Instagram/MTV Sarah Rice
“The Challenge” fan-favorite Sarah Rice has been notably absent from our screens since the shocking betrayal she suffered at the hands of Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio at the finish line of “Rivals III” and she recently addressed why she hasn’t returned since then. In a TikTok video, Sarah said she received so many questions from “Challenge” fans wondering if she’ll ever go back and asking why she hasn’t returned.
“Number one reason: I got my masters in marriage and family therapy and now, I’m a therapist,” she revealed in the video. “I work in a private practice and I have a full client load… It’s not really the kind of job where you can just say, ‘peace, I’m leaving, I’m gonna go climb mountains and do fun stuff for two months.'” The “Real World: Brooklyn” star said she’s dedicated to her career, which is her “dream job” and brings her a lot of joy.
She added that it was always her plan to leave reality TV as she’s not the type of person who wanted to do that her whole life. “I saw it as a really really fun thing to do when I was in my twenties and I got to explore the world and I got to do so many fun things, I met so many great people, I’m so grateful for that,” she said. “But in that whole experience, I also saw some of the darker sides to reality television and especially what it can do to people’s mental health.”
She said the increased access to reality stars on social media has also compounded that and made it difficult for “Challenge” competitors to keep personal boundaries and have a life separate from the show. Sarah said because of that, she’s dedicated to helping reality stars transition back to “normal” life as she’s in a unique position of having been on reality TV herself while also being a therapist.
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Sarah Also Said She ‘Doesn’t Care’ About the Infamous Moment & Revealed She Never Thinks About It
Sarah posted another video on TikTok with a series of questions and comments she often gets from fans, including, “I’m so mad Johnny took your money!” as well as “You got screwed! Aren’t you pissed?” and “You need to go back and settle the score!” Sarah then paused and said, “We do not care!”
Then, in another video titled, “How I felt going home empty-handed,” Sarah thanked fans for being “sweet” and defending her following what happened on “Rivals III” but then added, “I want to put your mind at ease and let you know, I never think of that s***. I do not care and I am grateful that all of you guys care so much and I just want to give you guys the freedom to let it go cause I have and it’s not a big deal.”
The former reality star said that her life is really good and joked that people who know her well know that money isn’t that important to her compared to other things. She revealed that she was extremely happy to have brought back the rare gemstones they collected during the final instead. “I may have gone home with no prize money but I went home with the rare gemstones,” she gushed.
Bananas Posted on Social Media on the 5-Year Anniversary of the Moment He Took All the Money
Sarah’s comments about the “Rivals III” final and her life now come on the five-year anniversary of that infamous moment in “Challenge” history and she wasn’t the only one who spoke about it. Johnny Bananas also posted on social media about it but in a completely different way as he announced he was selling autographed pictures of that scene.
“Sarah, I’d like to wish you a happy 5-year anniversary,” Bananas said as he showed off the photograph, which has now sold out on his website. The seven-time champion, who has made “The Challenge” and reality TV his career, told fans to buy their photos while quantities last, “so I can take your money and run.”
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