The Challenge: 10 Players Who Quit Mid-Season

One of the most unpredictable aspects of MTV’s long-running reality competition series The Challenge is who and when a player will exit the game. Sometimes, the grueling nature of the physical challenges becomes too much for the contestants to handle. Other times, contestants injure themselves while competing and need to leave for legitimate medical reasons.

On rarer occasions, some players flat out quit the game for understandable personal reasons, family emergencies, dramatic confrontations with rival players, and other unforeseen reasons. With Arissa Hill’s recent self-imposed exit on season 37, she joins more than 30 other players who’ve quit The Challenge in the past.

10 Puck Rainey

Known for being one of the most controversial and dramatic reality TV stars to compete on The Challenge, The Real World alum Puck Rainey kept his bad-boy reputation intact when he quit the Battle of the Sexes on The Challenge in episode 9 after ripping apart his Jamaican residence when his new bride was detained at the airport for not having a passport.

The on-brand dust-up led to Puck threatening those who opposed his choices with a machete, creating massive drama on the show. A shame, as Puck had remained safe the week prior and won the challenge before that.

9 Emily Bailey

After making a highly impressive run and becoming poised to win the Battle of the Sexes, Emily Bailey suddenly quit the show when it became too difficult to compete without her boyfriend, James, who had been just eliminated by the Inner Circle. In a show of solidarity, Emily quit the game during episode 15.

Prior to quitting, Emily consistently ranked as a top-three challenger who remained safe for 14 consecutive weeks despite never winning one challenge. Yet, when it mattered most, Emily chose to follow her heart rather than the top prize.

8 Eric Banks

Eric “Big Easy” Banks has the dubious distinction of being one of the only Challenge contestants to prematurely leave the show twice, and the only to withdraw during an elimination. The first time came when he was medically disqualified after collapsing from dehydration in Fresh Meat (2006). The second came when he flat-out quit the show during Battle of the Seasons (2012), leaving his partner Camila irate.

After refusing to participate in the grueling challenges any longer, Camila lashed out with a memorable onslaught of verbal obscenities that all but ended their friendship.

7 Coral Smith

Although Coral Smith was relieved of the competition after sustaining a snake bite in The Gauntlet, she returned to be the alpha female in The Gauntlet 3. After winning 10 out of 12 challenges, Coral suddenly quit the show when she began feeling like a social pariah.

Once her ally Evan betrayed her in a time of great need, Coral was then voted into the Gauntlet against Evelyn. Feeling alienated and alone, Coral chose to hit the road rather than continue to compete. It’s hard to argue with that logic.

6 Jay Mitchell & Jenna Compono

In a rare team decision to quit The Challenge before the series was over, Jay Mitchell and Jenna Compono simply determined that they could not complete the last leg of the Final Challenge of Battle of the Exes II. As a result, they walked away and earned a third-place finish.

Contestants don’t often quit when they’re so close to the winner’s circle, which makes their exit past the midway point so disappointing. However, there is no shame in knowing one’s physical limits and making a pragmatic decision based on this.

5 Beth Stolarczyk

Beth Stolarczyk quit The Challenge not once, but twice, the first time coming in episode 13 of The Gauntlet 2 when she chose to sacrifice herself in place of Aneesa, who was voted for a hard-to-watch elimination. The second came in episode 5 of The Inferno II when Beth felt unsafe in the house following a heated row with Tonya.

The sad part about Beth’s departure on both accounts is how well she was performing prior to her decision to walk away. With a real chance to win both seasons, Beth earned five victories in The Gauntlet 2 before allowing Aneesa to shine.

4 Lio Rush

WWE NXT star, Lio Rush, sought to turn his skills as a wrestler into a lucrative finish on Double Agents, the 36th season of The Challenge. After acquitting himself well for the first five episodes, Lio quit the show, citing deteriorating mental health as the main reason.

As the world has seen recently with athletes like Naomi Osaka, the pressures of performing publicly at the highest levels can be difficult to deal with. In Lio’s case, he wisely chose to be with his wife and two daughters rather than continue to struggle.

3 Trishelle Cannatella

As one of the most popular contestants on the beloved MTV reality series, Trishelle Cannatella has competed on five different series spinoffs, including a second-place finish in Battle of the Seasons. However, Trishelle quit her follow-up appearance on Rivals II when an apt grudge match came to a head.

Trishelle decided to quit the show before the Mind Over Splatter challenge due to an intensely dramatic physical altercation with Aneesa and feeling very uncomfortable in the house, as a result. Despite Lavin berating quitters, the Rivalry aspect of the show makes it understandable, especially given Trishelle’s history with Aneesa.

2 Ammo Hall

Ammo Hall made history by becoming the first non-binary contestant to compete on The Challenge. After winning the Purge challenge in week 1 of the XXX: Dirty 30 season, Ammo continued their promising run by winning The Great Escape elimination in week 4. Alas, after being thrust into the Presidio challenge, Ammo had a panic attack that forced them to quit the show.

Like Lio Rush, Hall’s reason for quitting the show raises important awareness about the mental and emotional challenges the show presents in addition to the taxing physical demands it puts on a player.

1 Arissa Hill

The most recent contestant to quit The Challenge is Arissa Hill, who walked away from the All-Stars season 37 after being completely caught off guard by Mark using his life-saver on Katie, which put Arissa up for elimination with Beth in a Challenge twist no one saw coming. The betrayal was too shocking and disrespectful for Arissa to stick around.

The dramatic departure led to one of host T.J. Lavin’s most memorably scornful rants, telling Arissa, “All right, don’t care. Hope to see you never!” As such, Hill had a mighty fall from grace after winning the Deep Blue Dive challenge in episode one.