All The Contestants Who Have Been Kicked Off The Challenge

Believe it or not, "The Challenge" has been on the air for more than two decades. MTV's reality competition series, previously bringing together participants from its other reality shows in the "Real World/Road Rules Challenge," has spawned more than 30 seasons of stunts, thrills, and hijinks. You come for the action, you stay for the drama — and make no mistake, there's plenty of drama to be had. Throughout the series' existence, viewers have witnessed so many hookups, breakups, makeups, and blowups that you'd need more red string than the set of "Dexter" could hope to offer in order to map them out on any kind of chart.

The basic framework of the show brings competitors with previous reality TV experience to complete physical and mental tests in order to potentially avoid elimination and have the chance to win millions. There isn't much in the way of rules when it comes to living in the "Challenge" house, except for a few, the most important of which is to refrain from putting your hands on another competitor. Aside from physical altercations, nearly any kind of shenanigans will be tolerated by "Challenge" host TJ Lavin and the show's producers. 

These rules may be straightforward, but when you cram a couple dozen reality TV folks with big personalities inside a shared living space and let them enjoy a nightlife scene after competing against each other all day, tensions will rise and fights are seemingly inevitable. Here are all the contestants who have been kicked off "The Challenge."

Competitor Ayanna Mackins has the dubious distinction of being the first person ever kicked off of "The Challenge." Having originally hit MTV airwaves on the eighth season of "Road Rules," entitled "Road Rules: Semester at Sea," Ayanna has appeared on three seasons of "The Challenge" — "Extreme Challenge" and both "Battle of the Sexes" seasons — in addition to participating in the second season of spinoff, "The Challenge: All-Stars 2" (via IMDb). But she was kicked off the show early on, during her very first season: "Extreme Challenge."

As writer Henry L. DiMaria (via Medium) penned in his scouting report for the second season of "All-Stars" — calling it Ayanna's most memorable moment — she was removed from the "Extreme Challenge" season for getting into a physical altercation with competitor Christian Breivik off-camera. According to a Metacritic summary of the sixth episode, entitled "Ayanna's Departure," Christian is interviewed by a producer, who asks if Ayanna had ever confronted him physically. The episode flashes back to Christian consoling her about recently losing her mother to cancer, then segues to a scene in which the cast is partying at a bar. With Ayanna trying to sleep in the bus, Christian has an exchange with cast mate Laterrian Wallace that seemingly involved a light-hearted use of a racial slur, at which point an incensed Ayanna accosted and physically attacked him. Ayanna was asked to leave the show, though Christian maintained that was not what he wanted, despite the incident.

A cast mate of Ayanna Mackins during "The Challenge: Battle of the Sexes 2," competitor Steven Hill was also kicked off his first season of the series, though it would prove to be his only time on the show. As a peek at his IMDb entry reveals, prior to appearing on "Battle of the Sexes 2," Steven cut his reality TV teeth appearing on the 12th season of "The Real World," which was set in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Steven made it through 12 episodes of "Battle of the Sexes 2" before being removed for striking "Road Rules" alum Shane Landrum. After an intense event called Cast a Spell, during which competitors had to remain totally silent, Shane tried his best to communicate via hand signals, though it simply proved a source of tension when Steven relayed his feelings on the lack of helpfulness when they were allowed to speak. Shane responded by putting his hands in Steven's face, which further irked him, causing him to slap Shane and earn his dismissal. 

Following his time on "The Challenge," Steven appeared with several fellow "Challenge" competitors and other reality TV personalities in the E! series "Kill Reality." The show documented a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the TV movie "The Scorned," the first film to feature a cast with only prior reality television experience, not unlike "The Challenge" itself. Steven also participated in MTV's first "Real World" reunion special, "Reunited: The Real World Las Vegas," which returned the cast to the titular city five years later, laying the groundwork for future long-term reunions.

"The Challenge" veteran Tina Barta appeared in five seasons of the reality competition before returning to the fold with a spot on "All-Stars 2," though her inclusion in this list should make it clear that things haven't always gone swimmingly. As her IMDb entry details, she first arrived at MTV as part of the cast of "Road Rules: South Pacific," the 12th installment of the show, which saw the American contestants traveling across the titular island region. Tina then showed up on "The Challenge" editions "The Gauntlet," "Battle of the Sexes 2," "The Inferno II," "Fresh Meat," and "The Duel," making it to the show's final twice in that span. She could have gone made it three in a row but she was given the boot early in her final appearance on the main series.

Tina only made it three episodes into "The Duel" before her temper got the better of her. Following the Ring Toss event, she punched cast mate Beth Stolarczyk, earning an early exit from the show. It's something for which Tina recently said she has no regrets, though she admitted she wished she had been able to handle herself better. Replying to a fan rewatching the season — who said "THANK YOU" in all caps, claiming Tina did what everyone wanted to do — she tweeted "Dude, I still don't regret that s***. I do wish I was able to handle my frustration in a healthier and more mature way but DAMN did it feel FKN GUD!"

In all likelihood, "The Challenge" star Chris "CT" Tamburello will go down as one of the greatest competitors to appear on the show. Initially beginning his MTV journey in 2003 as part of the cast of "The Real World: Paris," CT has appeared on nearly two dozen of the show's seasons, has made 12 finals and won six seasons, establishing him as a candidate for reality competition royalty. He also has another notable distinction: as the only competitor to be kicked off the show multiple times, CT also leads the field in season disqualifications.

His first ejection came during his brief appearance on the 14th season of "The Challenge"; CT got the boot from "The Inferno 3" before any actual competition took place. During the cast's first night in the house, CT was seemingly drunk and wrestled with cast mate Kenny Santucci — getting a bloody nose in the process — after which he punched Davis Mallory in the face. Davis gave his side of the events on the Mike Lewis Podcast in May 2021, saying CT asked is he was "the gay guy" and if he could take a punch, to which Davis responded yes, expecting a shot to the shoulder or something similar.

He was also kicked off "The Duel II" after CT fought with his former "Real World" co-star Adam King. Apparently he didn't appreciate what he felt was Adam meddling in his on-off relationship with Diem Brown; both guys were removed from the show as a result of the fight, which also took place before any competitive events.

"Road Rules" alum Darrell Taylor and "Real Word: San Diego" star Brad Fiorenza didn't have a ton of history with each other by the time they clashed in 2009 on the set of "The Challenge: The Ruins." Each competitor had multiple seasons under his belt by that time — Darrell had won in four straight appearances ("The Gauntlet," "The Inferno," "The Inferno II," and "Fresh Meat") and Brad had been on six times ("Battle of the Sexes 2," "The Inferno II," "The Gauntlet 2," "The Duel," The Gauntlet III," and "The Duel II"), making the final in the latter three seasons — but they'd only crossed paths with each other on "The Inferno II." That didn't stop them from throwing down and getting the boot when the 18th season of "The Challenge" went to Phuket, Thailand.

As seen in the YouTube video from ILoveTRW, a clearly inebriated Brad antagonizes a mostly calm Darrell in the guys' bedroom. Content to keep things verbal, Darrell eventually has enough when Brad initiates physical contact and he proceeds to pound his cast mate's face, resulting in a massive, swollen hematoma on Brad's right eye. Both guys were kicked off the show as a result and did not meet again until "All Stars 2."

Competitor Tonya Cooley had been removed from "The Ruins" four episodes in as a result of slapping Veronica Portillo multiple times; the two had previously had drama from "The Inferno II."

"The Challenge: Rivals" seemed like a natural breeding ground for tension; after all, as the name implies, competitors were placed on teams with "Challenge" and "Real World" participants with whom they'd previously had issues. It's only natural to expect conflict and drama to come out of such an environment and Adam Royer from "The Real World: Las Vegas" was more than up to the task of providing it, though his altercation didn't take place with partner and former cast mate Leroy Garrett. Instead, after the two won the high dive challenge in the first episode, Adam provoked a fight with Ty Ruff. 

Ty was busy talking trash to pretty much everyone around and Adam, who's not exactly known for having a cool head, took exception, resulting in a scrum. Things might have stopped there, with the two pretty well separated by everyone else, but Adam tried to break free and managed to swing on Ty, landing a glancing punch that didn't do much in the way of damage. It was enough to result in his ejection from the show, though, and — as his entry on IMDb reveals — he hasn't been seen since. This could be no real surprise to viewers who saw him on "The Real World"; after all, he was kicked off his season for "excessive partying and drinking," according to Us Weekly, and his behavior was the initial source of tension with Leroy, who called him out at the time.

Nia Moore and Jordan Wiseley were on "The Challenge" Season 26, "Battle of the Exes II," but brought with them plenty of previous drama from their time together on "The Real World: Portland." The two had a big blow up with racial undertones in 2013, as they recapped in a 2020 Instagram Live chat together (via Us Weekly). "I was using the N-word toward you and you used it back at me," Nia said to Jordan. "Even then I didn't feel like it was coming from a racial/racist place. As the argument progressed, he started mimicking a monkey. Even then I didn't attach it to a racist gesture, I just wanted to kick his ass because we were arguing about something stupid." While the two have since reconciled and moved forward as friends, it served as the source of tension when they met up again for "Battle of the Exes II, which filmed a year later in 2014.

So how did that culminate on "The Challenge"? Nia was kicked off during the penultimate episode of the season for "physically and verbally harassing" Jordan, as MTV News reported at the time. She went on to pull down his pants and make "an offensive comment about his masculinity" in one scene, the outlet reported, in addition to touching him inappropriately and calling him a homophobic slur in another. "I know I was wrong, and my biggest fear is being labeled homophobic," Nia told the outlet. "I want to extend my apology to anyone I offended, and I sincerely mean that."

They say good things come in sets of three, so if watching people get kicked off a reality TV competition is your idea of a good time, then "The Challenge XXX: Dirty 30" just might be your cup of crazy. First, Shane Raines — a veteran of Season 27, "The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines" — and Simone Kelly — a contestant from "Are You the One?" who'd previously competed on "Battle of the Exes II" and "Rivals III" — were sent to the Redemption House with Darrell Taylor, LaToya Jackson, Devin Walker, and Amanda Garcia as a result of losing the Episode 1 challenge, "The Purge." How their off-camera altercation started is a matter of debate, but the general consensus from those present is that Shane slapped Simone in the face, who then wielded a broken champagne bottle to protect herself while Devin got Shane in a chokehold, for which Shane bit him on the arm. LaToya later tweeted that the fight was "really about race" and Amanda tweeted that Shane had consumed "a whole bottle of NyQuil & had a half bottle of wine w/vodka drinks." Amanda claimed in a subsequent tweet Shane had bitten Devin hard enough to break the skin and require a hospital visit. Shane and Simone were both kicked off and neither has returned.

Nelson Thomas was also kicked off "Dirty 30" in Episode 11. He got into it with Derrick Kosinski and instigated a fight that was mostly tame, save for a face-wash that seemed to be good enough to earn him an early exit.

The drama on "The Challenge" took a break from boiling over after Season 30, perhaps not without a bit of irony, considering Season 31 was subtitled "Vendettas." Nevertheless, the competitors managed to make it an entire season without anyone getting kicked off for fighting. But fans of "The Challenge" had to know in the backs of their heads that such a thing would never last forever and the cast of Season 32, "The Challenge: Final Reckoning," didn't make it through an entire episode intact. "Real World" alum Kailah Casillas and former "Ex on the Beach" contestant Melissa Reeves were both kicked off the show for a fight in the "Challenge" house, which can be viewed on the show's official Facebook page. While Melissa maintained she just wanted the opportunity to speak to Kailah, the latter didn't have the time of day for her. The incident escalated into a shouting match that eventually led to shoving and the women needing to be separated. Host TJ Lavin later informed them that they'd both be heading home.

Former "Real World" cast member and "Teen Mom"-adjacent star Cory Wharton was also kicked off "Final Reckoning," though he got quite a bit further into the season before earning his exit. Cory was sent home for body-slamming Tony Raines, who may have had it coming; after all, he did throw out Cory's leftover pasta. "I was oblivious to the fact that Cory took that the wrong way," Tony told Us Weekly. "Basically, that was the most expensive pasta he's ever had in his entire life. It's million-dollar pasta," he joked.

"The Challenge: War of the Worlds" served as the 33rd season of the reality franchise. The show's producers really hit the nail on the head with that name, as it brought together competitors from MTV's reality shows and various other programs — numbering 15 in total — and featured competitors from all over the globe. The eventual winner, "Challenge" rookie and "Survivor Turkey" veteran Turabi "Turbo" Çamkıran, walked away with a sweet $750,000 for sole possession of first place and looked to have a long career on the MTV reality competition ahead of him.

That promising future was cut short the very next season, entitled "War of the Worlds 2," after a series of verbal altercations with "Challenge" veteran Jordan Wiseley, who eventually won a share of that season's $1 million prize.  The two first got into it in the episode that aired October 7, 2020 (via MTV), after Jordan accosted Turbo for kicking and knocking over one of the daily challenge's props. Though that was eventually squashed, the two went at it again at the "Challenge" house during the October 21 episode, with Jordan mockingly performing Turbo's signature strut — a walk that was likely modeled after mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor's walk. It took multiple members of security to restrain Turbo, who was removed from the house that evening. "It was nothing that Turbo did to me," Jordan said on the "Challenge Mania" podcast (via People). "He did not put his hands on me ... Turbo had an all-out brawl with security. It took three security guards to hold him down."

Season 37 of "The Challenge," entitled "Spies, Lies, and Allies," saw things come to a head and someone was kicked off the show as a result of their actions when things were heated. What's surprising is the fact that the two parties involved are best friends and essentially each other's No. 1 guy on the show. Things weren't going smoothly for the "Big Brother" alliance, owing to some bad blood and mistrust between Amber Borzotra, winner of the previous season, and the group's de facto leader, Faysal "Fessy" Shafaat. When Amber showed up riding high on her win after being the low person on the "Big Brother" totem pole a season ago, Fessy assumed she was gunning for him and took the first shot, angering best friend and alliance member Josh Martinez. Things came to a head in the "Challenge" house kitchen and Fessy made the mistake of putting his hands on Josh, so host TV Lavin showed him the door the next episode.

But that wasn't it for "Spies, Lies, and Allies" ejections; "Challenge" veteran Ashley "Millionaire" Mitchell was noticeably missing when the Sapphire Cell was set to deliberate over who would be sent into elimination for the house vote on the November 10 episode, "Mavericks." As TJ explained later that episode, "Ashley has broken one of our rules" and was sent home without any official elaboration as to the circumstances coming forward. For her part, Ashley took it on the chin, tweeting "Rules are rules and I respect @mtv and TJs call."