Following her abrupt departure early in The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies season, rookie Lauren Coogan has commented about her situation and is reacting to some of her fans’ and castmates’ comments online.
While she hasn’t revealed the entire story about why she had to leave The Challenge, she mentioned during previous social media comments that she “got gaslit and scapegoated” on the show. So far, only online rumors have been circulating about why she was “deactivated” from Season 37.
After her Twitter comments appeared in several online articles, including Monsters & Critics, Lauren shared text messages that presumably came from one of her castmates. Those messages seem to offer an apology after comments made by her castmate during his interview.
The Challenge rookie Lauren Coogan comments on her situation
In the first episode of Spies, Lies & Allies, viewers learned that Nam Vo had to leave The Challenge. In the second episode, former Love Island USA star Lauren Coogan was deactivated after being seen only briefly as Josh Martinez’s partner in the first episode.
Neither host TJ Lavin, nor MTV, gave reasons for either departure. Unlike Nam, Lauren never had any introduction, confessionals, or talking scenes during the show.
After the premiere episode arrived, returning star Josh Martinez did an interview where he was asked about his rookie partner. In that interview, he mentioned Lauren was often intoxicated and seemed to be there to have fun. Josh indicated he was more focused on the game and getting to the final, and Lauren was focused on partying, so they “didn’t align” as partners.
Lauren replied to those remarks soon after the interview details started to circulate on social media. However, she recently shared a screenshot of a US Magazine article about her tweets where she said she was “gaslit and scapegoated.”
“Hm…I have apologies & receipts from PA’s, runners, cast, production, security, psych team, and MTV legal…,” Lauren wrote over the IG Story slide.
“But left to defend myself against the court of public opinion,” she also wrote.
However, along with those captions and the US Magazine screenshot, she also has a screenshot of a text message conversation, which is believed to be with her castmate Josh Martinez.
Castmate tells Lauren ‘sorry’ and ‘I have nothing against you’
As revealed by the text messages above, the individual tells Lauren, “We had a good relationship and I never had any bad blood against you,” adding, “I honestly was out on the spot.”
That seems to line up with Josh’s interview remarks where he said Lauren was there mainly to party and have a good time.
“I wish you all the best Lauren I have nothing against you,” the individual added in the next message.
Lauren tells the person that it’s OK, but she was hurt by it due to defending him after “people talked s**t” about him. She adds that she told others “he’s super loyal” and “such a good person” and “gets a bad edit.”
The individual went on to say, “It was my wrong and Im at fault for that” with regards to handling a specific question, also adding “I’m sorry” and saying that’s why they reached out.
Based on Lauren’s above message and caption, she has a lot more “receipts” regarding her being kicked off The Challenge and edited out of the first two episodes. Time will tell if more of the details about what happened come to light.
Lauren has been active on her Twitter and Instagram accounts with messages about her reality TV experiences, including talking about how it took a toll on her mental health.
During her recent IG Story Q&A, she indicated she could return for another season of MTV’s show if she decides to. The former Love Island star also said she might have other reality TV projects in the future.
The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies airs Wednesdays 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.