Nurys Mateo, Asaf Goren, Ed Eason, and Moriah, which others may have considered an advantage since they’d have more assistance with parts of the event.
While Asaf and Ed swung from one platform to the next to start arranging puzzle pieces, Moriah and Nurys stayed behind. Nurys yelled the order of the color-coded puzzle pieces to her male teammates. Moriah stood on the platform “like a statue,” as her teammate Asaf said.
Moriah said, “I’m so f***ing scared,” while standing on the platform as her castmates worked on the task.
In a confessional interview, she brought up her showmance, James Lock, and how he suffered a brutal injury on The Challenge: UK, which left his face with nasty bruises.
“I remember James, watching his season and how he looked [after] falling in the water, and that’s how I looked after my nose job,” Moriah said in a confessional.
“My nose job isn’t even a year old. I could break it or something. You guys really want me to f**k up my $13,000 nose job?” she asked someone off-camera during her confessional.
Zach and co-host call out Moriah’s nose job on podcast
During The Zach Nichols Podcast, Zach’s co-host asked what he thought about Moriah not even attempting the daily challenge and suggested, “She’s gotta be the next one to go.”
“Dude, I can’t say it,” Zach said before adding, “Just the knee-jerk reaction there when someone says what she said, it’s like, ‘Dude, get your money back.'”
“It may be true. It may not be true, but just the a***ole in me wanted to say, ‘Go get your money back,'” Zach added as they laughed over the joke.
His co-host started to sing part of Kanye West’s hit song Slow Jams featuring Jamie Foxx and Twista.
“I got a light skin friend look like Michael Jackson. Got a dark skin friend look like Michael Jackson,” he sang.
“Oh, that’s aggressive,” Zach said, adding that whenever someone “price drops like that,” he wants to tell them to get their money back as a joke.
Zach also mentioned that Moriah’s team didn’t win despite having an “extra set of hands.” He said he didn’t mind her saying she wouldn’t attempt it; it was more about the fact she price-dropped in her confessional.
His co-host added that Moriah’s on “The Challenge” and not playing “patty cake.”
Fans and critics blast Zach Nichols and co-host’s podcast take
While some fans agreed with Zach and his co-host’s comments, others disagreed and fired back at them.
“Someone in this video should put a little more effort and thought into how they look,” a commenter wrote.
“This is so mean spirited no matter how you try to justify it,” another commented.
Another individual called them “disgusting” for “dissin her by her appearance.”
“imo she is actually the prettiest female to ever be on the challenge so i dunno why tf y’all hating n dissin so hard… she doesn’t deserve this at all,” they wrote.
Zach previously made remarks about Moriah and her showmance with James amid talk of an off-show situation with Johnny Bananas. A video clip revealed what he said on Instagram, including Zach commenting, “Fessy was right.”
Following his comments, Moriah took to the comment section of the podcast clip and called out Zach and Bananas’ friends for trying to create a narrative about her.
Zach competed in multiple seasons of MTV’s show along with Bananas, and they may still be good friends from the cast. Based on the above, Moriah seems unlikely to be a guest on The Zach Nichols Podcast anytime soon.
The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.