Paulie Calafiore explained why his castmate from The Challenge: Battle of the Eras has a “delusional” mindset despite being considered one of the show’s best competitors.
The former Big Brother star-turned-Challenge star appeared on Zach Nichols Podcast following his brief time in the Season 40 episodes.
During their discussion, the topic of castmate Laurel Stucky popped up, with Zach admitting she’s one of his friends.
Zach also mentioned how Paulie previously praised Laurel during The Challenge: Untold History docuseries.
Despite that, Paulie’s girlfriend, Cara Maria Sorbello, and Laurel have a fierce feud that has continued throughout their time on MTV’s franchise and its spin-off.
Viewers saw Laurel scream at Cara in their appearance on All Stars 4 together, and based on a preview for Battle of the Eras, Episode 4, there’s another eruption from Laurel toward Cara on the way.
Paulie spoke about Laurel being one of the top competitors but suffering from “delusion at its finest” regarding her approach to the game.
Paulie called out Laurel’s ‘delusion’ on The Challenge
On Zach Nichols Podcast, Paulie sat down with Zach and co-host Pierre Caball to discuss The Challenge Season 40. Naturally, the topic of Laurel came up since she has a history with Paulie and Cara on the War of the Worlds 2 season.
Paulie said that Laurel still seems to be in a “why would people come for me” phase, which is “delusion at its finest” and leads to some of her behavior and tirades during The Challenge.
“If you’re good, if you’re the best, then don’t be shocked when people come at you,” Paulie said, adding Laurel “should take it as a badge of honor.”
He mentioned that he told Cara to adopt a similar mindset on The Challenge when people go after her. During All Stars 4, Paulie said that it was apparent that Cara finally saw people targeting her as “a badge of honor,” showing she is one of The Challenge’s best.
“But if you’re good and rub people the wrong way, they’re definitely gonna come for you,” he said regarding Laurel and her castmates.
In the Instagram podcast clip, Zach praised Laurel as one of the show’s top competitors. He said she “doesn’t stop” when it comes to the various challenges they face and “dominates” the “weird games [or] puzzles” involving coordination.
Laurel, initially a cast member on MTV’s Fresh Meat 2, won the Free Agents season of The Challenge in 2014. More recently, she added an All Stars 4 solo win to her achievements in the competition franchise.
Paulie blasted Laurel’s behavior toward Darrell in Season 40
In addition to Zach’s podcast, Paulie has appeared on YouTube in Reality After Show episodes to review episodes of The Challenge Season 40.
During Episode 4’s discussion (below), they mentioned Laurel’s behavior toward castmate Darrell Taylor. Darrell previously chose her as one of his four women’s “targets,” a position of power he received after he’d won in an elimination.
After Laurel defeated Jordan in a tiebreaker for Era 2 to win Episode 4’s trivia daily challenge, she cursed at Darrell and instigated trash-talking over how she’d avoided going into elimination.
That included her calling him out for getting a massage from castmate Emily Schromm despite being married. However, footage showed Darrell and Emily fully clothed as she gave him the massage, and it was due to her trying to help Darrell with a back injury.
“I understand banter and trading blows with the best of them, but to trade blows in a lying manner- this guy’s got a wife and kids at home,” Paulie said regarding Laurel’s remarks.
“Be pissed at Darrell throwing you in, but don’t take those low blows,” he said, adding, “It comes across bad.”
He suggested it would’ve been a better look for Laurel to apologize for the “low blow” she made toward Darrell, but instead, she keeps “doubling down” on everything she says on the show on social media.
He also mentioned that strategy-wise, he felt Laurel should’ve entered Season 40 differently after she won All Stars 4.
“I think she would’ve been better this season coming off a win sitting back coasting and just being friendly with everybody, but she just doesn’t have it in herself to do that,” he said.
It appears that remains true for Season 40. Based on the teaser for Episode 5, viewers will see Laurel explode at Cara in one of the season’s heated altercations, which could bring significant consequences for her game.
The Challenge: Battle of the Eras 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.