Rookies of the Year that Only Did 1 Season of MTV’s The Challenge (so far)

Lots of people talk about Rookies of the Year and would qualify Turbo and Ninja as such last season of MTV’s The Challenge: War of the Worlds 1. And yes, they both f*cking impressed… But they also didn’t “earn their stripes” in eliminations before making the final. Maybe that’s good gameplay, but it also might lead to people over-rating them because they’re untested.

Not that it’s unheard of for a debut to make the final. Obviously it’s not easy to do so, but somebody on their first appearance has made the final on every single season except two (The Island and Exes 1). WotW1 had a bunch (Georgia, Turbo, Ninja, Theo, Mattie); Final Reckoning had Paulie; Vendettas had Kyle and Kam; XXX had Tori; etc. etc.

In the herstory of the show, there have been many standout debuts. Ninja, Turbo, and Theo count, and I’m glad they were cast again. But there are some cast members who were the total f*cking package on their breakout season, yet mysteriously never returned.

Most of them declined future calls, because they were focusing on their career or done with the show for other reasons. Others were going to be cast on future seasons, but the format didn’t allow for it or they had to back out.

But anygay, here are the only 8 competitors in the herstory of The Challenge that won 2+ eliminations on their debut season, made the final, and never returned (yet).

Top Row

• Sarah Greyson (RR Campus Crawl) — won 5 eliminations and won the season on Gauntlet 1
• Brittini Sherrod (RW Hollywood) — won 2 eliminations and got 2nd place on Duel 2
• Heather Cooke (RW Las Vegas 2) — won 2 eliminations and got 2nd place on Rivals 2
• Svetlana Shusterman (RW Key West) — won 2 eliminations and got 2nd place on Duel 1

Bottom Row

• Carley Johnson (FM2) — won 2 eliminations and won the season on Fresh Meat 2
• Marlon Williams (RW Portland) — won 2 eliminations and got 3rd place on Rivals 2
• Sam McGinn (RW San Diego 2) — won 2 eliminations and won the season on Battle of the Seasons 2
• Pete Connolly (FM2) — won 2 eliminations and got 3rd place on Fresh Meat 2

Possibility of Returning

• Svetlana allegedly walked out of the airport before she was going to take off to film Gauntlet 3. Like Marie and Kellyanne, she’s famously been called every season and keeps declining.
• Carley was cast on Seasons 2 initially but had to drop out, so Cara Maria replaced her last-minute (which is why Cara had tape on her jersey on the first episode). She also accepted her call for Cutthroat but wasn’t used.
• Sam was called to be Marie’s partner on Rivals 2, but Marie declined. She was an alternate for Invasion and accepted her availability call for Vendettas, but wasn’t used. I wish she and Zach were a team on Rivals 3.
• Cooke initially agreed to appear on Free Agents but had to drop out weeks before filming.
• The others just declined.

I’m still hoping for some random reappearances, but I think the ship has sailed on all these people — except maybe Marlon, since he was cast on Ex on the Peak (the fourth US season). PinkRose told me not to “hold my breath” for him on Challenge 35 (filming in late October), but I still have my fingers crossed.

The Honourable Mentions

I only included debuts who won 2+ eliminations on their original season, so those that only won 1 or didn’t compete in an elimination are not on this list. These people are:

• Kalle Dedloph (RR Islands), Kefla Hare (RR Down Under), & Noah Rickun (RR Nothern Trail) — won RW/RR Challenge
• Los Jackson (RR First Adventure) — won Challenge 2000
• Kameelah Phillips (RW Boston) & Rebecca Lord (RW Seattle) — won Extreme Challenge
• Danny Roberts & Kelley Limp (RW New Orleans 1) — won Seasons 1
• Holly Brentson (RR Maximum Velocity tour) & Tara McDaniel (RR Northern Trail) — made the final on Seasons 1
• Ellen Cho (RR The Quest) & Lori Trespicio (RW Back to New York) — made the final on Sexes 1
• Colin Mortenson (RW Hawaii) — won Sexes 1
• Dave Guintoli (RR South Pacific — won Gauntlet 1
• Christena Pyle (RR South Pacific) & Kendall Shepherd (RR Campus Crawl) — won 1 elim and the season on Inferno 1
• Sophia Pasquis (RR The Quest) — made the final on Sexes 2
• Jamie Chung (RW San Diego) — won Inferno 2
• Aviv Melmed (FM1) — won 1 elim and the season on Fresh Meat 1
• Noor Jehangir (FM2) — won 1 elim and made the final on Fresh Meat 2
• Michael “Mike Mike” Ross (RW Las Vegas 2) — made the final on Rivals 1
• Adam Kuhn & Brittany Baldasseri (AYTO1) — won 3 eliminations and almost a fourth on Exes 2
• Mitch Reid (Bloodlines) — won 1 elim and made the final on Bloodlines
• Brianna Julig (Bloodlines) — made the final on Bloodlines
• Mattie Lynn Breaux (Party Down South) — won 1 elim and made the final on War of the Worlds 1