Having started life as Real World and Road Rules, MTV’s reality game show The Challenge has been on the small screen in one form or another since 1998, with some of the most popular contestants over the years making repeat appearances on the series and even becoming celebrities in their own right.
The Challenge has now started to include contestants from another MTV series, dating show Are You The One, and this has certainly set fans thinking about some other possible crossovers – and especially if any Challenge stars could benefit from a spot on Are You The One to help them improve their love lives.
Mark Long
Recently-divorced Mark Long would be an ideal Are You The One member. Not only is he single and looking for love, but he is an experienced reality TV competitor, having appeared on the inaugural Road Rules season in 1995 and several other Challenge series in the meantime.
He knows how to play a good game, which is essential for reality TV competitions, and while he is one of the oldest Challenge veterans at the age of 49, he still looks very good for his age.
Sarah Rice
Sarah Rice is one of the more recognizable Challenge contestants, thanks to her colorful tattoos and her equally lively personality. Are You The One recently pushed the boundaries with a queer season, featuring pansexual, non-binary, bisexual, and transgender contestants.
Rice was always very open about her bisexuality, and she would have been a great addition to the ground-breaking Are You The One series which screened on MTV this year. Whatever trials she faced on Challenge, Sarah Rice always maintained her sense of humor; an essential trait for a successful relationship.
Jenn Grijalva
Are You The One may be a dating show for people who have been unlucky in love, but that does seem hard to believe when all the contestants look as though they have just finished a modeling shoot!
Challenge alumna Jenn Grijalva would certainly have the requisite good looks and glamour to take part in Are You The One, and though she was a party girl in her early days on Real World: Denver she has since calmed down and grown-up enough to be in a good place to find true love.
Emily Schromm
Sporty Emily Schromm takes any competition seriously, as Challenge viewers will know. That drive to win might be seen as a little intimidating on a dating show, but it would be fun to see Schromm scaring the living daylights out of all the other contestants on Are You The One.
She has taken part in three Challenge series so far, as well as taking on professional athletes in Challenge vs Stars, but it would be great to see a softer side of her – if one exists, that is!
Derrick Kosinski
Derrick Kosinski made his Challenge debut on Road Rules X-TREME in 2004, and while he wasn’t the most popular member of the group, he has won over teammates and fans in his subsequent appearances, including in Challenge XXX, which saw past contestants from Are You The One joining in the fun.
He might not seem the obvious choice for Are You The One, but like Emily Schromm it would be great to see if Kosinski has a softer side to go with his tough-guy image and physique.
Ashley Mitchell
Challenge regular Ashley Mitchell made her debut in Real World: Ex-Plosion in 2014, a Real World series with a difference, in which the contestants went away on vacation only to return and find that their exes had also moved in! Mitchell had had a tempestuous relationship with her ex and ended up walking off the show, but that kind of passion would be an asset on Are You The One.
It also helps that the Invasion of the Champions winner would provide a bit of eye candy for the show.
Nany Gonzalez
Nany Gonzalez has appeared in several Challenge series, but always seems to struggle with bad luck – and it seems that the Dominican-American MTV star has also been unlucky in love.
What better way to break her romantic curse than an appearance on Are You The One, which uses science to identify the perfect partners for their contestants. Of course, Nany would have to find her partner to win, and given her inauspicious performances on Challenge, what are the chances she would fare any better on AYTO?
Ruthie Alcaide
When she made her MTV debut on Real World: Hawaii in 1999, Ruthie Alcaide was the hardcore party girl of the group, who often took things too far and drank way too much.
That was twenty years ago, however, and her more recent appearances on Challenge shows have shown a much more mature and focused Ruthie, who will do anything to win. With that kind of attitude on Are You The One, Ruthie and her ideal partner would end up heading down the aisle before the season had even wrapped.
Laurel Stuckey
Challenge competitor Laurel Stuckey is used to winning, and she would bring that determined and competitive edge to Are You The One as well. The contestants would probably be very pleased to see former model Laurel turn up on their dating show; until they realized that she was much more than a pretty face!
Stuckey often came across as cold and unemotional, but AYTO would give someone the chance to try and break down her tough exterior.
Johnny Bananas
When fans think of which Challenge former contestant would make the perfect Are You The One contestant, only one name springs to mind: Johnny Devananzio. Better known as Johnny Bananas, the Challenge veteran has earned a reputation for charming the ladies, though he did appear to stay loyal to his girlfriend at home when he faced an old flame on Battle of the Exes.
His wicked sense of humor means that he has been in the life and soul of the party in every Challenge series has been involved with, and the same would go for AYTO.
