MTV TJ Lavin on 'The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies'
Two finals in the history of “The Challenge” have had a twist allowing one sole winner to take all the prize money from their partner and both times it was done, creating two iconic moments in the franchise’s history. As fans know, those two moments were when Johnny Bananas Devenanzio took all the money from his partner Sarah Rice after they won “Rivals III” and when Ashley Mitchell took all the money from her partner Hunter Barfield at the “Final Reckoning” finish line.
One of the “Final Reckoning” finalists, Sylvia Elsrode, recently shared that she is convinced that she and her partner Joss Mooney actually won the final but the producers wanted to make sure that there was a winning team that would steal the money from each other. To refresh fans’s memories, Sylvia and Joss were the runners-up that season, coming 40 seconds behind the winners, with Natalie Negrotti and Paulie Calafiore coming in third place. Cara Maria Sorbello and Marie Roda came in fourth place.
Sylvia appeared on the “Challenge Mania” podcast and was asked by co-host Scott Yager about that season’s final and money-stealing twist. He said that Paulie and Natalie have since shared that they probably wouldn’t have stolen the money from each other and Sylvia and Joss probably wouldn’t have either, then asked Sylvia “Do you think it’s possible for a team that wouldn’t have taken the money from each other to have won this season?” She replied:
I don’t think that that’s what they wanted. And I love all the production, they’re great, they bust their a**. But at the end of the day, we’re making a TV show and I think that had Joss and I maybe just fought a little bit more or threatened to steal the money maybe we would have actually won.
In my heart of hearts, and I love Ashley, but I truly believe Joss and I did win that season. I think the reason why we didn’t win it publicly though was because we were not gonna steal the money from each other.
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Sylvia Said There Was ‘No Way’ They Didn’t Actually Come in First
Sylvia was asked why she believed so firmly that she won the final with Joss and she replied that despite the pair stepping down from the platform challenge and receiving the two grenades, they were “ahead in almost every single leg of that final.” She said, “Even with the grenade thrown on us for the eating portion of it we were still in there. Even with [having to find the keys] to unwrap our chains we were still ahead. There’s just no way that we were behind. There’s just no way.”
The “All Stars 3” competitor said she understands the way the final was edited it may not have seemed like it but she reiterated that there was “no way” they weren’t ahead. “I just don’t believe we lost, I really don’t,” she said.
If she had a chance to do the season all over again, Sylvia said she would have “absolutely” made it seem like she and Joss hated each other. “Start an argument… I don’t care, whatever I have to do to make it seem like we’re not getting along,” she shared. She also said she wouldn’t have agreed to step off the platform in that portion of the final because she said that’s where it was made to seem like they lost the lead. “It’s just frustrating when you look back on it now,” she concluded, but said, “it is what it is.”
Sylvia Said Amanda Garcia & Zach Nichols Would Have Won the Final If They’d Made It
Despite that, Sylvia told co-hosts Scott and Derrick Kosinski that “Final Reckoning” was one of her favorite seasons. She said her entire alliance, the Lavender Ladies, “we basically ran that entire show. We ran that entire season… We never turned on each other and I think that’s something that really made it as fun for me as it was.”
Sylvia also revealed that she believes if Amanda Garcia and Zach Nichols hadn’t put themselves into elimination and lost, they would probably have won the season. “Yes they hated each others’ guts but when it came down to competing in the actual challenges they were killing it,” she shared. “They were doing so well.” Sylvia also mentioned that if they won they would have stolen the money from each other and it would have been “huge.”
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