Laurel Stucky recently achieved her second win in a season of The Challenge by claiming the victory for All Stars 4.
She bested finalists, including Cara Maria Sorbello, Steve Meinke, Nicole Zanatta, and Leroy Garrett, to survive checkpoints and reach the finish line first.
Although her season didn’t include any elimination appearances, she won several daily challenges. She also used a unique strategy for gaining trust and favor with various castmates, which helped her during the final.
Fans called out Laurel’s win because she received an advantage during the final, based on eliminated finalists handing over their Stars before exiting the final.
While many fans were upset, one of Laurel’s former castmates recently suggested she’s the “female Challenge GOAT” due to her All Stars 4 win.
Another castmate defended her win despite agreeing with the fans to an extent about the advantage she received.
Laurel’s castmate calls her the ‘female Challenge GOAT’ after winning All Stars 4
During a Challenge Mania Podcast clip, multi-time Challenge winner Derrick Kosinski reacted to Laurel’s All Stars 4 win and suggested she could be the greatest of all time for female competitors.
“It’s hard to say that she’s not the GOAT. It’s really hard to say she’s not the current female Challenge GOAT,” Derrick said.
“Great performance by her. Beats the dudes. This will go down in history as the female championship,” he said.
Challenge Mania podcast host Scott Yager agreed with those who consider Laurel among the “best of all time” and referred to Laurel as “one of the most physically intimidating” in the show’s history.
Scott also suggested it was more of a social game victory for Laurel than previous seasons, adding, “It was all about the Stars.”
The Stars went to the first six competitors, three men and three women, who finished the opening daily challenge. After that, competitors needed to earn a Star by winning an elimination.
Additionally, a cast member who already had their Star but won an elimination could steal a Star from one castmate to give to another.
Laurel won an All Stars 4 final featuring a Stars advantage
Laurel didn’t earn a Star at the beginning of the season or go into any eliminations to win a Star throughout the episodes. She contemplated taking castmate Kam Williams’ place in an elimination against Cara Maria but then decided against it after seeing the event.
In the penultimate episode, host TJ Lavin informed the Challengers with Stars that they were in the final. He told the remaining cast members there were two Stars left to win in the last daily challenge.
Laurel and castmate Derek Chavez won them, while the others without Stars were ineligible to run the final and done for the season.
The Stars allowed competitors to bypass checkpoints during the last part of the final.
However, there were eliminations before that, and the eliminated finalists had to give their Star to a castmate. Laurel received three stars from eliminated castmates, while Cara had just the one she’d previously won in an elimination.
During the season, viewers saw Laurel rekindling her relationship with her ex-girlfriend, Nicole Zanatta, as they reunited on All Stars 4. In addition, she conversed with Cara Maria during the season for emotional support about her showmance while plotting against her.
Following the season, Cara Maria indicated she wanted nothing to do with Laurel after seeing things she said or did in the episode footage that she hadn’t known about during filming.
Zach Nichols also defended Laurel’s All Stars 4 win
During a recent episode of the Zach Nichols Podcast, Laurel’s castmate Zach Nichols supported her latest win.
“I don’t take wins away from people. That win was earned. Listen, whether it’s won because you’re just a dominant monster or whether you win because you’re an absolute political genius like me, that’s a win,” Zach said.
“Laurel did what she had to do to win. I don’t take it away from her,” he said in an Instagram clip from his podcast.
Zach also said he understood the fans’ viewpoints about the Stars advantage Laurel received from her castmates during the final.
He indicated that if she hadn’t received so many Stars, “someone could’ve passed her” in the final.
“That being said, she got those Stars, and she got them for a reason. So maybe she did just enough to convince them to do that,” Zach said, adding, “That’s her win. Congratulations. Big win.”
The debate over the greatest female Challenger will likely continue, as Laurel and Cara Maria will compete again in MTV’s upcoming The Challenge: Battle of the Eras.
The Challenge: All Stars 4 episodes are available on Paramount+. The Challenge: Battle of the Eras premieres Wednesday, August 14 at 8/7c on MTV.
Episodes of The Challenge are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!
The link above is an affiliate link. This means that for any qualifying purchase you make, we may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
She was handed her star to compete in the final and THEN it took FOUR advantages for her to win. Give me a break. Had she actually worked for the title I would absolutely give it to her. This just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.