MTV/Instagram Cara Maria Sorbello
Cara Maria Sorbello, a Challenge superstar who made her debut on Fresh Meat II, is a polarizing figure on the show who’s gained her share of supporters and detractors over the years. Although Double Agents is the second season in a row not featuring the two-time champion, Cara Maria has been keeping busy with other projects and recently had a message to share with her haters.
Cara Maria posted a photo of herself with the image text: “The distance you kept during my struggle… I’m gonna need you to double that during my success.” She captioned the photo, “Read it again.” Here is the Instagram post:
Cara Maria’s cast members had some supportive words to say in response to her post. Challenge legend and fellow Massachusetts native Chris “CT” Tamburello wrote, “Louder for the people in the back!” Her boyfriend Paulie Calafiore wrote, “LOUDER!!” Ashley Mitchell commented, “Oooo I love this.” Jenny West and Kayleigh Morris also showed their love and support in the comments.
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Cara Maria Is Not on ‘Double Agents’, Which Is Her Second Season Off From the Show
Double Agents is now airing and it’s the second season in a row, after Total Madness, that Cara Maria has not appeared on the MTV show. After War of the Worlds 2 aired, Cara Maria said on the Watch With Us podcast that she didn’t like the way MTV edited her in that season. She said:
You can’t put a price tag on happiness. For so long, I was, like, you know the money is so good. I can’t say no. I needed a little break for my own sanity and my own happiness, just finding what makes me me again and get my light back. I’m freakin’ fantastic, so I’m gonna have a little break so they can make someone else the bad guy this next season because I’m not going to be on it!
Earlier in 2020, Cara Maria went on Instagram Live and explained that there were other factors behind her decision not to compete on Total Madness. She said Paulie, who she is still dating today, was not allowed to compete on that season after several cast members said they didn’t feel safe in his presence and orchestrated an altercation with him at the reunion.
Cara then said that part of the reason she didn’t return for Total Madness was that she needed to care for herself and her aging horse, but it was also because she didn’t like what had happened with Paulie.
Neither Paulie nor Cara Maria returned for Double Agents, although they didn’t make public statements about the reason why this season. Many fans stated that the couple accused the show’s production of “rigging” Total Madness so that Johnny Bananas would win, CheatSheet reported, and that may be why they are not returning. Neither Sorbello’s claim of rigging nor the reason for the couple’s failure to appear in the current season has been confirmed at this time.
Cara Maria Has Not Officially Retired From ‘The Challenge’ But It’s Unclear If She Will Be Returning Soon
Cara Maria hasn’t made an official retirement announcement from The Challenge so fans may still see her return for a future season. In July 2020, an MTV tea account wrote that a male cast member “who has a say in production” was “causing unfair treatment to one of the most popular female competitors on the show.”
Although those claims haven’t been proven, former cast member Jemmye Carroll retweeted it and appeared to confirm that it was about Cara Maria. Jemmye wrote, “Cara and I may not be friends anymore but this is unfair. She deserves a seat at the challenge table more than most cast-members..”
It’s clear that Cara Maria is pursuing other interests at this time, with her Instagram account following her photography journey and the two-time champ starting her own photography company, The Knight House, which is fully booked according to her Instagram page. On the July 3 episode of the Challenge Mania podcast, Cara Maria spoke about getting her “light” back:
I’ve been able to work on my painting, I’ve been able to work on getting my body back … I was just losing myself down a spiral of bad things with The Challenge world, and I’m so, so thankful to find myself again and have my light and my happiness. I’m me again and it feels amazing.
She also said she had “no regrets” about sitting out the Total Madness season. The 36th season, The Challenge: Double Agents, airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
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