While he’s no longer competing, Zach Nichols continues to share commentary about The Challenge’s past and present.
His Zach Nichols Podcast features guests stopping by to share their thoughts about previous MTV appearances and more recent seasons.
Zach’s friend and former castmate, Brad Fiorenza, appeared in a recent podcast episode to discuss All Stars and the upcoming Season 40.
While there, they both seemed to agree on what they felt was “one of the most iconic seasons ever” for MTV’s The Challenge.
Brad mentioned The Duel as a “classic” season he loved participating in.
Zach also mentioned the season’s “historic” cast and storylines that appeared throughout the season.
Here’s why Zach calls The Duel ‘one of the most iconic’ seasons
The Duel was MTV’s 13th season of The Challenge and aired from October 2006 into January 2007.
During a podcast clip, Brad mentioned loving The Duel, which he called “such an intense season” and “classic” of The Challenge.
“Hell yeah, it was,” Zach agreed, adding, “And it was just historic with who was on it, too.”
He mentioned it included a “young” Wes Bergmann, Brad in his early Challenge career, and Fresh Meat star Diem Brown, who passed away in 2014 and significantly impacted castmates and fans.
Zach didn’t appear in that season of The Challenge, as he later joined MTV’s competition franchise. However, Brad reached his first final and finished as a runner-up behind the men’s winner, Wes.
Additional The Duel cast members included Challenge OGs and legends Jodi Weatherton, Tina Barta, Aneesa Ferreira, Derrick Kosinski, Johnny Bananas, and CT Tamburello. Those specific cast members are all part of MTV’s upcoming The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, with five of them featured on the Era 1 team.
In particular, CT, who became a legend of the show, was featured heavily in Diem’s journey as part of the MTV competition series and away from it.
“You had the CT and Diem love story, which now, looking back, is one of the most powerful things,” he said about The Duel.
Zach and Brad talked about their ‘inspirational’ castmate
Zach mentioned Diem appearing on Fresh Meat “when she hadn’t treated the cancer yet” and then returning for The Duel when her cancer was “in remission.”
“It’s one of the most iconic seasons ever,” he said, with Brad agreeing.
“100 percent, and with that said, Zach, I feel like I can remember almost every word she’s ever said to me one-on-one,” Brad told his former castmate.
“She is still, to this day, such an inspiration from the energy she left within all of us,” he said, adding, “You can think about almost anything she told you, and it makes you feel better about whatever you’re looking at.”
Brad said their former castmate was facing what he believes is “the hardest battle life will ever offer you,” but she was “so inspirational” with everything she did.
The Duel was only Diem’s second season, and she’d go on to appear in six more, reaching two finals. Battle of the Exes II, which aired in 2015, was her final appearance. MTV dedicated that season to Diem and castmate Ryan Knight, who both passed away in November 2014 after filming for the season.
To this day, MTV’s The Challenge, former castmates, and fans continue to pay tribute to Diem each November 14 due to the significant impact she left.
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!
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