With a surge in COVID-19 cases across the United States, several former finalists from MTV’s The Challenge reported they were recovering from an illness during the holiday season.
Mattie Lynn Breaux and Natalie Negrotti informed friends, family, and fans that they were dealing with illnesses, while Maria Roda also commented that she may have recently been sick.
At least one of the finalists contracted COVID-19 and indicated she’d been doing all she could to prevent it but still ended up contracting the disease.
Natalie shares about her ‘Merry little COVID Christmas disaster’
Former Big Brother Houseguest Natalie Negrotti was a finalist during The Challenge: Final Reckoning season, alongside teammate Paulie Calafiore.
In a video post, she shared an image of herself sitting in front of a decorated Christmas tree, all smiles, with the text “How I thought Christmas was going to be” over it.
In the next slide in her video, she’s holding a positive COVID-19 test in front of her face with “How it’s going…” written on the slide.
“My Merry little Covid Christmas disaster ??,” Natalie wrote in the caption. “If you’re spending the holidays alone sending u all my love we’re in this together! ? Stay safe and drink ur green juice bebes. I’ve been got.”
She goes on to explain that she’d been taking all the necessary precautions, including getting vaccination shots and wearing masks, but unfortunately, she still contracted COVID-19.
“I’m vaxxed, I always wear a mask, and I only went to gatherings where people are required covid tests before entering but here we are,” Natalie wrote.
Natalie’s Instagram reveal brought several of her Challenge castmates to comment and wish her a speedy recovery. Another of the finalists from Final Reckoning, Maria Roda, commented that she also had COVID-19.
“Natalie!!!!! I have covid too!!! Lets party hahha,” Maria commented, although she hadn’t mentioned having COVID-19 elsewhere.
“Hope u feel better. I may be in the minority but the only real diff I’ve seen between my vxd n masks friends and those who aren’t vxd n maskd….. is those who aren’t tend to get better fast and have less severe symptoms. Just my experience! Must be the Montana air,” their fellow finalist Cara Maria Sorbello commented.
Mattie Lynn Breaux tweets about ‘Quarantine Diaries’
On the day after Christmas, former Challenge finalist Mattie Lynn Breaux shared a photo of herself in a festive holiday outfit to wish others a happy holiday.
During the War of the Worlds season, Mattie reached the final, finishing as a runner-up behind other contestants, including Hunter Barfield, “Ninja Natalie” Duran, Theo Campbell, and Cara Maria Sorbello.
Soon after she tweeted that image above, Mattie tweeted about being sick in her own bed on the day after Christmas.
In another tweet, she revealed that her fever had finally broken but also said she had lost her sense of taste during her illness.
She went on to tweet about her “Quarantine Diaries,” saying she’d been in training for this due to staying at home a lot lately.
Mattie mentioned she’d been pretty healthy for two years without getting sick until the end of 2021 arrived and knocked her out like this.
While Natalie Negrotti tested positive for COVID-19, it appears that Mattie didn’t contract the disease, as a commenter suggested she needed to get tested as soon as possible.
“I did it was negative,” Mattie Lynn replied in the tweet, so she may be dealing with the flu or another nasty cold during the holiday season.
Mattie Lynn Breaux is a former cast member of Party Down South who appeared on two seasons of MTV’s The Challenge. After reaching the War of the Worlds final, she returned two seasons later for Total Madness. During that season, she got eliminated by castmate Dee Nguyen in Episode 11.
Cases of COVID-19 have been surging in recent weeks. Based on a CNN report, the United States hit a seven-day average of 254,496 new cases on Tuesday, December 28. The recent surge combined with adverse weather has also affected travel, forcing airlines to cancel hundreds of flights.
Earlier this year, it caused an early-season production delay for The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies, with several cast members testing positive for COVID-19. At least one cast member departed the show early on, and the rest of the cast and crew were quarantined until it was deemed safe to resume production of Season 37.
The Challenge is on hiatus on MTV and is expected to return in 2022.
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