The Challenge star Tori Deal has become a regular on MTV’s competition series, appearing in seven seasons and reaching three finals.
However, she wasn’t always in a solid alliance that helped her get to the end, and there have been a few feuds involving Tori and other castmates.
She recently brought up how one of her former castmates on the show gave her a hard time during her rookie season due to her reality TV history.
Tori’s comments arrived as she spoke more about MTV’s documentary series, The Challenge: Untold History, and her involvement in the longtime competition series.
The three-part series recently premiered on MTV, with Tori among the many cast members who provided interview comments.
However, one individual was noticeably missing, two-time champion Cara Maria Sorbello, who has also been missing from recent seasons of MTV’s show.
Tori talks about joining The Challenge and being ‘intimidated’
It’s not often that Tori talks about Cara, as the two haven’t necessarily been besties during recent seasons of MTV’s show. However, her name came up in recent podcast comments after some probing by Tori’s co-hosts.
During a recent episode of MTV’s Official Challenge Podcast with Da’Vonne Rogers, Devyn Simone, and Aneesa Ferreira, Tori spoke about her rookie days on the show.
Aneesa asked Tori and Da’Vonne about their expectations coming into the show as rookies. Da’Vonne said she loved her Challenge experience, including the parties, since Big Brother didn’t have that. The BB star then asked Tori about her experience on the show.
Tori brought up how her previous show, Are You The One? turned up the partying to the max. She shared that her original show was a “s**t show” and felt “so intimidated” going onto The Challenge. Tori said one veteran star, in particular, had something to say about her background in reality TV.
“And Da’Vonne, you can say the same thing. I came from Are You The One? You came from Big Brother. So when Are You The One? integrated into the show, I remember one of the vets- I’m not gonna say names because I’m not trying to create more drama, but she singled me out. She was like, ‘Ew, you’re from Are You The One?’ rookie,” Tori said.
Tori’s Challenge co-hosts and castmates on the podcast began asking her to give an initial and eventually got the letter “C,” leading to Tori finally admitting it was, in fact, Cara.
Da’Vonne also brought up how it was difficult for her to go from a CBS reality TV show to The Challenge on MTV due to how the castmates viewed the CBS stars as from another network.
Cara Maria involved in WOTW 2 drama
Tori’s rookie season of The Challenge was Dirty 30 in 2017, where she and Cara both reached the final. Tori finished third, while Cara was a runner-up to the winner on the women’s side, Camila Nakagawa.
Tori’s second season was Final Reckoning, and the two women were castmates again. This time, Tori partnered with Derrick Henry from Are You The One? and they found themselves eliminated early. Meanwhile, Cara competed in the final, finishing as a runner-up with teammate Marie Roda.
Tori and Cara were castmates for the third time for War of the Worlds 2. That season featured some tense situations involving Tori, Cara, and their significant others. At the time, Cara was with Paulie Calafiore, and Tori was dating Jordan Wiseley.
Cara and Paulie formed the backbone of a strong alliance on Team USA during that season. They continually targeted other strong players, repeatedly using their power to put them into elimination. Among their targets were Jordan and Tori.
However, Jordan and Tori kept winning, so they remained in the game and ultimately used the season’s twist to switch over to Team UK rather than staying on Team USA.
The season also featured a famous proposal (below), when Jordan won his elimination against Theo Campbell, then got down on one knee to pop the question to Tori.
The majority of their castmates applauded and were excited for them. However, Cara was not amongst those celebrating the moment, even choosing to skip a party the cast had for the happy couple in The Challenge house.
Fast forward to the present date, and Cara and Paulie have not returned to the show since that season. Tori has been back for four seasons, including the upcoming Ride or Dies, where she and former fiance Jordan will be castmates.
It’s also worth noting that Cara isn’t featured among interviewed cast members in The Challenge: Untold History, despite her extensive experience on MTV’s show. However, her boyfriend Paulie, and Challenge rival, Tori, are part of the cast members giving interviews during the documentary.
The Challenge: Ride or Dies premieres Wednesday, October 12, 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.