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Check Out Which Couples Found Love on MTV’s The Challenge

Watch: Johnny Bananas Reflects on His Evolution on ‘The Challenge’ (Exclusive)

Showmances are as commonplace on MTV’s The Challenge as host T.J. Lavin reminding competitors how much he hates quitters.

While finding love isn’t explicitly part of the game that sees Real World vets, Road Rules alum and stars from an ever-growing list of reality series compete in increasingly insane challenges with the hopes of running T.J.’s final, it’s definitely baked into the experience.

So, yes, we expect The Challenge Season 42: Cutthroat—dropping on Paramount+ Aug. 5—to end with more than just a new champ.

After all, Olivia Kaiser learned shortly after grabbing the prize on the series’ 41st outing that, “I was indeed pregnant 7 weeks to be exact.” And no, she wasn’t aware when she gutted out the final alongside then-boyfriend Theo Campbell. “I was not pregnant going into the season lol,” she wrote in her December Instagram post, “and yes it was a hugeeee surprise.”

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21 Reality Stars We Want to See on The Challenge

Though the now-married duo entered the house a couple, for those looking to provide a boost to their social game, polidicking—i.e. hooking up with a strong competitor to advance your position in the game—is both a winning strategy and a way to increase air time, thus locking in a spot on future seasons. (And, perhaps, a solid partner should there be another Battle of the Exes iteration.)

Plus, as 10-season veteran Tori Deal put it to Us Weekly in 2023, “When you’re in a Challenge house, you, like, want to hook up with people.”

She’s definitely fallen victim to what she called “camp syndrome,” having snuggled up with Spies, Lies & Allies costar Emanuel Neagu and Big Brother alum Faysal Shafaat, in addition to her romance with fellow Are You the One? contestant Derrick Henry and engagement to The Real World‘s Jordan Wiseley.

“We get stuck with each other,” explained the 33-year-old, “it’s flirting and it’s fun, but when you go home you’re like, ‘Wait a minute. Is all of that gonna be shown on TV?'”

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And that’s just one reason Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio won’t put himself through that sort of romantic gauntlet again. Probably.

He’s done the showmance thing with Natalie Negrotti and Moriah Jadea and continued dating Morgan Willett two years after they met on 2019’s The Challenge: War of the Worlds. But, ultimately, on-camera relationships tend to be “way more headaches than I need,” he told Us Weekly in 2023. “It never ends well, and it only is gonna make your game more complicated.”

Because, regardless if the inital spark was strategic or the start of something truly special, once you start a showmance, you’re, as he put it, “now taking ownership of this other person’s game,” meaning fellow competitors see the pairing as a natural alliance.

“Females are gonna look at it like, ‘Oh, well, you know, Bananas is with this girl, that means that they’re working together or vice versa,'” he continued. And god forbid your romantic partner’s game play gets messy, “You’re kind of now responsible.”

But while the 44-year-old says he’s retired from the polidicking game, “I encourage everybody else to continue on with these meaningless, nonsensical showmances,” he joked, “and then I’ll just be there to pick up the pieces when it all falls apart.”

Of course, sometimes it doesn’t, as appears to be the case with his pal Theo and Olivia, who revealed last July that they were expecting.

“December 2025!?” Battle of the Eras finalist Kyland Young queried in the comment section of the duo’s Instagram post, referencing the Vets and New Threats season. “According to my calculations, this is a Challenge-made baby!! About to be a lil legend!”

As it turns out, what happens in The Challenge house, doesn’t always stay in The Challenge house. And the parents to 8-month-old Atlas hardly the first pair to start building a cast for the future.

Check out which MTV showmances have what it takes to weather any, er, challenge and which alliances unraveled before the reunion aired.

(Originally published July 12, 2025, at 3 a.m. PT)

Kam Williams

Leroy Garrett and Kam WilliamsStatus: MarriedAfter a few false starts, Are You the One? star Kam Williams found her king in Real World: Las Vegas castmate Leroy Garrett. Some four years after they met on The Challenge: Vendettas, the couple revealed they were expecting in December 2021. Leroy proposed one month before son Kingston‘s May 2022 arrival and daughter Aria followed in February 2024. Now settled in the barber’s home state of Michigan, “Sometimes I really sit back & look at how God works,” Kam marveled in a 2022 Instagram post announcing their engagement. “To start out on a dating show to find love which I didn’t at the time, but it lead me to the love of my life. To years of you competing and us finding love on that game. We both found something that we didn’t go looking for & that just came naturally.” Noting she wouldn’t trade “any of our ups & downs for anything,” Kam admitted she couldn’t fathom this when they met back in 2017, “but honestly im not surprised, because like we always known deep down there was just always something there that always kept us coming back together.”The couple entered the next phase of their relationship on Aug. 5, 2025, when they eloped and said “I do” during an intimate ceremony held in Detroit, Mich.Making the day even more special, Kam and Leroy’s big day was only attended by Aria and Kingston.

Jenna Compono/Instagram

Zach Nichols and Jenna ComponoStatus: MarriedWhen they fell for each other filming Battle of the Exes II in 2014, Jenna Compono (who finished third with fellow Real World: Ex-Plosion star Jay Mitchell) and Zach Nichols (paired with fellow Real World-er Jonna Mannion) were headed toward power couple territory…until it was revealed he cheated on her while she was competing on Battle of the Bloodlines in 2015.Still, they were able to reconcile and eventaully create their own family, revealing a month before their 2021 vows that they were expecting.Already parents to Anthony, Liliana, Carmella and Francesca, the Michigan-based couple revealed in August 2026 that they’d welcomed son Vincent less than a year after Francesca’s 2025 arrival. Shared Jenna, “The other 4 are head over heels and just want to hold him every second.”

The Hitched Hiker Photography

Theo Campbell and Olivia KaiserStatus: Married”When you went on the challenge, used her to play the game. Now the game is playing you,” Love Island UK star Theo Campbell joked in an April 2025 Instagram video showing girlfriend Olivia Kaiser trying on engagement rings. Of course, by then, the pair who connected while filming The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras in 2024 were already committed for life. “We’ve been enjoying some time off the grid — embracing the quiet, the love, and the magic of what’s to come,” Theo and the Arizona-based Love Island USA star wrote on Instagram in July 2025, announcing they were expecting their first baby together that December. “Now it’s time to let you in on the journey…Our little one is arriving soon.”The pair welcomed son Atlas not long after Olivia nabbed her first Challenge championship, revealing she “was indeed pregnant 7 weeks to be exact,” during the final. Not long after announcing their engagement in March 2026, the pair began referring to each other as husband and wife. “Happy Birthday to my July twin, husband, best friend and our son’s favorite person,” Olivia wrote in a 2026 birthday tribute. “I’m so grateful to celebrate another year together.”

Nurys Mateo/Instagram

Horacio Gutierrez and Nurys Mateo Status: SplitConnecting with Exatlón Estados Unidos standout Horacio Gutiérrez on Battle for a New Champion in 2023, “I genuinely fell for someone when I wasn’t searching for love, I was searching for peace,” Are You the One? star Nurys Mateo detailed in a February 2024 Instagram post. “I was searching for myself and found a friend, who became the love of my life. Sometimes you need to focus on growing yourself and you run into what’s destined for you.”They seemed as if they werel sprinting toward forever, Nurys sharing in a June 2025 post, “The honeymoon phase lasts forever with the right person.” But she confirmed their split in early 2026. “The dating pool got pee in it, i don’t know how to swim and there’s no life guards” she captioned a January 2026 TikTok, “so I don’t want it.”

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Averey Tressler and Adam LarsonStatus: EngagedForget going to Disney World, Road Rules‘ Adam Larson and Real World: Portland alum Averey Tressler (who met filming the fourth season of All Stars) celebrated his April 2025 All Stars: Rivals win in an even more magical way.”First thing I’m going to do, and obviously, Averey, if you’re seeing this right now, you might want to look to the left or right to make sure I’m on a knee,” the South Carolina-based dad of two told cameras after he and partner Steve Meinke emerged as champs. “So, babe, wherever I am in the room right now, what do you say? Will you marry me?”And in case there was any doubt, she provided an update that evening, writing on X, “I said yes!!!”

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Paulie Calafiore and Cara Maria SorbelloStatus: SplitChallenge regular Cara Maria Sorbello and Big Brother‘s Paulie Calafiore have definitely been through the gauntlet since connecting on 2018’s Final Reckoning. Meeting at the airport, Cara Maria recounted to E! News, “I was instantly drawn to him!” But they hit some turbulence. Paulie was still dating Bachelor in Paradise alum Danielle Maltby at the time, however, admitted Cara Maria, “He found himself attracted to me.” Hooking up on the show, Paulie and the Fresh Meat alum began an open relationship. Cara Maria just didn’t realize it was so open that he was still chatting with Danielle. Though they split, Cara Maria gave Paulie another chance. “No one will fully know the lengths this man has gone (and the things he continues to do) on his own to prove his intentions and his feelings,” she detailed in a February 2019 Instagram post. “So, with one foot out the door, and one foot in, I am moving forward with an open ear and an open heart.”The pair seemed en route to some major milestones. “We definitely want kids and we want marriage,” Paulie told Us Weekly in 2023. At least he believed they did.Paulie confirmed their split to Us Weekly in March 2026, blaming viewpoints they “just didn’t align on.” Starting a family was a major one, he noted: “I kind of felt like, to me, she was like, ‘I want family and kids.’ And then randomly, I would see things pop up on a story being like, ‘I’ll never have kids. I never want this.'”

Instagram / Devin Walker

Michele Fitzgerald and Devin WalkerStatus: DatingAdmittedly, it was a bit of a challenge to convince Survivor winner Michele Fitzgerald that Are You the One? alum Devin Walker could be, well, you know. Before competing together on Battle of the Eras in 2024, “We’ve had a bit of a rocky history,” Michele admitted to People, “and we have a little bit of history outside of the show.”And having linked up with Ibiza Weekender star Callum Izzard the previous season, “I was cautious to get in another relationship on the show.” But living in a literal castle in Vietnam, she found her prince charming in Devin, hard launching their romance on Instagram in June 2024. “Style and grace personified. Total rocket. Fun. Smart. Kind. Hilarious. Truly beautiful,” Devin gushed in a May 2026 birthday tribute. “cheers to another year I get to spend by your side.”

Instagram @kcsince1987, @nanycarmen

Kaycee Clark and Nany GonzalezStatus: SplitIt appeared Big Brother champ Kaycee Clark had found her forever housemate in Real World-er Nany Gonzalez. Meeting on Total Madness in 2019, “We’ve always been allies in the game and have maintained a very good friendship since,” Nany detailed to E! News in 2021, “but there was always an undeniable connection between the two of us.”Everything finally came together that year on Spies, Lies and Allies with Nany dropping to bended knee two years later. But while they began making plans for a wedding and kids, the couple announced the end of their engagement in January 2025. “After a lot of reflection, Kaycee and I have decided to go our separate ways,” Nany wrote on her Instagram Stories. “This definitely wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s what’s best for the both of us.”

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Morgan Willett and Johnny BananasStatus: SplitFinding seven-time champ Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio quite, um, appealing on 2019’s War of the Worlds, Big Brother alum Morgan Willett soon realized he could be the apple of her eye. “It’s so funny because people always say, ‘You’re dating Johnny Bananas!’ And I’m like, ‘No, I’m dating John Devenanzio!'” Morgan explained to E! News in 2020. “He really does a good job at separating his TV character from his real life character.But their story had quite the twist ending, with Morgan accusing the Real World: Key West alum of cheating during their two-year romance. While Johnny told E! News he’d be keeping the details of their 2021 split “close to the cuff,” Morgan revealed it was a close friend who told her the Death, Taxes and Bananas podcaster had brought someone home. With Johnny denying the accusations, “I wanted any sort of comfort and I was met with kind of like coldness,” Morgan recalled on the FML Talk podcast in February 2022. “‘I didn’t do it’ I think is the last thing I heard as I walked out and shut the door behind me and I think that’s whats hard. Two and a half years down the drain and all you want to hear is ‘I made a mistake’ or ‘You were enough and it just wasn’t meant to be’ or an explanation in general.”

Tori Deal and Derrick HenryStatus: SplitAre You The One? veterans Tori Deal and Derrick Henry entered The Challenge XXX: Dirty 30 game together in 2017, with Tori quickly becoming one of the best rookies in the show’s history. (Derrick? Not so much.)But at the reunion, Tori revealed she’d grown close to Jordan Wiseley following Derrick’s elimination and felt he just might be the one.

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Jordan Wiseley and Tori DealStatus: SplitTwo years after meeting on Dirty 30, Tori and The Real World: Portland star got engaged during filming for War of the Worlds 2, but split in November 2020, their breakup quickly becoming public fodder. While Tori continued to compete on The Challenge, her ex-fiancé “took a step away,” Jordan explained to E! News in 2023. “Tori and I splitting, that was really big for both of us. For her, she dove in. For me, I really pulled back.”Until he was tapped as a last-minute replacement for Ride or Dies in 2022. Paired with their mutual friend Aneesa Ferreira, she was there “to bridge that gap for us,” explained Jordan, now dating musician Diner.Since then, he added, “We want to be there for each other. We were 100 percent committed to spending the rest of our lives together, so that person was obviously something to me and I to her. You don’t just lose that.”

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Cory Wharton and Cheyenne FloydStatus: Successful-coparentsFollowinga brief romance while filming Rivals III in 2016, Real World: Ex-Plosion star Cory Wharton (whose showmances included Aneesa, Jenny Delich, Lauren Ondersma, Kailah Casillas, Camila Nakagawa and Alicia Wright)and Are You the One? star Cheyenne Floyd revealed they’d welcomed daughter Ryder together in 2017. “Our biggest thing since day one of Cory coming into Ryder’s life was what kind of dad he wanted to be and what kind of parent he wanted to be,” Cheyenne explained to E! News in March 2020. “I wasn’t going to allow him to be a Disneyland dad or an Instagram dad or just in the moment. He had to be 100 percent. I think from the beginning, he saw my mindset and appreciated it so that’s why we co-parent so well.”Their other secret: “We all talk a lot,” Cheyenne, married to fellow Teen Mom star Zach Davis, told E! News in 2023. “We have to. The kids are still so young, that we’re still trying to figure out how we want to parent them, what our parenting styles are. And it evolves and it changes.”

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Brad Fiorenza and Tori HallStatus: DivorcedIf you can’t beat ’em, join ’em? A finalist on 2008’s The Gauntlet III, The Real World: San Diego star Brad Fiorenza didn’t leave Mexico with any cash, but he did capture the heart of Road Rules‘ Tori Hall (who incidentally won the season with her fellow rookies). The couple married in 2010 and welcomed two sons before splitting in 2015. “We met really young,” former Miss Teen USA Tori later explained to Us Weekly, noting she was just 20 when they got together. “When we grew up and realized the things that we wanted in life…we realized we agreed on nothing. The only thing we agree on is our two kids.”

Dario Medrano and Ashley KelseyStatus: SplitAre You the One? contestant Dario Medrano didn’t leave 2017’s Invasion of the Champions with a big check, but he did cash in on the chemistry between him and Battle of the Seasons champ Ashley Kelsey. Though their romance fizzled out, they successfully paired up on 2025’s All Stars: Rivals. Post-show, “I think we’re in a good place now that we’re just friends,” Ashley, who shares daughter Snoh with former Detroit Lions running back Kerryon Johnson, told TV Insider, “and we can communicate now, and I think that’s way better.”

Mike Coppola/Getty Images

CT Tamburello and Diem BrownCT Tamburello and the late Diem Brown provided the franchise with its most talked-about romance. After meeting on The Duel in 2006, bad boy CT supported Diem as she dealt with the side-effects of her chemotherapy. The couple would date on and off for years (some of them tumultuous), appearing on the show together and competing as a team during Battle of the Exes II. Unfortunately, Diem’s ovarian cancer returned and she had to leave the show—with CT by her side. Diem passed away in November 2014 at the age of 32.CT posted a touching tribute to Diem on his Instagram following her death, writing, “Our plan to be together forever hasn’t changed… it’s just going to take a little longer now. And I’m going to hold onto this ring for you till we are together again.”

Veronica Portillo and Rachel RobinsonStatus: SplitAneesa inadvertently dropped a bombshell during 2017’s Dirty 30, sharing that Veronica Portillo secretly dated her ex-girlfriend Rachel Robinson for three years.Veronica was not happy with Aneesa after the revelation, saying, “I feel honestly bad for Rachel for me to come back years later and talk about it when I didn’t talk about when we’re together, I feel like that’s really disrespectful. I think Rachel would watch it and be like, ‘What the f–k?'”Though the Battle of the Eras champ has since moved on, sharing three kids with wife Natalie Gee.

Cara Maria Sorbello and Abram BoiseStatus: SplitTumultuous couple Cara Maria and Abram Boise dated on and off for six years after meeting on 2010’s Cutthroat. But s–t very much hit the fan during filming of Battle of the Bloodlines in 2015 when Abram made a late entry into the game, after Cara had hooked up with newbie, Thomas Buell. Since then, their relationship has firmly remained in the off position.

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Laurel Stucky and Nicole ZanattaStatus: SplitPrimed to become a Challenge power duo after connecting on 2016’s Invasion of the Champions, Real World alum Nicole Zanatta and Fresh Meat contestant Laurel Stucky instead became rivals when their eight-month romance blew up. Laurel accused the firefighter of cheating; Nicole insulted the veterinarian’s bedroom skills. All that’s left is for the pair to team up on Battle of the Exes III.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Danny Jamieson and Melinda StolpStatus: DivorcedAfter falling in love during The Real World: Austin in 2005 and revealing their engagement on the reunion, Danny Jamieson and Melinda Stolp competed on Fresh Meat as a betrothed couple before entering the arena as a married couple on 2008’s Gauntlet III. Alas, they divorced in 2011 and went on to compete together in Battle of the Seasons the following year.

Wes Bergmann and Johanna BottaStatus: SplitProving just how polite The Real World: Austin was, Wes Bergmann and Johanna Botta got together shortly after their time on the series and also entered 2006’s Fresh Meat as a couple. After dating for two years, they called off their engagement before 2008’s The Island, where Johanna would hook up with Kenny Santucci.Johanna returned for one last season of The Challenge—2009’s The Ruins—where she, Wes and Kenny competed along with Wes’ then-girlfriend KellyAnne Judd.

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Sean Duffy and Rachel CamposStatus: MarriedThis is the true story of two strangers picked to live in separate houses. After Sean Duffy‘s appearance on The Real World: Boston in 1997, he met The Real World: San Francisco alum Rachel Campos-Duffy while competing on Road Rules: All Stars in 1998. They married the following year and have since welcomed nine kids and one major promotion. Sean spent eight years as Ashland County District Attorney in his home state of Wisconsin, then served another eight in Congress before resigning in August 2019, citing his yet-to-be-born ninth child’s health issues. Nominated by President Donald Trump, he was confirmed as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation in January 2025.

Mark Long and Robin HibbardStatus: SplitNearly a decade and one tumultuous split after Road Rules star Mark Long and The Real World: San Diego alum Robin Hibbard partnered up during 2004’s Battle of the Sexes II, they teamed up for 2012’s Battle of the Exes. They just missed the finals, but Mark continued to champion her years later, detailing his concern for the mom of two’s addiction struggle. “I hope someone can get to her and convince her to get help,” he shared on Bananas’ Death, Taxes and Bananas podcast in 2022. “I know deep down she probably wants it but it breaks my heart knowing that she’s in such a bad place.”Sober since 2023, Robin shared in a March 2025 Facebook post (via The Sun), “It’s been a long journey back to sanity and I’m loving recovery. Mental health is real and taking care of that as well as my addictions has been a true blessing.”

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