The Challenge: Ride or Dies features a cast of savvy veterans and newbie competitors, who all arrived to the show paired with someone they share a bond with.
Among them were lovers like Amber Borzotra and boyfriend Chauncey Palmer or husband and wife Sam Bird and Kailah Casillas.
The show also features several teams consisting of good friends, like Devin Walker and Tori Deal or Johnny Bananas and Nany Gonzalez.
One team that was nearly part of the group would have featured Big Brother winner Josh Martinez and BB alum Da’Vonne Rogers, who are good friends and have appeared in several seasons of MTV’s show.
However, the duo ended up not appearing on Ride or Dies, despite the fact that Josh had packed his bags and was ready to appear in his sixth season.
Da’Vonne recently talked about how she was also ready to return to The Challenge but could not join the cast.
Da’Vonne Rogers wasn’t medically cleared for Ride or Dies
While Da’Vonne hasn’t appeared on MTV’s The Challenge since War of the Worlds, she’s become part of the show as far as covering it for the Official Challenge Podcast. She and fellow Challenge alum Devyn Simone fill in as hosts when Aneesa Ferreira and Tori Deal aren’t able to.
They’ve been covering recent episodes of Ride or Dies and getting all the tea from cast members. A recent podcast episode focused on Ride or Dies Episode 14 and had Josh Martinez as their guest, who isn’t on the season.
However, when asked by Devyn, Josh and Da’Vonne confirmed they nearly were a Ride or Dies team, but things fell through. Da’Vonne cleared up a misconception that she backed out on appearing on the season with Josh.
“I didn’t back out of the season. I was not medically cleared. Now those of you who know, I have been battling with thyroid [issues] since I had my daughter, and this particular time it was really, really bad,” Da’Vonne revealed.
“I didn’t get medically cleared to be on the show from my main doctor. Not MTV’s doctor, my doctor,” she indicated, adding, “But I did not back out. I was more than ready to go!”
“And yes, we were 100 percent confirmed to be Ride or Dies this season,” Da’Vonne said.
Josh said he didn’t know that Da’Vonne wasn’t cleared until a few days before he had to head to Argentina, saying he was packed and ready to go. When she couldn’t do the show, production was going to have Josh’s sister appear as his partner, but he eventually said he didn’t want her to.
Josh revealed that he’d been on-site as an alternate for Ride or Dies, getting to meet rookie team Horacio Gutierrez and Olivia Kaiser, who were also alternates staying in the hotel with him.
Da’Vonne shares if she’ll return for The Challenge
During the podcast, Da’Vonne’s co-host Devyn said she’d told her a few years ago that she was never going back on The Challenge. However, that clearly changed as she was willing to appear in Ride or Dies.
That led to Devyn asking Da’Vonne if there is a chance fans will see her back on the show within the next couple of seasons. After a bit of pressing, Da’Vonne shared she would likely be back.
“I gave Big Brother three, so it’s only fair that I give The Challenge three,” Da’Vonne replied.
Her two seasons of The Challenge included her debut season, Final Reckoning, followed by War of the Worlds. She nearly made it to the final in her sophomore season, missing out due to her placement in a purge situation during a daily challenge.
More recently, she appeared as one of the initial cast members on MTV for Ex on the Beach Season 5, featuring her ex, Jamar Lee, from Big Brother Canada 8.
Before that, Da’Vonne returned for her third season of Big Brother 22, Big Brother: All-Stars. She didn’t win the season but was awarded America’s Favorite Houseguest, becoming the first African-American player on the show to win it.
The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.
Episodes of The Challenge are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!
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