Cara Maria Sorbello made her highly-anticipated return for a season of The Challenge with the recent premiere of All Stars 4.
While she previously appeared on The Challenge: Battle For a New Champion on MTV, Cara hadn’t done a full season since War of the Worlds 2 in 2019.
That season, she participated in a major alliance that her boyfriend Paulie Calafiore set up with other players from Team UK.
It led to plenty of chaos and potential grudges from other cast members, and the duo wasn’t seen back on The Challenge until this year’s USA 2 and All Stars 4 spin-offs.
Paulie was the first to return on USA 2 and buried the hatchet with their rival Johnny Bananas. Cara showed up for MTV’s Season 39 as a mercenary – filmed after she’d completed filming for All Stars 4.
With All Stars 4 now airing, Cara’s former castmate Zach Nichols gave his thoughts about her return for a full season.
Zach reacts to Cara’s All Stars 4 return: ‘The stats don’t lie’
A clip from a recent episode of the Zach Nichols Podcast appeared on Instagram, where they reacted to the premiere episode of The Challenge: All Stars 4.
“Can we just say how great it is to have Cara back?” Zach asked his co-host.
“Hate her, love her, indifferent, the stats don’t lie. She’s one of the greatest to ever do it, if not the greatest. It’s just awesome to see her back,” he added about his former castmate.
Zach appeared on several seasons with Cara, including her previous MTV appearance. He was a remaining Team USA finalist with her and Paulie on War of the Worlds 2. Their team also featured Leroy Garrett, Kam Williams, Ashley Mitchell, and “Ninja” Natalie Duran.
Unfortunately, the opposing Team UK finalists featured several multi-time winners in Chris “CT” Tamburello and Jordan Wiseley, alongside fierce competitor Tori Deal and promising newcomers Rogan O’Connor and Dee Nguyen.
Team UK won that final despite a strong effort from Zach, Cara, and others on Team USA. However, many fans criticized Cara’s boyfriend for gassing out during the final, which may have cost the team a chance at winning.
Zach believes All Stars 4 will bring out ‘Cara the legend’
Zach discussed how Cara came into The Challenge: All Stars 4 without a true ride-or-die castmate or many allies. He pointed out that Kam and Leroy are probably her top allies because they worked together on War of the Worlds 2.
In addition, she’s facing some tough opponents in friend-turned-rival Laurel Stucky and former winner Rachel Robinson, who has allies Tina Barta and Veronica Portillo with her.
“She doesn’t have someone who is gonna 100 percent have her back. Her back is against the wall, which is where Cara is the most comfortable and where I think she thrives,” Zach said during the podcast clip.
“I think when she has control, I think that’s when she gets kind of complacent. But I like when she has everyone against her because that’s when we get to see what made Cara the legend,” he added.
Zach also mentioned that seeing Cara converse with Tina, Rachel, and Veronica on All Stars 4’s premiere episode was different because it was not her “normal crew.”
“That means she’s like really not in a great place politically. She’s nobody’s number one, and this is what I’m saying. When Cara doesn’t have an alliance, that’s when she kills it, and that’s when she’s become the legend,” Zach added.
Zach said he thinks everyone has “big things to see” from Cara, who also has “something to prove” after being off the show as long as she has.
Cara, a two-time champion, was the first solo competitor to win a season with Vendettas. That makes the All Stars 4 format ideal for her as host TJ Lavin announced there will be just one grand prize winner in the final.
The Challenge: All Stars 4 airs Wednesdays on Paramount+.
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