Facebook Diem Brown
MTV’s long-running reality competition show, The Challenge, will be able to draw in new and returning viewers when two of its older seasons, 10 and 13, drop on Netflix on December 15. Season 13, The Duel (on Netflix as RW/RR Challenge: The Duel), is a particularly popular series for fans of the show due to its storyline showing Diem opening up about her treatment for ovarian cancer and rebuilding her self-confidence.
Diem’s appearance on The Duel in 2006 was her second season on The Challenge after making her debut on Fresh Meat. In that season, she first shared that she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was undergoing treatment. Fans of the show will be curious about what happened to the inspiring competitor following The Duel. Diem ended up getting diagnosed with cancer three times after it went into remission and she unfortunately lost her battle with the disease after it spread to other parts of her body.
She died in the hospital in New York City on November 14, 2014, at the age of 34.
Follow the Heavy on The Challenge Facebook page for the latest breaking news, rumors and content!
Diem’s Cancer Went Into Remission After Her Treatment & She Appeared on Other Seasons of ‘The Challenge’ But It Returned in June 2012
Diem first appeared on The Challenge for the 12th season, Fresh Meat, which aired in the spring of 2006. On that season, Diem revealed to her partner Derrick Kosinski that she’d just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. At 22, Diem had just been told she was selected as a contestant for the Fresh Meat season and she was determined that her cancer diagnosis wouldn’t keep her from competing. Diem went through surgery to remove her left ovary and went through her first chemotherapy before filming that season, and said, “I was jumping off buildings, swimming with sharks. I thought I was ticking off my bucket list.”
After filming, she finished her chemotherapy and cancer treatment before signing on to The Duel. During that season, Diem opened up about her treatment as she slowly rebuilt her confidence and the moment she took off her wig for one of the challenges remains one of the most iconic moments on the show. Diem’s cancer was in remission for six years after that treatment until June 2012 when it returned:
I immediately broke because I knew that this time was final. They remove that last ovary, and I cannot have a biological child. I hadn’t frozen eggs or anything, so I went on a hunt for a fertility doctor who would do fertility treatments on a current ovarian cancer patient.
Despite that, she went on four more seasons of The Challenge and even signed on to do Rivals II after beating cancer for the second time. She told Fox News:
I wanted to do this particular show because this last year has felt so uncertain. Going through ovarian cancer twice, I have played a crazy gambling game. I was told in January after a test showed signs of cancer spreading to my liver that seeing 2013 was not that likely. Hearing those words, hearing you have an expiration date, changes you. Thank God there ended up being no spread of cancer, I’m here today happy and healthy as ever.
Diem’s Cancer Returned for a 3rd Time in June 2014 & She Collapsed on Set of ‘The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II’ in August 2014
The two-time cancer survivor was told in June 2014 that her cancer was back for a third time and it had spread. Diem still decided to fly down to Panama for The Challenge: Battles of the Exes II in August of that year but the competitor collapsed on set and was medically evacuated to New York City. In October 2014, she told PEOPLE about her battle with the constant pain from her cancer and her struggle with the setbacks:
The setbacks terrify me – every single time it’s been hard. You know, I finally get to do chemo. I get chemo, and then the very next day my kidneys start failing. And I have to have surgery, and recover from surgery, and they’re telling that they’re not going to be able to do that chemo over, so you have to get it together.
The reality star died on November 14, 2014, and her friends and family told the outlet she fought to the end, holding on until her sister could make it to the hospital. Her friend said, “We kept telling her, ‘This is not giving up. You have fought enough.’ In the end, there is nothing they can do. It just became so aggressive, so fast. The cancer was just multiplying at such an aggressive rate that nothing could keep up.”
Diem founded MedGift after her first bout with cancer, which is a registry that cancer patients can create for items needed during treatment or after, like wigs, babysitting help, medical services. She told Coping Mag, “I created my passion at my absolute most depressed, lowest moment. It gave me hope while I was going through treatment.”
READ NEXT: ‘The Challenge’ Legend Slams Castmate, Shares Private Messages