The Challenge: The 10 Best Villains, According To Reddit

MTV’s reality TV show The Challenge was a spin-off from two of the network’s other reality shows, The Real World and Road Rules. The show has now massively expanded, taking its contestants from those two shows and other reality TV franchises.

Part of the fun of reality TV is the over-the-top behaviors of competitors, and The Challenge is no exception. While they may be a bit of a nightmare overall, some of them are oftentimes great competitors, making it more interesting for viewers. These are the top 10 villains, according to Redditors!

Laurel Stucky

Laurel Stucky is one of the best competitors of all time, and she’s also one of the most intimidating. Although she may have been provoked, it’s no excuse for how she acted towards the rest of the contestants. However, she was part of one of the best female teams in the show’s history with Cara Maria Sorbello, making her an interesting competitor.

Stucky had some truly ugly moments though, making fun of Big Easy’s weight and attacking Paula for her eating disorder. Illustrious_Gazelle5 agrees she’s a bully and says, “She might think she’s blunt, but she’s actually just rude, and she treated Cara horribly.” Stucky may have been a god competitor but she was a true villain overall.

Susie Meister

Susie Meister was one of the best and worst competitors on the show. She was smart and cunning, and she was a great manipulator. However, Susie was placed on the Good Guys team, which many fans found confusing because of her calculating and villainous demeanor.

Redditor u/zazild92 said, “She to me is now like the Ice Queen of Narnia. Just icy and cold.” While she pretended so well that she was the hero and put on a good-girl front, she was truly seen as a baddie by many Reddit users and fans.

Emily Bailey

Emily Bailey was the original villainess from the show. She was part of several of the most infamous votes on the show where the Inner Circle who voted out Rachel for no reason in the Battle of the Sexes. Her most infamous move, however, was when she voted out Veronica after trying to take her out all season.

In a very memorable move, even after causing all that drama, Bailey left the show after James was eliminated. RohAnTheMaker said, “I was a fan of hers until that point – making all these moves to secure yourself and then you just leave because your boyfriend sucked? Weak.”

Amanda Garcia

Amanda Garcia came in hot on her first episode of Rivals III, and she was already going off on contestants like Bananas and Camila. She and Camila were also always at each other’s throats, and she even went so far as making fun of Camila’s accent.

Fans and Reddit users undoubtedly agree that Garcia is one of the biggest baddies in the show’s history. Although, some also recognize that any good reality TV show needs their villain, which Garcia surely was. Redditor rudolph2018 said, “from the minute she walked into the challenge house on her very first season, she’s been arguing, screaming, being annoying af!”

Tori Hall

Tori Hall was a different kind of antagonist, always fighting with everyone and was exceptionally annoying to fans. She even dramatically gave her engagement ring back to Brad during Duel II. 

Hall really showed her true colors in her most villainous season, Cutthroat. While it might have been good gameplay, she was the leader of throwing Brandon and Camila into eliminations. DigitalAutonomy points out, “There just seems something really stuck up and entitled about Tori… she complains about EVERYTHING.” She definitely isn’t a fan favorite.

Frank Sweeney

Some villains are people viewers love to hate, or who at least have one redeeming quality, but not so much with Frank Sweeney. He had some really ugly moments over his tenure on the series, like making fun of Nany’s sister for having a heroin addiction and putting his hands on Sam during competition.

Realityseekr expressed that, “he was awful, and I truly couldn’t stand him on the show.” He made many enemies during his time on the show and got into fights constantly with contestants.

Ashley Mitchell

Ashley Mitchell had a bad reputation from the start after being kicked off of the show during Real World: Ex-plosion by her castmates because of her drunken behaviors. On The Challenge, she freaked out on Nicole Ramos, imagining she made out with Jamie who Mitchell had been hooking up with. She has meltdowns and threatened to quit many times.

Mitchell has largely redeemed herself in the eyes of Challenge fans, but she’s still more villainous than heroic. She has threatened to quit multiple times, including right before the finale. ChampElway247 said, “she literally acted like a 3-year-old throwing a tantrum (tears and all) when she had to switch teams in a show for charity.” She may have had some skill, but she’s still a Challenge heel.

Johnny Bananas

Reddit users and fans struggle with whether Johnny Bananas is a hero or villain, making him all the more interesting. Since Cutthroat, the show always made him out as the hero, but fans agree he definitely has a list of villainous moments. As one of the contestants who’s appeared on the most Challenge seasons, he constantly got in fights with contestants or antagonized them to no end. He treated Evelyn and KellyAnne horribly and a Redditor said, “The number of times Johnny yelled at and berated the women on The Island”… “yeah he is the worst for me.”

Bananas’ worst moment was the notorious incident when he stole $137,500 from his partner Sarah on Rivals III, which officially made him a rotten Banana.

Wes Bergmann

Wes Bergmann is the definition of a bad guy fans love to hate. He was extremely cocky in his rookie season, but he could back it up, as he was the first solo male winner in The Duel and has a great Challenge win record. 

Bergmann’s cockiness made him an enemy to contestants and annoyed viewers. Redditor soonerman32 said, “all Wes talks about is how good he thinks he is at strategy, and he calls people dumb like every season.” While Bergmann may be a great competitor, his arrogance makes him an antagonist.

Beth Stolarczyk

There really isn’t any doubt that Beth Stolarczyk is the number one baddie from the show. Judiciousdrinker states, “the Cruella de Vil of The Challenge, Beth was an absolute pariah on basically every season she was on.” Stolarczyk had a reputation of being fake and stirring the pot from day one. Even the contestants immediately ganged up on her. When she returned on The Gauntlet II, she wasn’t messing around and became the team captain and was nearing the final. Stolarczyk is still the only contestant to ever quit The Challenge twice, and she impressively did it in back-to-back seasons. While she made it to The Challenge All-Stars 3, she isn’t likely to win.

Stolarczyk truly embraced the villain role on The Duel, going so far as consistently laughing with an ear-piercing cackle. No matter how hard she seemingly tried to fit in, no one wanted anything to do with Stolarczyk, and whether she deserves the title or not, she still remains the biggest villain the show has ever seen despite not being on it for 18 seasons.

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