The Challenge rumors: Paulie Calafiore clears up his Total Madness absence, claims ‘cover up’ took place

Former Big Brother star Paulie Calafiore is trying to put The Challenge rumors to rest about why he wasn’t part of Total Madness.

Some have speculated that it was due to not being mentally fit to compete, but Paulie says that’s not the case.

With a fan recently commenting on Twitter with speculation why Paulie wasn’t on the Season 35 show, the War of the Worlds competitor fired back to clear things up.

Paulie Calafiore responds to Total Madness comment

A lot of Challenge fans were surprised when they didn’t see Paulie Calafiore and Cara Maria Sorbello on Total Madness. That’s because the pair, who many love to hate, was basically masterminding the game on War of the Worlds 2 until the end. So expecting them to return to try to win it made sense.

However, the War of the Worlds 2 season also saw Paulie and Cara toss Johnny Bananas into elimination after promising not to. Also, Paulie got into a near-physical confrontation with his Big Brother pal Josh Martinez.

Still, Paulie and Cara showed they are great competitors and game players. That is why it was surprising they weren’t back on Season 35.

One fan on Twitter on October 21 claimed the reason Paulie Calafiore wasn’t on Total Madness was that “He can’t pass a psych test.”

Paulie saw the comment since he was tagged and replied that he would “address this for the final time.”

He went on to call it a “FALSE narrative created by a group of cowards (and one producer) to cover up some bs that went down the night before the reunion.”

He also lets the fans who believe he failed a psych test know that if that information was true and somehow got out to the public, it’s a violation of HIPAA. That law protects individuals’ medical records.

Interestingly, a recent exchange of tweet comments involving Challenge competitors Ashley Mitchell and Paulie’s former partner Natalie Negrotti, talked about how some cast treat the crew working on the show. Natalie also mentioned production helps protect some competitors’ images with how editing is done for The Challenge.

There’s still going to be speculation, as some fans believe the bunker living situation would’ve been too volatile with both Paulie and Josh there. That said, other fans believe it’s unfair that Paulie wasn’t invited back.

Will Paulie and Cara return for The Challenge?

While there are plenty of fans who dislike Paulie and Cara, others are looking to see them return. As mentioned, they are strong competitors on The Challenge. Cara’s a longtime veteran, while Paulie quickly established himself on Final Reckoning and two War of the Worlds seasons.

Currently, the duo is involved in other pursuits, including filming for TV and movie roles. Paulie is also training for the Beijing Winter Olympics, as he could get a spot on a team there.

Meanwhile, both Paulie and Cara are probably rooting for Cody Calafiore, as he is amongst finalists and frontrunners on Big Brother 22.

Still, one would hope to see Cara Maria and Paulie Calafiore return on a future season of The Challenge due to their athletic ability and smart gameplay.

However, if you ask longtime veteran competitor Johnny Bananas, he’d let you know why Big Brother players aren’t great at The Challenge.

The Challenge is currently on hiatus 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.