The Challenge 5 Of The Show’s Best Showmances (& 5 Of Its Cringiest)

The Challenge: 5 Of The Show’s Best Showmances (& 5 Of Its Cringiest)

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The Challenge has been on for such a long time and produced so many interesting couples, but which ones are loved and which just make us cringe?

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The Challenge 5 Of The Show’s Best Showmances (& 5 Of Its Cringiest)

MTV’s The Challenge has always been a perfect hybrid of competition and drama, thriving off having reoccurring characters over its 35 seasons. With its revolving door of familiar faces, the show has had storylines that keep viewers invested year after year.

In particular, the showmances that have bloomed and fizzled out on The Challenge have planted seeds for some of the most memorable storylines (or at least gave viewers some moments of entertainment). Whether the couples were adored or were…more polarizing, the drama or comedy of these couples always spiced up the competition as a whole.

10 Cringey: Bananas & Natalie

The Challenge 5 Of The Show’s Best Showmances (& 5 Of Its Cringiest)

In the older days of the show, The Challenge was a mixture of Real World and Road Rules alumni. When The Challenge eventually needed new blood, production turned to shows like Big Brother to keep the competition fresh. One of these Big Brother imports was Natalie Negrotti, who quickly struck up a showmance with challenge mainstay Johnny Bananas on her debut season, Vendettas.

From the get-go, the showmance felt manufactured. Bananas was fresh out of a longterm relationship, a fact he made sure to bring up in his talking heads, and Natalie wanted to snag an alliance that would get her far in the competition. Their storylines overlapped conveniently, allowing them to milk any drama between them for what it was worth- no matter how transparent it was to fans.

9 Best: Nany & Cohutta

The Challenge 5 Of The Show’s Best Showmances (& 5 Of Its Cringiest)

If there was a list for the most unexpected romances of The Challenge, Nany and Cohutta would be on that too. By the time their paths crossed on Free Agents, Nany, a fiery Latina, had a string of brief challenge romances under her belt with no signs of stopping. Cohutta was the Southern gentleman archetype, and seemed more serious when it came to romantic prospects.

On paper it didn’t seem like they could sustain a connection but, to the surprise and delight of viewers, they formed a romance that continued off the show. Cohutta got Nany to open up and be vulnerable in a way that she hadn’t been in past romances and fans were sure they would last. And while the romance ultimately came to an end, this unexpected pairing is still remembered fondly.

8 Cringey: Paulie & Cara Maria

The Challenge 5 Of The Show’s Best Showmances (& 5 Of Its Cringiest)

As a storyline, there’s no denying that Paulie and Cara Maria’s romance has brought the drama and been the cornerstone of one of The Challenge’s biggest modern-day alliances. Starting as a dubious “will they or won’t they” on Final Reckoning (while Paulie had a girlfriend back home), the two debuted as a couple on War of the Worlds and immediately put off viewers by describing all the places in the Challenge house they would…christen.

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Given Paulie’s checkered romantic past, and Cara’s status as one of the higher tiered veterans, there was speculation that Paulie was capitalizing on Cara’s rep in order to become a Challenge mainstay. After breaking up and getting back together, the two almost won War of the Worlds 2, becoming the season’s villains in the process. They’re currently on a break from The Challenge, and appear to be happier off-screen.

7 Best: Frank & Jillian

The Challenge 5 Of The Show’s Best Showmances (& 5 Of Its Cringiest)

The one silver lining to The Rookie team’s upset win on the Gauntlet III was that Frank and Jillian both have a challenge win under their belt. Both didn’t have long challenge careers overall, having competed in only 2 and 3 challenges respectively. So things lined up when the two met and got together on the Gauntlet III. Both were decent competitors and their romance spiced up their overall storyline.

RELATED: The Challenge: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts You Never Knew

They were still together when Jillian competed on Fresh Meat II (her third and final challenge), but appear to have broken up shortly after that. Frank now has a successful career in finance while Jillian is happily married. There’s not much else out there about these former challengers but their underdog romance is one worth re-watching.

6 Cringey: Johanna & Kenny

The Challenge 5 Of The Show’s Best Showmances (& 5 Of Its Cringiest)

The cringe element of Johanna and Kenny’s brief romance on The Island was that Johanna had just gotten out of an engagement with Kenny’s then-friend Wes. On top of basically breaking bro-code, Kenny’s alliance also blatantly disrespected all the female challengers that season with Johanna more-or-less turning a blind eye to it all.

The romance itself was brief, but the seeds it planted for future storylines were significant. Kenny and Wes would go on to have an iconic rivalry as a result and be paired for Rivals. When Kenny was banned from The Challenge, his ally Johnny Bananas inherited this rivalry and would continue to go head-to-head with Wes throughout the 2010s.

5 Best: Leroy & Kam

The Challenge 5 Of The Show’s Best Showmances (& 5 Of Its Cringiest)

Kam emerged from her rookie season on Vendettas with 3 elimination wins, the nickname “Killa Kam” and rumours surrounding her relationship with Challenge veteran, Leroy. Initially, most of what was heard of their potential romance came from off the show, and the two were no longer together when they appeared on War of the Worlds 2.

During WOTW2, Kam rekindled their relationship, in part, to get Leroy on her alliance within Team USA. But while the move was a good one strategically, it was obvious that there were real feelings involved between the two of them. Fans were heartbroken when they were purged in the final challenge but the couple are still going strong today.

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4 Cringey: Jasmine & Tyrie

The Challenge 5 Of The Show’s Best Showmances (& 5 Of Its Cringiest)

This brief romance on Rivals was weird and hilarious considering two things: Tyrie was a lower tier challenger, so hooking up with him wouldn’t yield ANY strategic benefits. And Jasmine had a boyfriend back home, which had her fighting temptation for approximately five minutes. It was strange from the get-go and fizzled out once Tyrie was sent home.

Unfortunately, the pair ended up reaping what they sowed when they were put together for the inaugural Battle of the Exes season. They bickered constantly and their time on Exes was only slightly longer than their relationship.

3 Best: Jordan & Tori

The Challenge 5 Of The Show’s Best Showmances (& 5 Of Its Cringiest)

Tori and Jordan have admitted that they didn’t think much of each other when they met on XXX: Dirty Thirty. However, the two eventually developed a friendship and then feelings for each other shortly after filming. Their relationship origins were questionable given both came on to the season with significant others back home, and there were rumours that the two had hooked up during Dirty Thirty.

But despite this, their relationship has lasted and Jordan even proposed to Tori on War of the Worlds 2. Outside of The Challenge they record songs together, have a cat named Miso, and come across as a supportive couple who bring out the best in each other.

2 Cringey: Jenna & Zach

The Challenge 5 Of The Show’s Best Showmances (& 5 Of Its Cringiest)

Zach and Jenna became a couple upon meeting on Battle of the Exes 2. Initially, their romance was well received and Jenna appeared to massively upgrade from her previous ex, Jay. But when Jenna competed on Rivals 3, she discovered Zach was cheating on her during a call home.

They’d get back together a year and a half later and are currently engaged, but their subsequent Challenge appearances together has only broadcasted the worst sides of their relationship. Even when Jenna was on Total Madness on her own, her storyline was dominated by belittling FaceTime calls from Zach about Jenna’s past actions during their break up.

1 Best: CT & Diem

Hands down the most memorable love story of The Challenge, CT and Diem’s romance started off like a modern-day fairytale when the pair met on The Duel. Challenge bad boy CT helped recent cancer survivor Diem regain some of her confidence while Diem got CT to reveal his softer side. Their relationship was far from perfect though, with a tumultuous break-up period during which CT was resentful of Diem for putting her career first.

Their relationship improved when they competed on Battle of the Exes and (after a brief rough patch on Rivals 2) they quietly got back together. However, their romance was cut short when Diem’s cancer returned. She passed away in 2014 and CT took a hiatus from the Challenge as a result. He’s now happily married and has a son, though his romance with Diem lives on in reality TV history.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/the-challenge-best-showmances/

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