The Challenge has featured plenty of hookups over its 36 seasons, and several castmates have even developed relationships from meeting each other on the show. That has included Jordan Wiseley and Tori Deal, as well as Brad Fiorenza and Tori Hall. Unfortunately, those particular relationships didn’t work out.
There’s also been Zach Nichols and Jenna Compono, who first met during a season of MTV’s competition series, and had their relationship a featured part of several seasons of the show.
While the two are now married and expecting a first child together, things weren’t always going well between them. Zach recently shared with fans how having a relationship on the show “probably hurt more than it did any good” for him and Jenna.
Zach shares about having a relationship on The Challenge
This past weekend, former Challenge winner Zach Nichols told fans to send him questions about anything they wanted to ask. Naturally, questions about MTV’s show came in, and questions about him and his wife Jenna.
One fan asked Zach, “Do you think the challenge hurt your relationship with Jenna more?”
Zach said it probably “hurt more” than it helped them, but his answer may tell a different story.
“It probably hurt more than it did any good. Having your relationship filmed on TV is stressful. Notice why a lot of reality stars don’t really talk about their significant others in the house, let alone film with them,” he said as part of his answer.
“I can honestly say we’ve been at our lowest and highest on these shows, and harsh feelings that are shown are so maximized/temporary and usually in the moment,” he shared about having the relationship in the spotlight.
However, Zach also brought up despite all the stress and “maximized” feelings shown on a reality TV show, that he and Jenna have survived through all of that and stayed strong together.
“We’ve made it through almost 8 years filming together and the backlash that came with it, we’ll make it through anything,” he shared to close out his answer.
Zach had relationships with several Challenge castmates
Zach originally debuted on The Real World: San Diego season where he met castmate Ashley Kelsey and had a relationship with her. However, things went sour for them ahead of their debut on Battle of the Seasons in 2012. They still managed to succeed and capture a championship alongside castmates Frank Sweeney and Sam McGinn.
During that season, he met Jonna Mannion and developed a relationship with her, including relocating to Los Angeles to be with her. However, that relationship also went sour as Zach felt they weren’t a good fit for one another. That made them unhappy teammates on the Battle of the Exes II season in 2015.
While they weren’t getting along well, that season also included Jenna Compono making her Challenge debut with Real World: X-Plosion castmate Jay Mitchell. That led to Zach and Jenna eventually dating in an on-and-off relationship.
Their relationship woes were featured during Season 35, Total Madness, as Jenna was a competitor and was often shown speaking to Zach via video calls. During the episodes, he confronted her over some text or private social media messages she’d been part of that recently came to his attention.
That led to Jenna struggling in terms of having her head in the game. While she defeated Tori Deal in one elimination to stick around, Jenna was later defeated by Aneesa Ferreira in Episode 9, ending her time on the show.
Once Jenna returned home, the two were able to sort things out. That eventually led to Zach proposing to Jenna, and the couple got married in a mini wedding ceremony earlier this year. While castmate Jordan Wiseley revealed in a video there were talks of a series focused on Challenge weddings, including his and Tori’s along with Zach and Jenna’s, there’s no confirmation of that now.
Zach and Jenna are also expecting their first child and based on Jenna’s pregnancy updates, their baby boy is due in August. So it goes to show that they’ve managed to endure being in the spotlight of The Challenge to become happily married. However, they seem to be enjoying their relationship a lot more now that it’s not on reality TV.
The Challenge Season 37 premiere date is TBA for 2021 on MTV.