The Challenge: Ride or Dies season brought a variety of pairs into the competition with a theme that involved partners who shared a bond.
That included the husband-wife duo of Kailah Casillas and Sam Bird, the brother-sister team of Kenny and Kaycee Clark, and “frenemies” Devin Walker and Tori Deal.
There was also seven-time champion Johnny Bananas, with his longtime castmate and friend, Nany Gonzalez, among the favorites to win the season.
Despite reaching the season’s final, they came up short on a puzzle, as Devin and Tori proved to be the superior duo.
It made for the first win for those two and another failed season for Nany, who seemed on the brink of her first championship.
According to her friend and castmate, Zach Nichols, she would’ve won the season if he’d been her partner.
Zach Nichols says Nany would’ve won Ride or Dies with him
During the GOHT Media podcast, Jenna Compono and her husband Zach were the guests to talk about life as parents and their reality TV experiences.
A question arose about whether Nany would ever win a season of The Challenge, which Jenna said she hoped. That prompted Zach to jump into the conversation.
“If I was her partner, she would’ve won,” the former Real World: San Diego cast member and Battle of the Seasons winner claimed.
Jenna said almost anyone would win the show as Zach’s partner, but he seemed to disagree. Then he delved into why he felt Nany would’ve won Ride or Dies with him.
“If you look at that final, and you put me in there instead of Johnny, me and Nany win. We beat all of them. Hands down,” Zach said.
“They didn’t make a terrible mistake until the very end on that puzzle, and I just think that I would have done that puzzle more methodically,” he said.
For Ride or Dies, Zach said there was a lot of sitting around during this particular final. He said it looked more mentally than physically challenging like some previous ones he and Jenna had competed in.
The last part of the final had the two remaining teams working their way through a Hall Brawl-like structure set up in The Arena with various obstacles to get past. The one that tripped up Nany and Bananas involved arranging heavy blocks with symbols to recreate a specific pattern.
Unfortunately, Bananas and Nany missed one block of their puzzle. They’d already taken all the blocks down and tried to correct it once. After realizing they messed up again, they just didn’t have it in them to try to reassemble it.
Tori and Devin completed the rest of the final, winning their first season, while Nany had to watch from the side.
It’s worth noting that Jenna and Zach praised Nany as a competitor who has grown over the years, indicating she’s one of the more underrated players on The Challenge.
Nany and Kaycee are taking a break from The Challenge
Following Ride or Dies season, Nany and her girlfriend, Kaycee Clark, shared on their social media that they would take a break from The Challenge.
Neither seems to be riding off into the sunset for retirement, though. As Monsters and Critics reported, the couple wanted some time away from the show to enjoy life and potentially start a family together.
Kaycee won a Challenge season alongside teammate Chris “CT” Tamburello on Spies, Lies & Allies. It seems Nany is destined to win one of her own, but time will tell when and where that happens.
With The Challenge: All Stars spinoff continuing to bring new seasons, there’s always the chance that Nany ends up there and wins her first championship, much like Jonna Mannion did.
The Challenge: World Championship episodes arrive Wednesdays on Paramount+.
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