Getty BMX rider/ television host T.J. Lavin appears during SiriusXM's live broadcast of The Jason Ellis Show at Vinyl inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on February 20, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
TJ Lavin is not one to shy away from complimenting or criticizing competitors on “The Challenge” based on their performances in challenges and eliminations and past and present cast members love to get a shoutout from the longtime host.
The BMX legend was recently asked who he thinks should be on the Mount Rushmore of “The Challenge” and he gave a very detailed answer for both the men and the women. TJ appeared on Mark Long and Emily Longeretta’s “Reality Rundown” podcast on Spotify on August 22 and was asked for some of his “top male and top female cast members.”
TJ began by saying that there should be three different Mount Rushmores for the three different versions of the show now: the flagship “Challenge,” the “All Stars” versions and the new CBS spinoff. “Because there’s three different franchises as far as I’m concerned,” he spilled. “Those are three different shows, dude. They’re totally, totally different shows.”
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The 1st Competitor TJ Brought Up for Both Men & Women Was Jonna Mannion
TJ began right off the bat by naming Jonna Mannion, who just won the last two “All Stars” spinoffs back-to-back and made the final on the first season. “Well, I think, you can’t leave Jonna out of it,” he said. “She’s in there. She’s bad***, she’s absolutely killing it.”
After naming Jonna, TJ said if he had to pick a Mount Rushmore for “The Challenge period, like as it was The Challenge, then Mark Long is up there 100%, Johnny Bananas [Devenanzio] is up there 100%, CT [Tamburello] is up there 100%.” He continued:
And then you could pick like Cara Maria [Sorbello] is a real bad*** for the women. She absolutely killed it…
Evelyn [Smith], she was such a killer, you know. I loved having her on there even though she acted like a child a couple times and I had to check her but… she was like, alright cool you got me, you know? I mean she took it [well]. I would love to see her come back but she was always a savage like really tough to beat, you know?
TJ Also Gave Props to Other Female Competitors
TJ also praised a couple of other female competitors in his interview, Nany Gonzalez and Aneesa Ferreira. “You know who’d be awesome on the Mount Rushmore would be Nany,” he shared. “Nany is such a bad*** like she just gives it her all at all times. She’s awesome.”
He then said that Aneesa is “always in the mix” and that he “loves” the veteran competitor. “She goes hard, man,” he told the podcast co-hosts. “She does, dude, and you don’t know this, but she’s one of the winningest elimination people of all time… it’s like back against the wall and all the pressure and everything else… I think she’s bad***, I love her.”
Mark Long brought up Paula Beckert, née Meronek, and said he thought she was a great player. TJ agreed, calling the OG “awesome” and saying he’d love to see her compete on “All Stars” at some point in the future.
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