Melinda Collins is opening up about her recent loss and how it has played a role in her decision to return to The Challenge for All Stars season 2. Melinda last appeared on the MTV competition show in 2012 for The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons. Melina recently returned to The Challenge following pregnancy complications. She shared her experience about making the decision to return to the show and what that experience was like.
Melinda has appeared on The Real World: Austin as well as Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat, Real World/Challenge: The Gauntlet III, and The Challenge: Cutthroat. Before her most recent return to the competitive reality show for The Challenge: All Stars season 2, she appeared on Challenge: Battle of the Seasons nine years ago. In March of 2021, Melinda shared the unfortunate news that she had lost her pregnancy.
Melinda explained to Us Weekly that she was contacted about joining The Challenge All Stars season 1 cast before they began filming. At the time, Melinda said she was in fact interested in returning to the show. However, she said that when casting began, she was pregnant and therefore unable to make her reality TV return. Very shortly after the loss of her child, Melinda said she was contacted about an opportunity to join The Challenge: All Stars yet again. “I would say three weeks after that, one of the talent coordinators had contacted me and said, ‘I know that you’re really going through something, but is this something you’d be interested in doing?’“ said Melinda.
Melinda explained that she felt the opportunity being extended to her so shortly after the loss was a sign that she should take it, saying, “I’ve had quite the year. So it was, like, this is the universe tapping me on the shoulder. ‘This is something you should do.’“ Part of what additionally impacted her decision to return to TV was that she “had always said, ‘Never say never.’” Melinda expressed that she hopes her story will provide others going through similar situations with some comfort in knowing that they are not the only ones to have suffered such a tragic loss. She said that while “leaving [her] son was the hardest thing,” she returned to The Challenge with confidence that she had not had in previous seasons.
Melinda has been a strong competitor in many of the challenges she has participated in since her first appearance at just 21 years old. She has a clear passion for The Challenge and that passion is something necessary for The Challenge: All Stars to maintain its popularity among fans. It is exceptionally brave of her to have taken the opportunity to join The Challenge: All Stars season 2 just weeks after such an unfortunate event.
The Challenge: All Stars premieres November 11 on Paramount+.
